There is much I like about this documentary film. The early history of New York as a Dutch trading post, its role in the War of Independence, and the importance of the Erie Canal are especially interesting because they are unfamiliar. The use of contemporary writings throughout immerse you in the period. The film is exhaustively illustrated with maps, paintings, and drawings for the early period, and with photos and film footage as technology--and the City--advances.
The lazy pace of the film irked me. A transcript would reveal that the film's content could easily be compressed. The languor of the narrative is the antithesis of the City's bustle. Much is repeated by a parade of historians recounting in turn each episode of New York's past. Many of the contemporary writings used in the film do not originate from the protagonists in New York's history, but merely from clerics or journalists.
Certainly, the film is worth seeing. I can't wait til my return to New York this fall to revisit the storied sites described in the film. I have no doubt the filmmakers left much interview footage on the cutting room floor. But their efforts would have been better rewarded with even more trimming of duplicated narration, glacially slow photo pans, and extended transitions.
7 of 10
The lazy pace of the film irked me. A transcript would reveal that the film's content could easily be compressed. The languor of the narrative is the antithesis of the City's bustle. Much is repeated by a parade of historians recounting in turn each episode of New York's past. Many of the contemporary writings used in the film do not originate from the protagonists in New York's history, but merely from clerics or journalists.
Certainly, the film is worth seeing. I can't wait til my return to New York this fall to revisit the storied sites described in the film. I have no doubt the filmmakers left much interview footage on the cutting room floor. But their efforts would have been better rewarded with even more trimming of duplicated narration, glacially slow photo pans, and extended transitions.
7 of 10