STEREOTYPES

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Filmed in a languorous, observational style reminiscent of Frederick Wiseman and Albert Sayles, One In Three follows a diverse selection of cancer patients as they detail their varied healing processes, with a strong focus on their exercise routines, dietary choices and holistic medicine treatments. Although the series is rooted in robust scientific research, it also foregrounds the vibrant, resilient and affable personalities of its subjects.

A work of extraordinary humanism, One in Three takes us into the private lives of these remarkable people, watching as they heroically traverse the struggles of everyday life. Anderson’s camera pores over minutiae, deftly taking in the stray details of location, body language and speech patterns to create a series of interlocked portraits that feel remarkably intimate and lived in. Throughout, we are privy to consultation sessions regarding the effectiveness of current treatment plans, and psychological evaluations. Anderson does not cut any of these situations short; she allows them to unfold at length, lending each one an immersive sense of real-time naturalism.

Amid these grace notes, the bigger issue that arises is the role of holistic medicine in the process of treating illness. As each patient gives a detailed testimony of their personal experience in overcoming their disease, various accounts emerge of specific, individual treatment plans and the ways in which they have benefited them. What emerges is a passionate plea for compassionate, understanding healthcare practices, practices which are carefully and specifically developed to fit the needs and preferences of the patient.

Anderson’s aesthetic style is an expression of this form of empathetic communicative negotiation. 

Anderson’s extensive use of long takes and medium close-ups place emphasis on the humanity of her subjects, giving them the freedom and flexibility to express themselves in their own way. Rather than imposing distracting artificial gimmicks, Anderson follows in the line of the great Direct Cinema movement in allowing her subjects to dictate form, rather than vice-versa. Over the course of One In Three’s languorous 405 minutes, Anderson carefully constructs a tapestry of individuals who are each learning to live with their ailments; each effort is treated with quiet dignity and remarkable tenderness. Epic and intimate in equal measure, One in Three expresses a phenomenal depth of feeling, and establishes Anderson as a major new talent in the landscape of American filmmaking.

Anderson's style is precise yet unobtrusive: Callahan's personal life is captured with an agile, freewheeling handheld camera, always alert to revealing details and salient pieces of visual information; in contrast, her sets are recorded with fixed, static wide shots, the camera placed within the space of the crowd. There is therefore a clear distinction between Callahan the performer and the individual who lies behind the punchlines. Anderson alternates between showing the polished final versions of Callahan's bits and exploring the personal experiences, thought processes and strategies of fine-tuning which gradually shape them.

The breeziness and lightness of touch which Anderson brings to a sOLID 45 sECONDS may make it appear sleight at first glance, but lying beneath its surface pleasures are a number of weighty and complex thematic issues endemic not just to the New York comedy scene, but to modern urban life as a whole: The financial pressures placed on young artists, the difficulty of sustaining a career as a comedienne within a male-dominated industry, and the difficulty of addressing racial and gender tensions through humor. Callahan is candid about dealing with regressive expectations regarding the subject matter that female comics are ‘expected’ to discuss, and having to confront hostile male audience members.

In Callahan, Anderson has found a vibrant, magnetic subject: playful, open, articulate, self-deprecating, unflinchingly honest. Even mundane tasks and errands – depositing money at a bank, cleaning the apartment, calling a computer help line – are approached with a zealousness, a lust for life, and a quick wit. a sOLID 45 sECONDS is a ferociously entertaining portrait of a mind that runs at a million miles a minute, constantly taking stock of social interactions, behavioral mores and everyday absurdities to transform into comedic material. In capturing this creative energy as it encounters and feeds off of the city and its inhabitants, Anderson leaps into the fervor of the artistic psyche.