Jean Rouch Uses His Films to Gain a Better Understanding of Anthropology

Overall it can be seen that Rouch uses his role to participate thereby reducing the implicit imbalance of power between subject and filmmaker. In the case for his pursuit of a 'shared anthropology', truth is what steps in front of the camera and what Rouch chooses to highlight. Documentary is rarely a matter of pure observation, however within both methods, there lays an opportunity for revelation even if mediated to greater or lesser degrees by both the camera and Rocuh.
The fact that Rouch never settled on one style of narrative or aesthetic makes it much more hard to insist on a definitive analyses of the significance of one work, especially films such as Les Maîtres Fous. Looking back, it is hard not to be astonished by the opulent affect that Les Maîtres Fous still creates and to see it as an example of Rouch's continuing commitment to making vitality and experimentation and the pursuit of a 'shared anthropology' central features of his film. Hence it can be concluded from the analysis of Rouch's techniques and the films, Chronicle of a Summer, The Human Pyramid, Les Maîtres Fous and Jaguar, that Jean Rouch's claims of pursuing a 'shared anthropology' are indeed valid.
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