With Love to the Person Next to Me

I found this movie on late night TV a few years ago and it really struck a chord with me. The story relates to 3 main characters, Gail, Sid and Wallace. All three are financially burdened and trying to make ends meet whilst living in rundown conditions. Gail has a job at a shoe-making factory with the small time thief, Sid. Wallace is the man who lives next door to them. He's a cab driver with a love for making apple cider. But, the most interesting thing about this quiet man is that he tapes the conversations of his taxi clients, playing them back to himself after each shift. One could easily miss the subtle objectives of this film, and it pays to 'go with the flow' to appreciate what it's saying. A realistic, gentle film tinged with melancholy and undercurrents of pathos. It's the study of a man, just outside the social order, looking and listening in, and in turn, (one feels) understanding in far greater depth what it is to be human, in all its chaos and splendor. A rare gem!