The January 2013 issue of the APA’s Planning Magazine features my review of the 2010 film, Waste Land, originally reviewed here on UrbanFilm.org. Click here to see it.
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (Chad Freidrichs, 2011)
There are a number of important films that tell a story that you’ve never heard before; THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH, on the other hand, tells a story you’ve heard many times over, but does so in a way that makes you stop and question what you thought you knew, leaving you in a state of mind to keep thinking about it long after the film ends.
In brief, the film recounts the history of the now-infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing project, through the voices of past residents (as well as a couple notable experts in housing policy and urban history, including both Robert Fishman and Joseph Heathcoat). The details of this story are known by all: built in the early 1950s in Saint Louis in an attempt to eliminate slums and provide new modern housing for the city’s anticipated post-war growth (and perhaps also maintain color lines in this deeply-segregated city), the project soon came to symbolize the ills of large public housing projects; by 1972—less than two decades after opening—work began to raze all 33 structures at the site. The dramatic images of the demolition—a huge public housing project literally imploding—now serve as haunting reminder of this past, a visual shorthand for the failure of modern planning and the sad shift from noble ambition to national resignation.
“Haunting” is a good word to describe the atmosphere of the film as well: the camera lingers on empty corridors and barren trees; crying and speechless men and women, once children who called the towers home; grainy images of times now gone. But rather than offering up a resigned funeral dirge—or even a reproachful eulogy—over the death of public housing, the film takes time to explore the space created by this loss, probing for meaning like a tongue forever seeking out the hole left by a lost tooth. Through the stories and recollections of people whose lives were shaped by Pruitt-Igoe, we come to share the fears and the joys it once housed, revisiting the timeline in a reflective, non-linear way. Like Kurosawa’s classic RASHOMON, one senses that there is no simple answer to this puzzle of Pruitt-Igoe, no absolute lesson to be learned from this past, but rather many questions to continue to ask; the “myth” to be busted is that we can pin all of the problems on a single element (the design, the density, the racist bureaucracy and white flight, the drugs and gangs, the breakdown of the family in northern Black cities, etc.) and prescribe a pat prescription so “this will never happen again.”
At a pivotal moment, Brian King (a former resident and the real moral anchor for the film) describes the day his older brother was shot in front of their building: watching his mother—helpless and overwhelmed and grief-stricken—frantically trying in vain to shove her son’s viscera back into the hole in his chest. In the end, at least for the space of the movie, we feel the same mix of loss, frustration, anger, and helpless over the destruction of Pruitt-Igoe—wishing more had been done, but knowing full well that the problems facing cities in the 1960s and 70s were bigger than one housing project alone could solve.
MIT IAP 2013 Series: Really Long Films
Every January, MIT suspends regular classes and hold the “Independent Activity Period,” or IAP. In recognition of this season, our ongoing Urban Planning Film Series continues with a twist: since there are no classes, problem sets, or other distractions to contend with, all month long the series will feature some of the great long (or even super-long) films.
All films open to the general public, free, first-come/first-served; many shows include previews, shorts, and/or other video emphera. Special thanks to MIT’s Rotch Library for help tracking down titles and rights and MIT A/V Services for troubleshooting the tech with us.
- WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE (2006): Subtitled “A Requiem in Four Acts,” Spike Lee’s heart-rending portrait of New Orleans in the wake of the destruction manages to be both intimate and epic. Originally aired as a four-part HBO miniseries, the film tells the heartbreaking personal stories of those who endured this harrowing ordeal and survived to tell the tale of misery, despair and triumph. The documentary looks at a community that has survived death, devastation and disease at every turn. Yet, somehow, amidst the ruins, the people of New Orleans are finding new hope and strength as the city rises from the ashes, buoyed by their own resilience and a rich cultural legacy. In the words of the director, “New Orleans is fighting for its life. These are not people who will disappear quietly—they’re accustomed to hardship and slights, and they’ll fight for New Orleans.” Directed by Spike Lee, 255 minutes. Thur 1/17, 2pm, MIT Room 3-133
- HALF THE SKY (2012): Originally aired as a four-hour television series for PBS and international broadcast, shot in 10 countries (Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the U.S.), this epic work—based on the book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn—introduces women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, and fighting bravely to change them. Traveling with intrepid reporter Nicholas Kristof and “A-list” celebrity advocates Meg Ryan, America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde, the film reflects viable and sustainable options for empowerment and offers an actionable blueprint for transformation. Directed by Maro Chermayeff, 240 minutes. Thurs 1/24, 2pm, MIT Room 3-133
- PUBLIC HOUSING (1997): This cinema-verite documentary captures daily life at the Ida B.~Wells public housing development in Chicago. The film illustrates some of the experiences of people living in conditions of extreme poverty. The events shown include the work of the tenants council, street life, the role of police, job training programs, drug education, teenage mothers, dysfunctional families, elderly residents, nursery school and after school teenage programs and the activities of the city, state and federal governments in maintaining and changing public housing. “…Wiseman salts his film with example after example of pride and enterprise. For every long-lens shot of men on the corner snorting cocaine, there are shots of chess games, sewing circles and laundry hung lovingly on the line. For every bureaucratese-speaking clerk from CHA, there is a sympathetic plumber or a roach exterminator who can’t do enough for an appreciative tenant…. Frederick Wiseman … has an eye for subtle social distinctions” (John McCarron, The Chicago Tribune).
As a special treat, the film also contains what filmmaker Errol Morris has described as one the best condom demonstration in film history (“Fred has a gift for filming condom demonstrations…”). Directed by Fred Wiseman, 195 minutes. Thurs 1/31, 2pm, MIT Room 3-133
MIT Urban Film Series: Fall 2012
Now that the students are back at MIT, we’ve started up our Fall 2012 Urban Planning Film Series. Most of the films in this semester’s lineup came out in the past few years, but we’ll be ending with a classic that never goes out of style. Special thanks to our wonderful MIT Rotch Library for help tracking down titles and securing rights. Here’s what we’ll be watching:
- THE PARKING LOT MOVIE (2010): A documentary on the lives of parking lot attendants who work at The Corner Parking Lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. Special guest: Professor Eran Ben-Joseph, MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning. Directed by Meghan Eckman. Thur 9/13, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
- DARK DAYS (2000): Independent filmmaker Marc Singer explores the underground world inhabited by residents of New York’s underground tunnels. Music by DJ Shadow. Thur 9/20, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
- THE LAST TRAIN HOME (2009): Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos, as millions of city-dweller attempt to return to their rural homes by train for Chinese New Year. Special guest: Professor Emeritus Tunney Lee, MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning. Co-sponsored by the MIT China Urban Development Group. Directed by Lixin Fan. Wed 9/26, 6pm, MIT Room 7-429
- THE CITY DARK (2011): A documentary about light pollution and the disappearing night; “a search for night on a planet that never sleeps.” Special guest: Susanne Seitinger, City Innovations Manager, Philips Color Kinetics. Co-sponsored by the PBS “POV” Community Network. Directed by Ian Cheney. Thur 10/4, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
- LAND OF OPPORTUNITY (2010): Juxtaposing the perspectives of protagonists from different walks of life, this project reveals how the story of post-Katrina New Orleans is also the story of urban America. Special guest: Karl Seidman, MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning, with a live video-chat with Director Luisa Dantas following the film. Wed 10/10, 6pm, MIT Room 7-429
- THE AGE OF STUPID (2009): A man living in the devastated future of 2055 looks back at footage from our time and asks, “why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?” Directed by Franny Armstrong. Thur 10/18, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
- MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES (2006): Follows Edward Burtynsky through China as he documents the evidence and effects of a massive industrial revolution through stunningly beautiful large-scale photographs of quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams. Co-sponsored by the MIT China Urban Development Group. Directed by Jennifer Baichwal. Wed 10/24, 6pm, MIT Room 7-429
- FOOD-AND-FARMING DOUBLE FEATURE: In honor of Thanksgiving we’ll be screening two films related to the food we eat and the people who grow it. Thur 11/15, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133:
- TRUCK FARM (2011) tells the story of a new generation of quirky urban farmers in New York City. Directed by Ian Cheney.
- DIRT! The Movie (2009) investigates the miraculous substance we all take for granted, and asks, “How can humans reconnect to dirt?” Narrated by Jaimie Lee Curtis, inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth; directed by Gene Rosow (40 minute version).
- STREET FIGHT (2005): Chronicles the bare-knuckles race for Mayor of Newark, N.J. between Cory Booker, a 32-year-old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law School grad, and Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent and undisputed champion of New Jersey politics. Directed by Marshall Curry. Academy Award Nominee, Best Documentary (2005). Special guest: Professor Phil Thompson, MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning. Thur 11/29, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
- THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH (2011): Tells the story of the transformation of the American city in the decades after World War II, through the lens of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing development and the St. Louis residents who called it home. Directed by Chad Freidrichs. Co-sponsored by the Boston Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC–Boston), the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), and the Mel King Institute for Community Building (MKI). Thur 12/6, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
- PLAY TIME (1967): “With every inch of its superwide frame crammed with hilarity and inventiveness, Playtime is a lasting testament to a modern age tiptoeing on the edge of oblivion.” Directed by Jacques Tati. Thur 12/13, 6pm, MIT Room 3-133
See individual links above for more about each showing, including film descriptions and info about special guests. Be sure to check back here for changes and updates, as well as reviews as we roll the films out.
Kickstart This Film: Metropolis (2012), by Tides of Flame
Most of the reviews on this site describe films that already exist, but from time to time we highlight stories on upcoming or proposed projects. One particularly exciting development in recent years is the potential for “crowd-sourced film production” enabled by sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Unfortunately, it can also be time-consuming to sift through all the projects listed to find those of real interest to viewers of urban film. Here’s one that’s worth a quick look, and possibly even a small donation.
With a Kickstarter pitch-page that reads like a cross between a prophetic bible tract and the out-takes from a William S. Burroughs rant, this film was bound to catch my attention. Requesting only an extremely modest (and symbolically spooky!) budget of $666, the filmmakers — known only as Tides of Flame, “a collective of radical film makers from the Pacific Northwest” — are proposing to create an “anti-commercial” “negative production,” using film to alter the way we think about cities, capital, production, networks, modernism, and reality itself.
The description of the project just seethes with ambition. In their own manifestoic words:
“In Fritz Lang’s classic, METROPOLIS (1927), the rulers of the
city and the workers of its sewers come to an understanding at the
end of the film. The workers will act as the body, the rulers will
act as the head, and the intellectual will act as the heart. Our
film will destroy this broken harmony forever.”
Continue reading “Kickstart This Film: Metropolis (2012), by Tides of Flame”