The Cruise (1998 film)

Last updated
The Cruise
The Cruise - Timothy Speed Levitch 1998.jpg
Cover art for the 2006 DVD release, which identifies Miller as the director of Capote.
Directed by Bennett Miller
Produced byBennett Miller Executive Producer J. B. Miller, Ted Miller, David Yamner
Starring Timothy "Speed" Levitch
CinematographyBennett Miller
Edited byMichael Levine
Music by Marty Beller
Distributed by Artisan Entertainment
Release dates
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Cruise is a 76-minute documentary released in 1998. It was the debut film of Bennett Miller, who became prominent after directing Capote (2005). The film records the worldview and personality of Timothy "Speed" Levitch, who was then a guide for bus tours of New York City. Levitch had become popular for his unconventional narrative about the city that he delivered at a frenetic pace.

Contents

Production

The production of the film has also drawn critical commentary. James Berardinelli wrote, "'The Cruise' is a typical example of low-budget documentary film making. It's in grainy black-and-white (a blowup from the video it was shot on) with a flat audio. Oddly, however, this approach gives Levitch's New York City a timeless quality. The Gershwin song "But Not for Me" plays as the camera captures the modern skyline, creating a sense of the past and present blurring together.

The film was in production for 3.5 years and Miller worked as a one-man camera crew, solely operating a handheld video camera, a wireless microphone on Levitch, and a Sennheiser shotgun microphone that was collapsible and thus easily transportable. Miller discarded the first 80 hours of footage he captured of Levitch only to start from scratch. Levitch reportedly chose not to sit in on the majority of the editing process, choosing instead to stick to his core principles: to succumb to the chaos of the universe. The production team, including editor Michael Levine, spent 8 months editing the film. [1]

Release

The Cruise was initially rejected by many film festivals.[ citation needed ] It premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1998 and was later screened at New York's Docfest. On October 14, 1998, The Cruise was released in New York City at the Angelika Film Center. After being picked up by distributor Artisan Entertainment, it was released nationwide on November 6, 1998.

The Cruise was released to DVD in 2006. [2]

Reception

At the time of the film's release, Stephen Holden wrote, "Filmed in high-contrast black and white that makes the city look harshly magnificent, at once irresistible and forbidding, The Cruise could be described as a whirlwind tour both of New York and of Levitch's feverish mind." [3] Following the film's release to DVD in 2006, Brett Cullum wrote, "Although we do get to see some familiar sites, including winsome glimpses of the World Trade Center towers, the camera hardly ever leaves the face of our tour guide. This is all one extended character study, and is not concerned with narrative or sight seeing. No, this is a dadaist manifesto delivered off the pavement leading to the Brooklyn bridge. It runs like an hour of poetic jazz—verbal scats and flourishes aplenty." [4]

Awards

The Cruise was nominated for several awards, including Best Documentary from the Online Film Critics Society and the Satellite Awards. Michael Levine, the film's editor, was nominated for the Best Edited Documentary Film award ("Eddie") by the American Cinema Editors. [5]

"The Cruise" was also nominated for the Daring Digital Award at the Jeonju Film Festival. It won the Wolfgang Statuote Award and the Don Quixote Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, demonstrating the film's international diffusion, and the Best Documentary Audience Award and the Feature Competition Special Jury Award at the Newport International Film Festival.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coen brothers</span> American filmmakers

Joel Daniel Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen, collectively known as the Coen brothers, are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Their most acclaimed works include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Many of their films are distinctly American, often examining the culture of the American South and American West in both modern and historical contexts.

<i>Waking Life</i> 2001 American film

Waking Life is a 2001 American animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the meaning of life, free will, and existentialism. It is centered on a young man who wanders through a succession of dreamlike realities wherein he encounters a series of people who engage in insightful philosophical discussions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. A. Pennebaker</span> American documentary filmmaker (1925–2019)

Donn Alan Pennebaker was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award. Pennebaker was called by The Independent as "arguably the pre-eminent chronicler of Sixties counterculture".

<i>Dark Days</i> (film) 2000 American film

Dark Days is an American documentary film directed, produced, and photographed by the English documentarian Marc Singer that was completed and released in 2000. Shot during the mid-1990s, it follows a group of people who lived in the Freedom Tunnel section of the Amtrak system at the time. DJ Shadow created new music for the documentary and also let Singer use some of his preexisting songs.

<i>Winged Migration</i> 2001 film

Winged Migration is a 2001 documentary film directed by Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin, who was also one of the writers and narrators, showcasing the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations.

<i>The Company of Strangers</i> 1990 Canadian film

The Company of Strangers is a 1990 Canadian film directed by Cynthia Scott and written by Scott, Sally Bochner, David Wilson and Gloria Demers. The film depicts eight women on a bus tour, who are stranded at an isolated cottage when the bus breaks down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davy Rothbart</span> American writer and filmmaker (born 1975)

David Ira Rothbart is a bestselling author, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, contributor to This American Life, and the editor/publisher of Found Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bennett Miller</span> American film director (born 1966)

Bennett Altman Miller is an American film director, known for directing the acclaimed films Capote (2005), Moneyball (2011), and Foxcatcher (2014). He has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Levitch</span> American poet

Timothy "Speed" Levitch is an American actor, tour guide, poet, speaker, philosopher, author and voice actor. The name "Speed" was given to him by a childhood friend in high school. Levitch has appeared in multiple films and has had poetic and philosophical works published in books and periodicals.

<i>Lonely Boy</i> (film) 1962 Canadian film

Lonely Boy is a 1962 Canadian cinéma vérité documentary about the former teen singer Paul Anka. The film takes its name from Anka's hit song, "Lonely Boy", which he performs to screaming fans in the film. This short documentary makes use of hand-held cameras to record intimate backstage moments. It was produced by the National Film Board of Canada and co-directed by Roman Kroitor and Wolf Koenig.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Schwarz</span> American filmmaker

Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, The Fabulous Allan Carr, Tab Hunter Confidential, I Am Divine, Vito, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story.

<i>Religulous</i> 2008 American film

Religulous is a 2008 American documentary film written by and starring comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. The title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words religious and ridiculous. The documentary examines and challenges religion and religious belief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Bini</span> American film editor

Joe Bini is an American film editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Curry</span> American film director (born 1970)

Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).

<i>American Harmony</i> 2009 American film

American Harmony is a 2009 documentary film directed and produced by Aengus James, produced by Colin Miller, and edited by Kate Amend.

<i>The Union: The Business Behind Getting High</i> 2007 Canadian film

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High is a 2007 Canadian documentary film directed by Brett Harvey and starring Joe Rogan, Norm Stamper, Chris Bennett, Tommy Chong, and Lester Grinspoon. Its theatrical run was limited to film festivals.

James Michael Spione is an American director, producer, writer and editor of both documentary and fiction films. Early on in his career, he developed a reputation for suspenseful dramatic shorts; his later career, however, has been marked by a new focus on short and feature-length documentaries for both theatrical release and public television broadcast.

Bob Sarles is an American documentary filmmaker, film editor and radio host based in San Francisco.

<i>POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold</i> 2011 American film

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is a 2011 documentary film about product placement, marketing and advertising directed by Morgan Spurlock. The premise behind the production is that the documentary itself would be entirely paid for by sponsors, thus being a form of metafilm. The film's slogan is "He's not selling out, he's buying in."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Levine</span> Director and filmmaker

Hans-Werner Maria Levy, better known as Hank Levine, is a German director, documentary filmmaker and writer based in Berlin, Germany. He is known for producing Academy Awards nominated films such as City of God and Wasteland.

References

  1. Berardinelli, James (1998). "The Cruise". ReelViews.
  2. The Cruise (DVD). Lions Gate Home Entertainment. 2006. OCLC   64552509.
  3. Holden, Stephen (October 23, 1998). "'The Cruise': Strong Opinions of a Dizzy Tour Guide". The New York Times.
  4. Cullum, Brett (March 13, 2006). "The Cruise". DVD Verdict.
  5. "'The Cruise' (1998) - Awards". Internet Movie Database.

Further reading