Review of New York, N.Y. (1986) by Rubia — 10 May 2012
I realized that the city fits my personality. I don't like talking to people, I prefer to remain the observer. The city allows me to photograph without having to introduce myself. Cities have stimulated me, made me evolve.
Raymond Depardon, the French photographer, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, went to NY to shoot a movie. Far away, it seemed obvious. Every day at the same time, he went out with his camera. It was winter. The days fell early. Light escaped him every night. Swallowed by the night, he stopped in a cafe where he looked at the street, at the people who went back home after work. He returned to his hotel room. He didn´t manage to shoot that city. It (NY) was too strong. His thoughts were elsewhere. The days passed and he had no film anymore. He got back to Paris and forgot this movie.*.
(...) New York, NY, in which I filmed the city from the aerial tramway connecting Roosevelt Island and Manhattan: the outward trip, a shot of Wall Street at nightfall when it was snowing a bit, and the return trip. The only noise you could hear was a woman's stiletto heels, which reinforced the feeling of solitude, with scenery like in the Fritz Lang film Metropolis. It also remind me of Jean-Luc Godard´s Alphaville.
* narration from the film, but using the third person instead of the original first-person. (not sure about the line "got back to Paris").
This review of New York, N.Y. (1986) was written by Rubia on 10 May 2012.
New York, N.Y. has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
