On occasion, a film-goer saunters into a theatre - the lights go down - and they find themselves swept up into a thoroughly thought-provoking celluloid experience.
Such is the case with Blank City - a documentary on the "NO WAVE" film directors who roamed the artsy-fartsy climbs of the lower East-side of New York City - with 8mm cameras in greasy hand in the mid-to-late seventies at the height of the Big Apple's undisputed decline into total debauchery.
The motley crew of visionary artists (lured by cheap rents and squatter's rights) - featured in the well-crafted enlightening documentary - are only now being exalted (in part due to the deliberate efforts of the producers of Blank City who totally believed in this off-beat - but very real - gritty project).
Known to many as the "trangressives", these madcap filmmakers shook the sensibilities at a time when NYC was the hub of a hip culture where music, art, and fashion crossed-over in the lower East side of Manhattan.
This is how the producers describe their film:
"Uncovering New York’s underexposed filmmaking movements circa 1977 to 1987, this provocative documentary begins when New York City was ripe with cheap rent, cheap drugs, a summer hit by “Son of Sam,” and a 25-hour blackout. Captivated by the newly emerging downtown music scene, and inspired by Amos Poe’s 1977 punk documentary “Blank Generation,” two distinct groups of novice filmmakers emerged, hell-bent on capturing the volatile world around them."
And, at any cost!
"We had no money. So we stole our film stock and materials," one director joked in a candid interview.
One week, the young dynamic directors were in the mean streets shooting video - the next - screening their raw images at the St. Mark's Theatre for $2 a pop.
"Everyone had to pay. Especially, when wealthy patrons from uptown started to slip down into the bowery to catch our work when it became all the rage!"
The filmmakers recalled that it was a scary time in New York, too.
"You would be afraid to walk down the street at night for fear of being killed. There were so many empty lots, gutted-out lofts, and run-down tenement buildings."
At a time when the city was on the edge of bankruptcy, landlords had either abandoned their properties, or were inclined to offer up the premises for pittance to the struggling artists who dug in joyously in their inspiring haunts.
"We were itinerant Kings in broken-down castles," one auteur laughingly recalled.
In the scintillating documentary, a number of familiar faces parade across the screen - Deborah Harry - for instance.
The pop singer was a mainstay in the neighborhood during that time frame and often appeared in an experimental film or two.
Steve Buscemi (Fargo) also recalled that he starred in his first low-budget feature in these humble environs.
John Waters felt the movement was so important that he grabbed the opportunity to be interviewed onscreen to offer up commentary on the first wave of true Indie directors in the United States.
I used to reside on 2nd Street on the East Side in 1974 - and believe me - the filmmakers captured the essence of that remarkable era to a "t".
Readers may recall, that I once performed with a show-biz troupe known as the "Hot Peaches" - in an off-off-off Broadway production titled "The Magic Hype" - which was a spoof on the Andy Warhol superstars.
Post: 10/26/2008
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2008/10/blogginginternet-opens-door-to-past.html
During my visit to NYC in those heady days, I struck up a friendship with an infamous Andy Warhol underground film icon by the name of Jackie Curtis.
Post: 11/24/2007
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2007/11/jackie-curtiswarhol-star-on-edge.html
Jackie and I both played (and pursued our respective careers) in the same neighborhood where these early pioneers of independent film emerged.
"The key word in No Wave was "No"," noted film director Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan).
"Anything that was anti-establishment," she recalled gleefully.
"The cultural scene was so bland at that time. That is why the movement sprang up. It was the start of punk, really," chimed in another.
The director for Blank City (Céline Danhier) stumbled on the treasure trove of film footage when she was doing research on a band that was featured in one of the legendary films crafted at the time (featuring the Ramones, I believe).
The documentary weaves an intriguing tale of the times by way of film clips, on-camera interviews, and old newsreels.
And, the plot is intriguing, to say the least.
For example, it is alleged that shortly after the city went bankrupt - real estate developers, city officials, and landlords - engaged in a conspiracy to "toss out" the artists so they could gentrify the lower east side.
In addition to chat about their creative endeavours, the filmmakers tend to wag their tongues on screen incessantly - too - about the illegal evictions and gross rights violations which took place in the aftermath of the 70's free-for-all.
Curiously, the documentary hints that the Reagan administration's failure to address the A.I.D.S. crisis was a deliberate one - designed to kill off all the artists (and revolutionaries) - rising up against the establishment and the status quo during that illustrious ground-breaking era.
The images are gritty, hard-hitting, and thought-provoking.
There are a handful of amusing moments, too.
Film Director Nick Zedd - for instance - noted that he starred in both the male and female lead roles in one scandalous titillating project.
"Vandals defaced the poster. But, I was glad. It got the reaction that I wanted," he laughed wickedly.
At a Q & A after the screening, the director noted that an archive of the films are currently being compiled at NYU.
"There is a definite need to preserve these important documents because they represent the emergence of independent film in this country," she concluded.
The filmmaker is currently seeking distribution for Blank City.
If it plays at a local revival house near you, do catch it!
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