Monica in Black and White

We hear phone conversations. On the black screen, they are transcribed in white letters. ‘Well what do you call it?’, a man asks. Monica answers ‘We fooled around’. Did Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky actually do it? That is and remains the question. Even after this documentary. During all the procedures around her affair with Clinton, Lewinsky abided by her oath of secrecy. When it was cancelled in January 2001, she agreed to answer questions for this documentary, at a charge. The filmmakers turned the confession into an all-American show. For three days, Lewinsky takes a seat on the stage of a theatre. She faces an audience of students, scientists and other curious people, who can ask her anything. This Lewinsky show, captured in black-and-white, is fascinating. The carefully made-up and bungling leading actress takes place quasi-relaxed on the edge of the stage and acts the innocent party who landed in an evil world. The audience eats out of her hand and reacts increasingly sympathetically to this paragon of stained purity. As if this Lewinsky show did not offer sufficient drama, the filmmakers spice it up with (black-and-white) images of the dress rehearsal, archive footage of the various highlights of the affair, comments by dozens of Lewinsky experts and many interior and exterior shots of the places where the affair dragged on. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)