lsmarand

I saw the movie two days ago and thought about it for a while. It felt really dragging and depressing. I would say one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. And it it was not at all necessary. I think the director set to make a movie about an icon of the peace movement in NY and he found a depressed man with a lot of stories. Instead of rising to the occasion and asking questions that would have revealed a really amazing life story and many amazing life stories intertwined with the Mayor's, who was at some point a catalyst for an entire generation, the director became interested instead in the minutia of a depressed old man's life and decided that his role was to deconstruct a hero and and a peace movement symbol. It is sickening and it felt like the director took pleasure in recording long hours of an old man's sad lonely life (who believed the film maker was interested in his story)- and sad and lonely life for good reasons, because the freedom he fought for is nowhere to be seen..There is about a half hour of the movie when this man is shown in his underwear, and the camera lingers on that side of his body for an awkward amount of time..It was cruel and mean to show a man who has done amazing things in his life with such cold detail. If someone was to set a camera on a homeless man's every day life minute to minute and focus on all the ugly and stinky details of poverty, depression and old age combined, that would describe well the atmosphere of the movie. It is a disgusting attempt to get attention by exposing a cultural icon and degrading them while still alive. I don't understand why the family and friends consented and allowed this film. It felt cold and mean and judgmental.The director failed to tell an interesting life story, and he was one of the last people to talk to and get close to this man, This movie could have been great, with another director. This guy did not know what he was looking for , or how to make a movie. It seems that he patched together materials he could get easy access to, and glossed over the interesting past because he only had photography and couldn't figure an interesting way to convey the story. Plus he had a baby, so the final product may have been his decision to wrap up the movie quickly with the material he already had.Watch this if you want to learn how not to make a documentary.