The Gods Of Times Square (2007/BrinkDVD Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: C+ Documentary: C+
Richard
Sandler gets my respect for spending the time and having the combination of
patience, tolerance and endurance to make what has become the documentary The Gods Of Times Square (2007) by
taping people all over the place in a period of six years. The significance of the timespan is that it
marks the transition when the area went from being wild and raw with all kinds
of unique people and more than a few disturbed ones, to its clean-up and
takeover by entertainment corporations that put new businesses and buildings
there, reviving the once red-light district to make it more family friendly and
profitable.
That
worked, but the question asked is, at what price to the local culture and those
who did not have the money to stay? It
is a legitimate question and it brings up the usual argument of if some people
should be left alone, left to be who they are no mater how hateful or
disturbing and what right people and companies with money have to move in/buy
in to a given area. Since it was
coordinated with Rudy Giuliani’s administration, this extends to the
government.
However,
whatever the moral answers or ethics, the main documentary deals more with the
people acting nuts than those who do not who are not talking hate or obviously
sick, except for maybe a guy running a local eatery. In this, Sandler totally misses the other big
story and one that could offer the larger argument he may have been making
against the big companies becoming more invested there.
If the
argument is that multi-national corporate presence covers up real life debate,
this piece does not achieve that. The
deconstructionist argument noted is nothing new and even sick people who have
fallen through the cracks is the subject for another work trying to find
answers to helping them if that. This
work ignores that too, making it an interesting work at best, even if any sense
of direction it offers is limited.
The 1.33
X 1 image is surprisingly consistent considering the long period of taping, but
the same machine makes the same image, especially in video. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is all the
location sound and to Sandler’s credit, it is a little cleaner than expected,
but cannot escape its many flaws. Extras
include two update pieces that follow along the same lines on a bonus disc with
a progress report and more of those interviews from the main feature on DVD 2. It is worth seeing, but know it nearly
becomes exploitive, until Sandler makes himself part of the story.
- Nicholas Sheffo
