Nobody’s Business

The basic foundation of narrative revolves around a writer placing themselves behind the character, and withholding the ultimate outcome till the end. Alan Berliner’s infotainment film, Nobody’s Business, coincides with John Grierson’s definition of documentary storytelling as an “artistic representation of reality”. By examining the beginning montage and the interviewer’s relationship as the story progresses within Nobody’s Business, one can magnetically embrace where the story is going based upon directorial creativity.

To begin with, the opening sequence of Nobody’s Business secretly foreshadows the central theme of the entire narrative. Without delay the audience is warmly greeted with archival video containing an overly crowded scene of businessmen moving their heads as if they appear to be looking for something. Instantly, the screen flashes to different archival footage depicting a bleak barren landscape with one single tree in the center. As this montage closes with a clock timer counting downwards, the audience is still unaware of exactly what this story entails. Alan Berliner intentionally challenged the audience with questions in the first minute of the film. Who are these men? What is the significance of the tree? As a result, these queries have established a suspenseful cliff-hanging story which challenges the audience to keep watching in order for answers to become clear.

Next, the interviewer’s relationship with both the audience and the subject of the story aid progression towards a conclusion. In other words, how a filmmaker engages the audience should provide clues in an entertaining fashion to peak interest in the story. Alan Berliner created a comedic tone throughout Nobody’s Business, which generated human emotion. One example takes place at the one minute mark where a picture of a man is shown in front of a microphone. Oscar Berliner (not known to the audience yet) states, “I’m just an ordinary guy who’s lived an ordinary life. I was in the Army, I got married, I raised a family and worked hard. I had my own business. That’s all. That’s nothing to make a picture about” (Berliner). These few lines delivered in a sarcastic manner are keys to the questions previously asked which allow the story to move forward. Another example of story progression and the mood of the film take place at the eight minute mark. Oscar Berliner states, “If you intend to make this a focal point, of a motion picture, you are building up a flop”(Berliner). It is important to realize that Alan Berliner has chosen to interview and film his own father portraying him in a way only he could. To put it another way, the conversation that takes place between Alan Berliner and his father are almost a dinner table type of family squabble.

Ultimately, as the film proceeds the jocular spirit continues with bells ringing, scenes of a boxing match, and a house falling off a cliff as divorce is mentioned. Alan Berliner succeeded in making a story about his family ancestry engaging to the world by adding humor and creativity to Nobody’s Business. He even goes as far as to change the type of bell to a doorbell around the twenty-four minute mark as his childhood family life is discussed. All in all, it should be noted that a good storyteller/film succeeds when attention to every detail from the beginning, middle, and end has been exhausted.

Works Cited

Nobody’s Business. Dir. Alan Berliner. Perf. Oscar Berliner. 1996.