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Wiseman's success can to some extent be measured by how unremarkable he makes his work seem. After all, didn't he just turn a camera on and point it at people? But to have sifted through hours of footage (a task he says was the most depressing part of the project) to select the most poignant and informative moments—and more than that, to get the diverse scenes, characters, counselors and observers to flow together into a coherent narrative without narration—is what makes Domestic Violence an artful, if at times overwrought, work.
"Reality," of course, eludes confinement to any genre, and Wiseman's harsh slices of life are not the only alternative to the likes of Joe Millionaire. But what a challenge his work poses to the impoverished imagination of our most influential popular medium.
Nathan Bierma is an editorial assistant at Books & Culture
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