In 1977, Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman made "News from Home." Shot around the city, the film consists of long, drawn-out everyday scenes of urban life.
Here's a fragment of a ride on the subway. Initially, the riders are wary of the camera, staring it down. But then they adjust to its presence, as New Yorkers do to strange situations, and ride along ignoring it.
News From Home, 1977 - Chantal Akerman (Fragmento) from Ronaldo Entler on Vimeo.
The entire film is much longer and includes many street scenes. Someday I'd like to see the whole thing--unfortunately, I just missed it at MOMA. Here's the museum's description:
"Described by Melissa Anderson as 'one of the most unheralded portraits of the city,' News from Home is as much a symphony of urban geometric abstraction as it is a poetic diaspora tale. Inspired by the letters she received from her mother while living in New York, Akerman returned to the city after an absence and filmed its streets with her Pentax camera. 'Although Akerman’s New York is largely a city of non-sites—empty Tribeca alleys, dingy Midtown parking lots, an abandoned gas station tucked into the crook of another building’s wall—the symmetry of her composition gives it the classic aura of ancient Rome' (J. Hoberman). From the eternal city Akerman reads her mother’s letters, conjuring a sense of distant voices and still lives."
Thanks to commenter alberchico, here's the full movie:
News From Home (1977) from Dave Chino on Vimeo.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
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9 comments:
It's great - there's a complete pan of a cobblestoned 2nd Ave. in front of Veselka to Bazynsky at night.
Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention.
Luckily, the entire film is available on DVD, with special features, through Criterion. It costs $35.
Go to Criterion's website and search for News from Home.
Those "non-sites", as they are so derisively and dismissively referred to in the Hoberman write-up, were some of the many small pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that added up to make New York great. Empty alleys? An abandoned gas station? What I would not give to still have this city transplant- and tourist-free enough that parts of it would be empty or abandoned.
The entire film is included in the "Chantal Akerman in the Seventies" box set that Criterion put out a few years ago. Truly a great and haunting snapshot of NYC, one of the best I've seen. Unfortunately there are no extras but there are other great films included. Barnes & Noble is having a 50% off sale on all Criterions until the end of the month.
http://vimeo.com/47911048
You can use this free program to download it:
http://www.videograbber.net/
Every moment of that subway ride is fantastic, the doors permanently open between cars, people reading and not a screen in sight, the flickering lights, no talking, polyester clothes. Wonderful moments.
Agree with you, Gojira. Miss those long walks through the City back in the days when...
So glad you posted "News From Home." And yes, loved the 2nd Ave. shot. Took me a minute, but then recognized it. Prefer then to now. Fortunately, B&H is still there, a bit of living history.
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