Louis Theroux and expository documentary

Louis Theroux and expository documentary 

Louis Theroux is widely known as an incredible documentary maker and someone who can effectively and entertainingly tell the stories of both well-known and very niche characters. While Theroux is varied in the characters he interviews and the stories they have, the constant throughout all of his films is that he is the one presenting them. It is through his personal interview style and offbeat British attitude that he has been able to develop a style that covers the lives of huge celebrities such as Jimmy Savile but also the incarcerated criminals of maximum -security prisons. 

Theroux is famous for his hands-on approach to documentary making as he himself puts himself in the situations he finds his contributors in. While some documentary makers might conduct interviews, get B-role footage and use an external narrator to stitch the story together, Theroux builds a personal relationship with the characters of his films and it is through this strong bond between him and his contributors that he is able to gain unprecedented access to places which would otherwise be off-limits such as the homes of drug takers and celebrities alike. In 2000 Louis Theroux made a documentary about Jimmy Savile and the absurdity of his lifestyle. The documentary shows us the bond between the two as Savile is more open with Theroux as he treats him like a friend and the documentary ultimately benefits of this relationship as we see what is supposedly a more honest view of this celebrity. However, in 2016 (after the passing of Savile and multiple sexual harassment claims) Theroux released the documentary: “When Louis met Jimmy” we realise how much had actually been hidden from Louis and his audience. Theroux recounts how close they had been but also shows the audience that despite this close relationship, Savile had been putting on a façade the whole time and the documentary had actually worked to clear Savile’s name and silence victims of his abuse while he was alive. This shows us that while Theroux’s approach presents more of a contributor’s life, it can never guarantee that what we are seeing is completely true. 

Regardless of the positives and negatives of Theroux’s expository style, it is certain that he has cultivated a style throughout his films with the constant in them being him and his personal relationship with contributors and whether you like him or not you cannot deny his success as a filmmaker.