For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Blank City
The Impression:
I’m new to the idea of the No Wave film movement, but I love
a good talking head documentary where directors dig in to
some fascinating subject with a slew of brilliant people
lending their ideas and stories. The subject involves Jim
Jarmusch, John Lurie and Steve Buscemi? Even better.
The Reality:
Blank City doesn’t push the boundaries of what a
documentary can do, but it doesn’t strive to,. Celine
Danhier’s focus on breaking down the creation, the
existence, the end and the reasons behind the No Wave film
movement in the late 1970s in New York is like a laser, and
it becomes more than just a story about a fascinating niche
of cinema history. It becomes a blueprint for the sort of
creative revolutions that time-and-time-again define the
artistic bent of our time. The No Wave movement started out
of nothing, a group of artistically minded people ended up
in the same place (The Bowery) by coincidence and the yen
for artistic freedom. This group of like-minded people
coalesced, started creating, and exploded in to a fully
functioning school of though complete with music, film, and
art. Danhier isn’t here to just heap praises (though she
does do a grand deal of that) she’s here to map the entirety
of No Wave, and the rise and fall is suitably depressing.
Drugs and HIV and the evil of money all slip in to the
picture, and eventually the flashing brilliance of the scene
dims to almost nothing. The picture seems to say speak to
the point that this is the nature of a scene, and the
importance, in hindsight, becomes the influence it passes
forward.
The Lesson:
I’m a sucker for a talking head documentary. About anything.
- Noah Sanders
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