Part Two of our series joins a philosophical quest for the "subject" to the structural context of the documentary. Contemporary inquiries find the notion of a coherent, mediated subject dubious, thus the delivery of truth becomes its own dilemma. Strategies to overcome this problem often rely on oblique approaches to the placement of the subject within a discourse. In John Goss' He's Like, men, set within their workplace, humorously describe their boyfriends' habits, foibles and quirks. Oddly, the mysterious mates are neither named nor pictorially presented. As the documentary proceeds, information accumulates, telling us more about the speaker than the spoken of. The deflecting technique of He's Like creates a receding topic, until the foreground is dominated by a newly discovered subject, the on-camera commentators. Stephen Roszell's Writing in Water uses a similar tack, building mystery and suspense out of absence. The tape documents a strange event that has taken place on a Kentucky farm where an old friend's visit turns into a threatening nightmare. Roszell observes the farm family, while examining the details of an event we know only in reflection. As the "friend's" story dissipates, Writing in Water becomes a portrait of people under stress. Ardele Lister's Split revolves around a young, female runaway who trespasses upon the sacred terrain between interviewer and interviewee. The bratty delinquent commandeers the taping process, refusing to be the passive subject. When Lister loses control over this feisty fugitive, she reveals the degree to which complicity is necessary for the representation of reality. Steve Seid