The city that never sleeps has had a special and complex relationship with filmmakers over the past century and as a result, has acquired a cinematic identity that reflects all walks of life in this melting pot of a city. Our feature on ‘New York Scherzo’ is one such example, featuring the lives of three diverse musicians from different parts of the world, highlighting the hidden struggle that happens before the fame and fortune. And it’s this hidden aspect of New York that we would like to focus on in the following 4 films.
West Side Story (1961)
This adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical is a remix of Romeo and Juliet and illustrates a young New York in the 1950s. While the film exudes a certain innocence, it highlights something real and hidden below the surface. Arts and culture writer Kailey Rizzo noted how West Side Story shows the depth of cultural divides in New York, via the rumbles between the Sharks and Jets, Puerto Rican and white street gangs, respectively. Set in Manhattan’s Lincoln Square, the film has become an indispensable part of our cultural lexicon. And, compared to the popular stage musical, the screen adaptation is an explosive, cinematic, operatic tour de force.
College Behind Bars
Featuring another largely hidden part of New York, Lynn Novick’s documentary features the inmates of several maximum and medium-security prisons in New York state. College Behind Bars documents the imprisoned men and women who are struggling to earn their degrees in the rigorous prison education program, the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). The film was shot over a period of four years and Novick’s aim is to make the viewer aware of this largely unknown world that has produced more than 500 alumni which have enabled almost 94% of its graduates to remain outside of prison. The film also shows how the program challenges the prioritization of punishment over education and shines a light on the new hope for prison reform through education.
Rounders (1998)
This cult hit is a hidden view into the underground pro poker scene of New York and Atlantic City, where everyone knows the big names and key players. Rounders is John Dal’s exploration of the seedy dark side of high-stakes poker and after 20 years it’s the film’s cultural legacy that still endures. In their feature on Dal’s films, Decider explains that it was thanks to Rounders that poker became an acceptable form of entertainment. In fact, the film was a catalyst for poker moving out of the backrooms of private clubs and becoming one of the most popular global casino games in the world, both online and in brick and mortar venues. This PPPoker review shows how new brands are helping drive the growth in the industry, especially in Europe and Asia with new tournament formats. The massive global success enjoyed by poker today can be attributed in large part to Rounders which introduced the world to the allure of poker and popularized terms like “nut straight,” “the flop,” and “splash the pot.”
The Booksellers (2019)
Featured at the 2019 New York Film Festival, The Booksellers showcases the hidden, behind-the-scenes look at the New York rare book world. D.W. Young’s portrayal reveals a little-known world, a community of rare book dealers and collectors crammed in small New York City apartments and historic buildings, desperately trying to keep the printed word alive. The documentary fascinatingly delves into an obscure way of life, spotlighting pioneering figures and contemporary authors like Fran Lebowitz. While the film has a light-hearted attitude and includes amusing profiles of more eccentric collectors, the overall message is that while the death of books may be overrated, there’s no denying that in the last few decades they have been disappearing and making way for the Kindle generation.
