The Truth: A Review On Tower
“I remember looking at the Tower, of course, a lot. And from the Main Mall you can see there’s a biblical line from the Bible. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” I’ve thought about it. One of the truths I learned… Is that there are monsters that walk among us. There are people out there that think unthinkable thoughts and then do unthinkable things.”-John Fox, Survivor of 1966 Austin Shooting

There are cruel acts done upon this Earth that can never be justified, and never be forgotten. Ones where people lives are turned to chaos in the blink of the moment. Then come the documentaries that report this moment, and give some insight to the viewer. They are usually dark and foreboding, grounded in a heavy sense of reality. Films like ‘Newtown’ or ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ highlight the dark events that humans do to each other, in dark realistic ways. Keith Maitland does something different in his 2016 documentary ‘Tower’. Based on the 1966 shooting in Austin, at the University of Texas, where an armed gun man climbed the campus’s bell tower and proceeded to gun down anyone in sight, ‘Tower’ tells this story differently. It is the retelling of a terrible event with such artistic expression, the emotion is amplified.
What will immediately stand out with Tower, is its animation. Maitland has effectively woven archival footage, audio interviews, and present day interviews, and then crafted a strong layer of animation over top. The technique he used in rotoscoping, which resulted in a beautiful flow of animation. Maitland knows exactly how to use this animation to his advantage as well, with the impact of colours. Before any of the chaos begins, the world is vibrant and colourful, appealing on the eye. However, with the great sound design on the gun shot, when the gun is fired, the visual cue is to turn the background blood red, creating an uneasy and confronting scene. From there, the characters world fade to black and white, where they are all shifted into the grim dark reality of life. The animation is used so artistically and powerful, that hammers home the experience of terror and dread perfectly, when everything for these people is torn apart.

The characters are another key part of this documentary. There is a large cast of characters to follow, however, each one of them is heavily impacted by this gun shot, and their stories all become woven together in a sense. From Claire Wilson, the first person to be shot, and love her unborn baby because of it, to the first police officers to make it up the tower, each side of their stories help send chills, as you can see their courage and loss the chaos is unfolding. However what is different as well for this documentary is how the killer is treated. He is briefly mentioned. There is no large segment dedicated to explaining him. While other documentaries about mass murders try to explain the culprit’s motivations, ‘Tower’ doesn’t. Instead, this film wants to purely focus on the individuals who lives were shattered by the shooter’s actions, and not take away from their stories, by trying to justify the killer’s actions.

Tower has a strong structure that lends itself to be intense and gripping. There is no foreboding beginning, you are plunged straight into the mid chaos, with Claire being shot. From there we learn how the other characters get involved with the situation, as time passes through in chronological order. The pacing here is fantastic, it’s never too slow, and never too rushed. Everything flows nicely, and you are gripped from the get go, wanting to know what happens with these individuals. The use of archival footage really helps tie everything together, as it grips you even more into this reality. Towards the third act of the documentary, it begins to switch back to live action, rather than animation. This is when we are shown the survivors in the present day and are given their reflections on the situation. It helps drive home more the more personal experience and shows how as individuals they have evolved from that dark day. The final scenes act beautifully as a reminder to the resilience of humanity, and a is a nice juxtaposition to the chaos and sheer grim reality these characters faced before.

‘Tower’ is to be commended for giving the personal stories of the victims of a mass shooting. It is not here to look into why this event happens, it simply acknowledges that it did happen and that peoples lives changed because it happened. The characters stories blended with the animation is so beautiful, that drives every emotion home perfectly, as the colours and style of animation work perfectly. Taking the characters and presenting them all in this manner works so effectively, that you get a sense on how everything was woven together on that chaotic day. This film serves as a reminder for the 1966 shooting, not to remind us all of the killers, but instead showcase us the brave and personal stories of the individuals whose lives were shattered, and the bravery and sacrifice they showed on this dark day.

References
Chang, J. (2016). Film Review: ‘Tower’. Variety. Retrieved 24 August 2017, from http://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/tower-review-sxsw-1201730540/
Dargis, M. (2016). Review: ‘Tower,’ About 1966, Before Mass Shootings Became Routine. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/movies/tower-review-mass-shootings.html?referrer=google_kp&_r=0
Maitland, K. (2016). Tower. Killer Content, Inc.
Snyder, K. (2016). Newtown. Netflix.
