New York City has had a moment in 2011, that’s for sure. From ‘Shame’ to ‘Margaret’ to ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ (not to mention appearances in the likes of ’The Adjustment Bureau’, ‘Bill Cunningham New York’, ‘HappyThankYouMorePlease’, and ‘Margin Call’…hell, even trash like ‘New Year’s Eve’), the city of New York has been a looming character in many films this past year. How ironic is it that in a year where this is the case, Woody Allen is actually one of the filmmakers who didn’t contribute to this? Regardless, it’s a year where I’ve seen New York captured as a character in movies like I haven’t witness in a long time. Specifically with the first three films I mentioned, the city is an omnipresent character an an emotional piece of the puzzle. From ‘Shame’ compounding the loneliness of Brandon with the emptiness of the city on a late night run to ‘Margaret’ making the post 9/11 city a real concern for Lisa and most others to ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ focusing on a trip throughout the boroughs that relates back to “the worst day” for Oskar, New York has been worthy of a Best Supporting Actor (or is it Actress?) nomination in 2011. Especially considering that 2011 was the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the omnipresence of New York makes a bit of sense, to say the least. Each film used it in a different way, but all did it with aplomb. There are a trio of films that really made New York a character last year, and I want to talk a bit about each and give them their due. Trust me, as a New Yorker, they deserve it in a big way.
Let’s look at ‘Shame’ first. For me, the indelible image is the aforementioned shot of Michael Fassbender’s Brandon taking a job from his midtown apartment to Madison Square Garden to escape his sister and boss hooking up at his place. He leaves to escape the discomfort, but he finds the city just as cold and lonely a place as the other places in his life. His knowledge of the sexual destinations of the city as well is a very New York moment for me. New York City is always hovering around Brandon, feeding his addiction and propelling his loneliness. The same goes for his sister. Look no further than Carey Mulligan’s Sissy singing a heart wrenching version of “New York, New York”. She’s literally begging the city to let her make it there. Brandon has tears in his eyes listening to her sing that song, and so do we. My kudos to Steve McQueen for capturing the city as well as he does here. It’s not a small achievement.
‘Margaret’ is the rare flick that’s an unintentional period piece, though one that benefits from it greatly, especially in relation to New York. Not only is it about the mindset of a teenager coming of age after the September 11th terrorist attacks, it’s also a great snapshot of a time and place, along with the feelings that came out then. From classroom debates about the political impact of 9/11 to Anna Paquin’s Lisa living a different life in her section of Manhattan than other kids, every moment of this film features the Big Apple and feels like it’s a part of the story…a credit to Kenneth Lonergan. For my money, it’s the most purely “New York” film of 2011. Can you imagine if it had just come out 6 years ago like it was supposed to have? I actually think that this extra time has made it a cinematic time capsule and one of the most important films of 2011. I fully believe it will stand the test of time, in spite of its rough road to theatrical release.
With ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’, we have a period piece piece as well, though at least an intentional one this time around. Set a year after 9/11 (with flashbacks to that fateful day), we follow Thomas Horn’s Oskar as he searches the city for clues to a mystery left by his father after his death. This is essentially a road trip movie, but instead of going cross country in a car, the kid is going cross borough, sometimes on the subway, but mostly not. I give the film credit for showing parts of New York that plenty of films don’t (it has a nice chunk in Brooklyn). Ironically, for all the criticism that ‘Cop Out’ received last year, it also did this very nicely. My review of the flick was a bit harsher than necessary, and especially writing about this subject, I see that the good of ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ far outweighs the bad. I still don’t think that Stephen Daldry and Eric Roth did everything right, but when it comes to NYC, they were pretty much right on the money, that’s for sure.
Like I said earlier, I’d nominate the city of New York for a Supporting nomination if it were possible. As a lifelong resident, I always enjoy seeing a film take the location seriously and work to ingratiate the setting into the movie itself. Nothing bugs me more than obviously seeing Toronto stand in for New York (go watch ‘Angel Eyes’ again for a really good example of filmmakers not trying). The films focused on above really capture NYC in the right way and actually makes it a real living and breathing character. The others I didn’t speak too much about were no slouches either. ’HappyThankYouMorePlease’ had a Woody Allen vibe, while ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ hit some good landmarks during its chase sequences, and of course ‘Margin Call’ is a period piece as well. I also didn’t mention the fake Brooklyn-set Roman Polanski film ‘Carnage’, but I don’t think many of you will mind that. Overall, it really was a good cinematic year for the city, and 2012 starts off right with Ed Burns doing another NYC-centric flick in ‘Newlyweds’. I’ll be reviewing it soon, but it shares a lot in common with ‘Sidewalks of New York’, so take that for what it’s worth. For now, it’s a good start to 2012 for New York at the movies!
In the end, I wanted my last article of 2011 (even though it’s being published after New Year’s in 2012) to be about a subject near and dear to my heart. I love my city, and I love when a filmmaker understands how to properly utilize it. It doesn’t happen all the time, but I take pleasure in viewing it when it does. ’Shame’ and ‘Margaret’ did it the best because of their intimate scale (ironic considering how intimately epic the latter film is…or is it epically intimate?), but ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ was no slouch either. The latter two even worked in the impact of 9/11, something filmmakers are still struggling to properly do. New York was a character unto itself in 2011. If only the Academy would do something crazy and unique, like give the city an honorary Oscar this year. It won’t happen, but I can dream, can’t I?
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Good article, Joey … nice read.
Could NYC possibly have just been the “Cinematic City of the Year” as Boston was last year? Seriously, though … was there a single Boston-flick this past year?! Surely so … but it isn’t coming to me on the fly.
Much obliged.
Indeed…Boston has had some great years in the past, just like NYC has.
I had started writing the article a few weeks ago, but it just took me a bit to finish…wanted to do it right. Hopefully everyone likes it!
Shame is exactly how New York is used in the wrong way! As a matter of fact, as a New Yorker I was so dissapointed. It was clear while watching it that they took advantage of New York. Films always do what they can to save money but in Shame, it was so obvious. They went from the west side to the east side when it made no sense to do so. All I saw while watching it was the continuity errors. ELIC did it right. Shame, not so much.
What specific examples are you thinking of, since I’m a life long New Yorker and it was spot on to me. I go from the West Side to the East Side all the time, so that’s hardly felt wrong to me. I saw no continuity errors…they took cabs. And the run from his apt (which is literally 9 West 31st Street) to Madison Square Garden was a route I’ve walked before.
The irony isn’t just that he didn’t contribute, but that he paid homage to Paris of all cities. And guess who else went to Paris with him? Martin Scorsese! I mean, c’mon! The two most famous NYers of cinema making films about Paris in a year when, as you say, NY was the centre of so many films.
And also about Shame, McQueen talked to the audience after the TIFF screening and he mentioned that originally he had planned the film in London but he knew instantly that the film would work better in New York, because the 24 hour availability of everything in the city and the blankness of it at the same time is one of a kind.
McQueen was certainly on to something…
But those two stories HAD to be told in Paris. And I have NO problem with seeing Paris in any film … it is a beautiful, magical city.
What I love about Allen is that he makes the city/locale important in all of his work. He’s loved NYC so much in the past … and yet he has perfectly nailed Paris, London and British countryside (Match Point) and Barcelona in recent years. His locations ALWAYS matter and they ALWAYS become another character in his films.
Go figure that Allen and Scorsese would be over in Paris.