A MARRIED COUPLE: it's reality but not quite as we know it

If you look up A MARRIED COUPLE on imdb you'll find it described as a documentary. Technically this is correct because the film is a non-fiction study of a real life couple and their collapsing marriage.

But if it were to be released today it would categorised as big screen reality tv because it portrays a heightened version of reality that's not quite real. I'm not too keen on that descriptor though because it suggests A MARRIED COUPLE is something akin to 'Jersey Shore' or 'The Real Housewives of where-ever' which it most definitely is not.
I prefer 'actuality drama' which is the name given to the genre in which director Allan King worked for much of his career. This 1969 film follows Toronto couple Billy and Antoinette Edwards over an unspecified period of time as their marriage comes apart under the pressure of their differences. Almost from the outset it's clear that this is not going to be a standard documentary. King uses camera set-ups which obviously required pre-planning and the co-operation of the subjects to walk into shot at just the right moment, belying the sense of spontaneity and the camera as a fly on the wall, both of which are essential components of the documentary genre. Billy and Antoinette are offered up as a real husband and wife yet it's difficult to shake the feeling that they are - at the very least - playing up to the camera, if not acting. And if they're acting they're acting badly.
Their style of speaking to each other sounds almost declamatory and less than entirely natural. It's as if the director's given them a scenario but no script and instructed them to improvise when he calls action. It's much the same process that John Cassavetes used in making his most personal films ('Husbands', 'Shadows' 'Faces et al) but he had the advantage of working with professional actors. Billy and Antoinette succeed in appearing awkward while having a genuine argument, but after a while they warm up to the task and are able to minimise the distraction caused by having a film crew record some of their most intimate moments. Sadly, these don't involve a great deal of affection, they're mostly arguments over anything and everything from the trivial to the profound. This is a couple in crisis and neither of them knows how to resolve it or end it. Neither of them are completely blameless but Billy comes across particularly badly. He's controlling, opinionated, self-centred and quick to belittle his wife. It's difficult to understand how Antoinette was ever able to put him on the pedestal from which he has now toppled. She's frustrated, apparently unfaithful, and unsure what her options are. Other than a shared belief that any other relationship they could leave this one for is likely to end up the same, the only thing holding them together is their young son, the unfortunately named Bogart.
There's plenty here for any husband and wife to reflect on and learn from, most disturbingly the ease with which married life can become a deep rut whose sides are almost too high to climb out of. Billy and Antoinette are to be admired for their willingness to expose their private issues to the camera's scrutiny and allow themselves to be judged by an audience of strangers. By the end I was desperate to find out what happened next, and also to seek out more of Allan King's unique brand of actuality drama.