Grenfell Tower doco is one of the most compelling, most human pieces of TV ever

TVNZ
Grenfell documentary trailer.

REVIEW: Television has always had a power.

However, unlike the reality hellhole that our network channels seem fit to bestow on us, news images remain the strongest.

Whether it's that grainy Zapruder film footage of JFK getting shot or the horrific images of a plane hurtling into the side of the World Trade Centre, these are the pictures which endure for the most tragic of reasons.

So it is with Grenfell tower, the 24-storey apartment block which was innocuous in the west London's skyline, but which became infamous when 72 lives were lost in a fire that should never happened.

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Grenfell, the documentary about the London tower fire, never loses sight of the people affected.
JACK TAYLOR / GETTY
Grenfell, the documentary about the London tower fire, never loses sight of the people affected.

BBC doco Grenfell, which airs on TVNZ 1 this Sunday, manages to achieve something extraordinary in its cataloguing of events - it never loses sight of the people whose lives were irrevocably changed during that night in June 2017, but it wisely stays away from a polemic about the societal schism created in its wake.

The result is easily one of the most compelling, most human and most tragic pieces of television you'll witness this year.

The official death toll of the fire in Grenfell Tower in west London is 72.
LEON NEAL/ GETTY IMAGES
The official death toll of the fire in Grenfell Tower in west London is 72.

Over its 90 minute run time, BAFTA award-winning director Ben Anthony (who also catalogued events of London's terrorist attack in 7/7: One Day In London) keeps his camera on the working-class residents who survived and who wanted to talk to him - and it's all the more riveting because of it.

Opening with what appears to be everyday people taking a seat in front of the camera, clearly with more going on behind their eyes than they initially want to convey, Anthony's balanced piece then folds in the copious and bountiful social media footage of the event into the narrative, and creates something that will easily be the most haunting piece of TV witnessed this year.

Using footage from the event, and from social media, Ben Anthony's doco builds a compelling narrative and refrains from passing judgement.
DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES
Using footage from the event, and from social media, Ben Anthony's doco builds a compelling narrative and refrains from passing judgement.

The survivors share their experiences of either getting out or racing to the tower to find families trapped. It's eye-watering and numbing stuff to be sure, but the resolve of their humanity in the face of what's happened and what continues to play out is nothing short of humbling. 

I defy you to not be moved by the numerous accounts we bear privileged insight to.

Whether it is the story of one resident who was driving from the airport when his wife called to tell him of the fire - he still found time to buy chocolates from the airport for his children. Sadly, they never received them. Or life-long resident of Grenfell Tower, Lorraine Beadle, who says going back to her fourth floor flat after the fire to say goodbye is the worst decision she's ever made, and how it has denied her the closure she desperately wanted. These are real stories, presented without showy touches, and which pack a power hard to ignore.

Single-handedly, yet utterly respectfully, Grenfell packs more emotion into every frame as it plays out. 

It's hard-viewing admittedly, but it's a timely reminder of the power of the camera and the immutable strength of what documentary making could - and should - be. 

The one takeaway from the Grenfell doco is the unswerving sense of community - and how humans react when faced with utter tragedy.
The one takeaway from the Grenfell doco is the unswerving sense of community - and how humans react when faced with utter tragedy.

Not once does Anthony stoop to emotive mawkish manipulation - he's smart enough to know the survivors' words and their diversity say more than any documentary-maker's flair could do. He's also wise enough to let the actions of the UK Government and local council's delays speak for themselves.

In tragedy, we find unity; and in Grenfell, thanks to Anthony's astute eye and seemingly simple editing, the unfolding sense of the power of community in the face of insurmountable odds can't be brushed aside. 

It's the one powerful and yet resolutely humbling takeaway from a defining event, that one year on, still denies so many closure, and a doco which deserves to be seen by everyone.

  • Grenfell airs TVNZ 1, Sunday 8.30pm

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