For 9 months from last October until July, we—like many of you at some point in your lives, I’m sure—watched nothing but The Wire. Now, we are not watching Mad Men. We have watched in the last week, and to great recommendation:
Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris, 1978): Morris describes the American Dream through the two experiences of entrepreneurs operating pet cemeteries. He interviews the owners, the employees, the investors, and a number of the families who lose pets who chose to bury their animals in such cemeteries, interspersing the characters so their interviews operate like a dialogue with one another, though two people are never talking to one another within a frame. There are equal parts seriousness, irony and humor throughout and like in all Morris films, you think, “What in the hell could he possibly be asking his interviewees?”
Vernon, Florida (Errol Morris, 1981): Morris interviews individuals in Vernon, Florida, a Northwest town in Florida, highlighting its eccentricities. Featured are an avid turkey hunter, a man with a giant pet turtle, and so on. Interesting to know, is that the film was originally titled Nub City, named after initially focused on residents of the swamp-town who cut off their own limbs to collect insurance money (2/3 of all loss-of-limb claims in the 1950s and 60s came from the Florida Panhandle), but was changed after Morris received numerous death threats. This film is a follow-up (though not a sequel) to Gates of Heaven. A recent article about Vernon, Florida, was published in the St. Petersburg Times and suggests that Morris’ characterization of its eccentricities is not so far off the mark.
Encounters At The End of the World (Werner Herzog, 2007): Herzog and his cameraman travel to Antarctica. Herzog narrates with typical dry, German humor and explains this will not be a penguin film, but one about the dreams and lives of the people who live there. Herzog portrays nearly all men (one woman?) and the stories of how they ended up there, also comparing the construction-zone like living quarters at McMurdo Station a far cry from the conditions endured and way of life of the first Antarctic explorers, primarily Ernest Shackleton. The film is a combination of highlighting natural beauty with the irony of how in our desire to know it better, we also destroy it.
Also, unrelated, but also recommended! Shootbooth (Jacob + Dustin) & friends will be on Prince & West Broadway tomorrow, September 18th from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. in two sod-filled spaces for Park(ing) Day. Also in their space: Brooklyn Raga Association, an original piece by artist / architect / furniture maker Hugh Hayden, beautiful hand-carved booksafes filled with unusual wares courtesy of Subports, an impromptu accordion performance, and Shootbooth’s 10K ballpit making prints for passersby (and jumpers-in). Go stop by and say hello!
