Good Grief! After nearly 3 and a half hours inside the inner workings of Madison Square Garden, it feels like I myself have worked there. Covering every imaginable event under the sun; from Ringling Brothers Circus, Job Fairs, Pro Hockey, Salt & Pepper show rehearsal, Pro Wrestling, Mary J Blige concert, AKC Dog Show, Pro Basketball, NAACP meeting, Women's Pro Boxing, Ice Dancing, Puff Daddy concert, all the way to the Coffee Industry conference, Cat Afficianado conference, Evangelical Church conference and private Jewish Basketball event - one is left with the feeling The Garden never even closes!
All the action of these events are filmed as professionally as any major news outlet would cover them, but with Wiseman's brilliant directorial eye to the people in the stands, the crew on the ground, in the rafters - even the shadows of people and objects that are cast on the floor. As those familiar with this director's work well know, he is the undisputed American master of Cinema Verite. His eye is as unflinching as always for those behind the scenes: the custodians, security officers, prep cooks, concession workers, ticket takers, bathroom attendants, animal handlers, lighting riggers, and even the sports newscaster breaking down in tears over the death of a co-worker. Wiseman sees it all and shows us who we are with his lens.
The majority of those that speak on camera are event managers, heads of security, cat massuers, pep-rallying bible-versed coaches, facility heads, coffee cupping Q-graders, and event promoters. But it is in the shuttered world of the boardrooms that our eyes are opened to how things really run. Reviewing the constant hassle of workers who complain when they're paid late and the way these small gripes sideline management's ability to easily negotiate with unions, or reviewing how the fiasco of ODB and one of Bob Dylan's crew made it through The Garden's "300 pound security goons" (management's words - not mine) to grab mics at The Grammy's reflects on the facility's reputation, or even the manner they prep the security team responsible for each aisle during a Puff Daddy concert (after you just watched a woman explain the history and necessity of the NAACP)... it all informs you of where we are and what we're dealing with. America.
Along with those gems, we find Wiseman is unrivaled in montages of minutea. It's how they fill the beers, how they bag the cotton candy, how they make the catering trays , how they fill the popcorn or cut the pizza, make the snow cones, how they torch and wrap the hockey sticks, even how they prep the refrigerated floor and make the mix of liquid to spray on the ice arena - that fills his films with the taste of real life. It's in the half dozen montages of life outside on the NYC streets surrounding The Garden, the homeless on benches and the final shot of a mist covered city with only the Twin Towers visible - that we are rooted in the culture he documents.
This film is an overwhelming primer on American entertainment and life itself. He knows how to bring you into the arena with the elephants, show you the essence of The Garden, the values of the most vibrant city in the country, the people who slog it out, the entertainments they adore, and how to return to the human cannonball circus finale for the end - all presented without a narrator.
All the action of these events are filmed as professionally as any major news outlet would cover them, but with Wiseman's brilliant directorial eye to the people in the stands, the crew on the ground, in the rafters - even the shadows of people and objects that are cast on the floor. As those familiar with this director's work well know, he is the undisputed American master of Cinema Verite. His eye is as unflinching as always for those behind the scenes: the custodians, security officers, prep cooks, concession workers, ticket takers, bathroom attendants, animal handlers, lighting riggers, and even the sports newscaster breaking down in tears over the death of a co-worker. Wiseman sees it all and shows us who we are with his lens.
The majority of those that speak on camera are event managers, heads of security, cat massuers, pep-rallying bible-versed coaches, facility heads, coffee cupping Q-graders, and event promoters. But it is in the shuttered world of the boardrooms that our eyes are opened to how things really run. Reviewing the constant hassle of workers who complain when they're paid late and the way these small gripes sideline management's ability to easily negotiate with unions, or reviewing how the fiasco of ODB and one of Bob Dylan's crew made it through The Garden's "300 pound security goons" (management's words - not mine) to grab mics at The Grammy's reflects on the facility's reputation, or even the manner they prep the security team responsible for each aisle during a Puff Daddy concert (after you just watched a woman explain the history and necessity of the NAACP)... it all informs you of where we are and what we're dealing with. America.
Along with those gems, we find Wiseman is unrivaled in montages of minutea. It's how they fill the beers, how they bag the cotton candy, how they make the catering trays , how they fill the popcorn or cut the pizza, make the snow cones, how they torch and wrap the hockey sticks, even how they prep the refrigerated floor and make the mix of liquid to spray on the ice arena - that fills his films with the taste of real life. It's in the half dozen montages of life outside on the NYC streets surrounding The Garden, the homeless on benches and the final shot of a mist covered city with only the Twin Towers visible - that we are rooted in the culture he documents.
This film is an overwhelming primer on American entertainment and life itself. He knows how to bring you into the arena with the elephants, show you the essence of The Garden, the values of the most vibrant city in the country, the people who slog it out, the entertainments they adore, and how to return to the human cannonball circus finale for the end - all presented without a narrator.
