Movie Details
| Title: | 80 Blocks from Tiffany's | |
| Director: | Gary Weis | |
| Year: | 1979 | |
| Genre: | Documentary | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 12.17.12 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 12.17.12 | Internet | An hour-long doc about the gangs and neighborhoods of 1979 South Bronx. This continues my fascination with "dirty NYC" that I love for whatever reason. Watching this today seems like it's source material for The Warriors or something but I most enjoyed the minute details you see in the background and scenery. The brand names and little things like that. I also thought it was fascinating to see street gangs at this stage: carrying guns but not yet into drugs. There's one scene with a priest talking about he was in a gang in the 40s and 50s in Greenwich Village and how it was a relatively civilized thing and everybody still had families to go home to at night, but watching these kids I couldn't help but think how relatively civil they are compared to my white-guy sheltered exposure of modern gangs (Thanks again, THE WIRE). Drugs seemed to get rid of any sense of civility. But still, this has some great helicopter footage of Soth Bronx wastelands that made for such good film backdrops of the time. It's hard to think about Manhattan nightclubs and high fashion going on so close to this utter neglect and decrepitude (see the title). It's really another world. For whatever reason, this stuff really trips my nerve and I can't get enough of it. Time to revisit Style Wars I think, or maybe The Warriors... or finally watch those Bronx Warriors movies. or really just more movies in general. Sigh... |
