A Sunday, a lovely Sunday, no complaints, none. Rather, 2 films to praise. Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary directed by Andrew Jarecki about the Friedman family, of Great Neck, Long Island, New York. In 1987, the father, Arnold, was arrested for possession of child pornography, then accused, along with his youngest son, Jesse, of molesting - in terrible and very imaginative ways - a host of children taking a computer class he ran in his home. All through this, one son video taped everything - Jesse audio-taped everything - so their miseries were recorded, and the oldest son, David, gave them to the filmmakers to use in this film. Jarecki alternates this footage with interviews with various participants - David and Jesse and their mother, the prosecutors and police, especially - also a couple of the alleged victims. What comes out is a mystery. Arnold is evasive and strange - and might have done something terrible, though it's hard to say. He does seem to have been a bastard to his wife, and she distant and cold on her own. Meanwhile, the only thing that seems certain is that Arnold and Jesse did not do what they were sent away for. This doesn't seem to have occurred to the law, who are represented by the judge who declares on camera that she never had a doubt that they were guilty. Mind you - neither Arnold or Jesse were ever tried.... That would seem to be a moot point.

The other film is Guy Maddin's latest, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary. This is a version of the Dracula story, first adapted into a ballet (by Mark Godden), then filmed by Maddin. It's made in the style of an expressionistic silent, taken a few steps beyond mere pastiche - it is ravishiingly beautiful, the movements and combination of movement and camera work and editing are balletic and beautiful as well. Dracula and his victims get all the best moves - Van Helsing, Lucy's suitors and Jonathon Harker are a joyless lot, who never get beyond supporting roles. Maddin provides delicious intertitles - "Renfield! Eater of Bugs!" - and his usual mix of dry wit, surrealism, high romanticism and creeping dread.