(CNN)Ronan Farrow's dogged reporting astir now-convicted movie mogul Harvey Weinstein earned him a Pulitzer Prize, arsenic good arsenic a publication and podcast. "Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes" nicely translates the spoken and written connection into a six-part HBO docuseries, 1 that plays similar a journalistic thriller with Farrow arsenic its star.
The half-hour episodes (two volition aerial each week) interruption the communicative down into idiosyncratic components, opening with Weinstein's accusers, among them Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who wore a ligament and recorded Weinstein during a 2nd gathering aft helium had allegedly groped her. A abstracted occurrence focuses connected 2 erstwhile Weinstein assistants, their experiences and decisions to yet talk out.
In consequent installments, Farrow talks to different journalists who had heard and pursued rumors astir Weinstein's behavior, specified arsenic Ken Auletta, who was instrumental successful guiding Farrow to the New Yorker aft NBC -- wherever helium was employed -- declined to tally the story.
"To constitute astir Harvey was to marque Harvey mad," writer Kim Masters recalls successful an interrogation with Farrow, citing her ain attempts to study connected rumors that Weinstein had assaulted women.
Despite the signaling successful Gutierrez's case, New York prosecutors declined to prosecute Weinstein successful her case, citing a deficiency of evidence. But successful the cases of 2 different accusers, Weinstein was recovered blameworthy past twelvemonth of a first-degree transgression intersexual enactment and third-degree rape successful New York. In June, a justice approved his extradition to Los Angeles to look further charges.
Weinstein denies the allegations leveled against him successful New York and Los Angeles. "Harvey Weinstein has ever maintained that each 1 of his carnal encounters passim his full beingness person been consensual," his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer told CNN past autumn erstwhile the caller charges against him were filed successful Los Angeles County. He is appealing his convictions successful New York, for which helium was sentenced to 23 years successful prison.
Two episodes absorption specifically connected however the journalistic sausage gets made. In the first, Farrow raises questions astir his interactions with NBC implicit its determination not to aerial the story, with the web having disputed his mentation of events. A 2nd highlights his enactment with New Yorker information checkers, arsenic good arsenic the magazine's editors and lawyer, and the precocious nights spent agonizing implicit each item and connection choices regarding "rape" versus "sexual assault."
Last year, New York Times columnist Ben Smith wrote a elaborate investigation of Farrow's reporting for the New Yorker and successful his book, saying that helium "delivers narratives that are irresistibly cinematic ... and often omits the complicating facts and inconvenient details that whitethorn marque them little dramatic."
Farrow defended his work, saying successful a connection to The New York Times that helium brings "caution, rigor, and nuance" to his reporting. New Yorker exertion David Remnick told the insubstantial Farrow's enactment was "scrupulous, tireless, and, supra all, fair."
The benignant of "Catch and Kill" intelligibly capitalizes connected the mode successful which Farrow conjures vivid scenes similar thing retired of a movie. The series' producer-directors, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, person flooded the situation of fundamentally turning vigor into TV by employing tiny ocular and dependable cues, similar the representation of a portion solid and eerie euphony to augment Farrow's statement of a clandestine gathering successful a bar.
Beyond illustrating the painstaking enactment that went into getting radical to cooperate, Farrow examines however Weinstein allegedly alternately utilized fearfulness and wealth to soundlessness accusers and quash stories, portion seeking to charm those who couldn't beryllium bullied oregon paid off.
"Catch and Kill" doesn't truly mean beforehand the communicative arsenic overmuch arsenic repackage portion of the publication (fully titled "Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and A Conspiracy to Protect Predators") for TV, and those who mightiness not person work it, successful a precise effectual way.
A scripted movie astir the New York Times reporters whose enactment paralleled Farrow's reporting is in the works done Brad Pitt's accumulation company, based connected the publication "She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement." The movies and TV stemming from the #MeToo epoch frankincense continues.
The question that has often arisen regarding Weinstein is however his alleged behaviour was allowed to persist for truthful long. Perhaps foremost, this HBO bid concisely illustrates the hurdles that had to beryllium cleared successful bid to bring it to airy astatine all.
"Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes" premieres July 12 astatine 9 p.m. ET connected HBO, which, similar CNN, is simply a part of WarnerMedia.
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