I saw this movie last night followed by a Q&A with the director and editor. Here are 10 problems my friends Emily and Zann and I had with this film:
1. movie quote: "the city is not a place, it's a thing." you're telling me that little 5 points or the squares of Savannah are not places? why do so many people prefer to live in cities if they are just things?
2. the director referencing corbusier, the worst urban planner in history, as his source for this comment during the Q&A. "corbusier said that cities are machines." that's exactly why corbusier sucked, he would demolish vibrant places and build lifeless towers in a park because he didn't recognize or appreciate the value of place. two words: jane jacobs.
3. the hypocrisy of the director living in Atlanta while making a film about why cities are so bad.
4. movie quote: "the highway made the city possible." were there no cities before highways were built in the 1950's? he showed an animation of Atlanta developing around the highway. but Atlanta developed in the 1800's around rail lines and the highways later cut through and around the city. minor chronological error.
5. as Zann said, romanticizing the past: the historical south wasn't all pristine figurines happily dancing and holding hands. one word: slavery.
6. movie quote: "whether you are a gentleman farmer or a mindless drone." is there no in between here? are all city residents mindless drones? again the hypocrisy with him living in Atlanta. and again the romanticizing of "gentlemen" plantation owners of the past.
7. as Emily said, this movie could have been 30 minutes long, there were at least 6 times when the screen went black that i prayed he would roll the credits. during the Q&A he mentioned that this film took him 10 years to make and it's obvious why; it's amorphous.
8. the lack of a coherent argument. as Emily said, he stayed "on the surface" the whole time, never really digging deep enough to make his argument believable or respectable.
9. the completely slanted contrast of showing natural settings in rich color to represent the country and then black and white images of parking garages, stairwells and highways to represent the city.
10. if corbusier and saxby chambliss made a sequel to koyaanisqatsi inspired by donnie darko, this would be it.
1. movie quote: "the city is not a place, it's a thing." you're telling me that little 5 points or the squares of Savannah are not places? why do so many people prefer to live in cities if they are just things?
2. the director referencing corbusier, the worst urban planner in history, as his source for this comment during the Q&A. "corbusier said that cities are machines." that's exactly why corbusier sucked, he would demolish vibrant places and build lifeless towers in a park because he didn't recognize or appreciate the value of place. two words: jane jacobs.
3. the hypocrisy of the director living in Atlanta while making a film about why cities are so bad.
4. movie quote: "the highway made the city possible." were there no cities before highways were built in the 1950's? he showed an animation of Atlanta developing around the highway. but Atlanta developed in the 1800's around rail lines and the highways later cut through and around the city. minor chronological error.
5. as Zann said, romanticizing the past: the historical south wasn't all pristine figurines happily dancing and holding hands. one word: slavery.
6. movie quote: "whether you are a gentleman farmer or a mindless drone." is there no in between here? are all city residents mindless drones? again the hypocrisy with him living in Atlanta. and again the romanticizing of "gentlemen" plantation owners of the past.
7. as Emily said, this movie could have been 30 minutes long, there were at least 6 times when the screen went black that i prayed he would roll the credits. during the Q&A he mentioned that this film took him 10 years to make and it's obvious why; it's amorphous.
8. the lack of a coherent argument. as Emily said, he stayed "on the surface" the whole time, never really digging deep enough to make his argument believable or respectable.
9. the completely slanted contrast of showing natural settings in rich color to represent the country and then black and white images of parking garages, stairwells and highways to represent the city.
10. if corbusier and saxby chambliss made a sequel to koyaanisqatsi inspired by donnie darko, this would be it.