The City (1998 film)

Last updated
The City
ThecityPoster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by David Riker
Written byDavid Riker
Produced byPaul S. Mezey
David Riker
CinematographyHarlan Bosmajian
Edited byDavid Riker
Music byTony Adzinikolov
Distributed by Zeitgeist Films
Release dates
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Spanish
Korean
Budget$0.5 million [1]
Box office$0.1 million [1]

The City (Spanish: La ciudad) is a 1998 American neo-realist film written and directed by David Riker, his first feature film, and shot in grainy black-and-white film stock. The drama features actor Joseph Rigano and, in neo-realist fashion, an ensemble cast of non-professional actors. The film is also known as: The City (La Ciudad). [2]

Contents

The drama consists of four vignettes that plunges you onto New York City's poorer neighborhoods where Latin American immigrants, many of whom barely speak English, live at the mercy of exploitative employers and inflexible institutions. Many of the characters are in the United States illegally to make money in order to send back home to their poor families.

The picture won numerous awards including the Organisation Catholique Internationale du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel (OCIC Award) at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Plot

Among intermittent scenes of Latin Americans having their photo taken by a photographer, the four stories in the picture include:

Bricks (Ladrillos): a group of Latino men wait on a street corner for someone to hire them. A contractor appears in a truck and selects 10 men and promises each $50 for a day of work. But after they are dropped off across the Hudson River in a dusty lot where a building has been demolished, the terms of employment are revised by the contractor. They are to clean up bricks and do it on a piecemeal basis (15 cents a brick). The men are not happy but mush on nevertheless. An accident happens and the men are unable to help the victim and appear helpless in their fate.
Home (Casa): a young man named Francisco newly arrived in New York strays into a "sweet 15" party and meets a serious young woman named Maria who turns out to be from the same Mexican town. Because he has no place to stay, she takes him home to her uncle's house. The next morning when he goes to buy some groceries for breakfast, he can't find his way back.
The Puppeteer (Titiritero): is a homeless street performer named Luis who is suffering from tuberculosis and lives with his daughter Dulce in an old station wagon. Hearing that every child in the city is guaranteed an education, the puppeteer, who has refused to stay in city shelters because of contagious diseases, attempts to enroll his daughter in school but is unable to prove he lives in New York City.
Seamstress (Costurera): in the final and politically incendiary vignette, a woman named Ana works in a sweatshop where no one has been paid for several weeks. She receives a letter from home with the news that her daughter has fallen ill and needs $400 for an operation. She pleads with her bosses for her back pay but she's threatened with dismissal.

Cast

Professional actors

Non-professional actors

 

Production

David Riker spent five years researching the project (1992-1997), and worked with the non-professional actors in order to capture the "impoverished authenticity of life on the streets" of the Latino community in New York City. [3] The film was shot on 16mm. [1]

Release

The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1998 before appearing at other festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival. However, it took a long while to find a distributor, until Zeitgeist Films agreed to distribute it. They released it October 22, 1999 and it grossed $125,000 in a 10-week run. It was re-released in three New York City theaters by Echo Lake in areas with a high Latino population over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend where it grossed $12,976. Zeitgeist also re-released it in four arthouse theaters in other US cities. [1]

Home media

A DVD of the film was released by New Yorker Video on June 7, 2005. The DVD includes the featurette: The Making of a Community Film.

In a DVD review of the DVD, technology critic Gary W. Tooze, wrote, "New Yorker have drastically improved their DVD packages in the past few months with strong extra feature additions, but their image quality appears to have plateau'd. This is non-anamorphic and exhibits minor coming in spots (non-progressive) but much of the inferiority of the image is a function of the independent manner in which it was produced...The featurette addition is a super extra and helps further appreciation of this fine film. Even with the weak image we strongly recommend!" [4]

Reception

Critical response

The film critic for The New York Times, Stephen Holden, lauded then film when it was released, and wrote,"The City doesn't go out of its way to pull your heartstrings, but its understatement makes it all the more devastating. The anxious, careworn faces of downtrodden people who have no choice but to continue as best they can convey their plight more powerfully than any words. New Yorkers will recognize these faces. There are tens of thousands of them. They're only too glad to do our dirty work." [5]

Film critic Roger Ebert also liked the film and its message and wrote," [The City is] a direct, spare, touching film developed by Riker during six years of acting workshops with immigrants in New York City...Finally [the film] is making its way around the country, at venues like the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is a film that would have great power for Spanish-speaking working people, who of course are unlikely to find it at the Film Center. Eventually on television, it may find a broader audience. It gives faces to the faceless and is not easily forgotten. [6]

Edward Guthmann, the San Francisco Chronicle staff critic, wrote of the film, "[The City] is Riker's first film and a lovely realization of his humanist dream. Honest and unvarnished, it succeeds in drawing us inside a world—the Latin American immigrant culture of New York—that we typically see only from its periphery." Yet, Guthman thought the film was uneven and he added, "Seamstress" is the strongest vignette in The City, and unfortunately the rest of the film doesn't match its impact. The first piece, "Bricks," is slow in starting, and the second, "Home," is emotionally flat and can't mask the amateurishness of the leads. The City has its awkward and rough edges, but there's a purity here, a goodness of intention and a commitment to justice. [7]

Awards

Wins

Nominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Arquette</span> American actress (born 1968)

Patricia Arquette is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awards, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norma Aleandro</span> Argentine actress (b. 1936)

Norma Aleandro is an Argentine actress. She is considered one of the most celebrated and prolific Argentine actresses of all time and is recognized as a cultural icon in her home country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Horror Film Festival</span>

The New York City Horror Film Festival is an international film festival based in New York City that screens films from the horror genre. It was founded by Michael J. Hein in 2001. It takes place each year in New York City for a week in November.

Les Guthman is an American director, writer, editor and production executive, who has the distinction of both having produced three of the 20 Top Adventure Films of All Time, according to Men's Journal magazine, and having won the National Academy of Sciences' (U.S) nationwide competition to find the best new idea in science television, which led to his film, Three Nights at the Keck, hosted by actor John Lithgow.

Joseph Rigano was an acclaimed American character actor known for his versatile performances in film, television, and theater. Born in New York City, Rigano established himself as a talented and respected actor throughout his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prasanna Vithanage</span> Sri Lankan filmmaker (born 1962)

Udaya Prasanna Vithanage is widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential filmmakers in South Asia. He is known for thought-provoking films that often deals with social, political and cultural issues. His films have received numerous awards accolades, both locally and internationally and have been praised for their innovative storytelling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriele Muccino</span> Italian film director (born 1967)

Gabriele Muccino is an Italian film director. He has worked his way from making short films only aired on Italian television to become a well-known and successful American filmmaker. He is the elder brother of actor Silvio Muccino, who often appears in his brother's films. Muccino has directed 12 films and is best known for his first American film The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith. Muccino has been nominated for and won several awards including the David di Donatello Award for Best Director in 2001 for his film The Last Kiss.

<i>David</i> (1979 film) 1978 film

David is a 1979 West German film by director Peter Lilienthal. It tells the story of a rabbi's son in Germany during the Holocaust, who tries to raise money to escape to Mandate Palestine.

<i>Men with Guns</i> 1997 American film

Men with Guns is a 1997 American political drama film edited, written and directed by John Sayles, inspired by the 1992 novel The Long Night of White Chickens by Francisco Goldman. It stars Federico Luppi, Damián Delgado, Damián Alcázar and Mandy Patinkin. The executive producers were Lou Gonda and Jody Patton.

<i>Olympic Garage</i> 1999 film

Olympic Garage is a 1999 Argentine political thriller, directed by Marco Bechis.

<i>Crane World</i> 1999 Argentine film

Crane World is a 1999 Argentine film, written and directed by Pablo Trapero. The film was produced by Lita Stantic and Pablo Trapero. It features Luis Margani, Adriana Aizemberg, Daniel Valenzuela, among others.

<i>Son of the Bride</i> 2001 film

Son of the Bride is a 2001 Argentine comedy drama film directed by Juan José Campanella and written by Campanella and Fernando Castets. The executive producers were Juan Vera and Juan Pablo Galli, and it was produced by Adrián Suar. It stars Ricardo Darín, Héctor Alterio, Norma Aleandro, Eduardo Blanco and Natalia Verbeke.

<i>The Roof</i> (1956 film) 1956 film

The Roof is a 1956 Italian drama film directed and produced by Vittorio De Sica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Parkes</span> Irish-Canadian actor (1924–2014)

Gerard Parkes was an Irish-born Canadian actor. He was born in Dublin and moved to Toronto in 1956. He is known for playing Doc on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television series Fraggle Rock and the bartender in the film The Boondock Saints and its sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.

Inoka Sathyangani Keerthinanda is an internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan film director, producer and former Chairperson of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. In 2002 she received critical acclaim for her maiden effort Sulang Kirilli, which deals with the theme of abortion. The film won the highest number of awards won by a single film in the history of Sri Lanka's film industry. She is an active member of "Colombo Independents Cinema Forum" which works towards a "better and wholesome Srilankan cinema". After a highly productive maiden venture, she is regarded as one of the few successful female directors in Sri Lanka.

SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication media, including press, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, internet, and new technology. It is a non-profit organization with representation from over 100 countries. It was formed in November 2001 by the merger of International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual (OCIC) and International Catholic Association for Radio and Television (Unda). At its World Congress in Quebec in 2017, SIGNIS welcomed also former member organisations of the International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP).

David Riker is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his award-winning film The City, a neo-realist film about the plight of Latin American immigrants living in New York City. Riker is also the writer and director of The Girl (2012), and the co-writer of the films Sleep Dealer (2008) and Dirty Wars (2013).

Paul S. Mezey is a New York-based independent producer and founder of Journeyman Pictures. He has produced a number of critically acclaimed films including Maria Full of Grace which received a 2005 Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Half Nelson starring Ryan Gosling which received a 2007 Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Mezey also worked as a producer on the 2021 film Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, alongside Elisabeth Holm. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

<i>Strawberry and Chocolate</i> 1994 Cuban film

Strawberry and Chocolate is a 1993 internationally co-produced film, directed by Cuban filmmakers Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío, based on the short story "The Wolf, The Forest and the New Man". Senel Paz had witten the short story in 1990, and also wrote the screenplay for the film. It was the first Cuban film to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Sud is a 71-minute 1999 Belgian-Finnish-French English-language independent documentary art film directed by Chantal Akerman.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hayes, Dade (January 24, 2000). "Urban auds discovering 'La Ciudad'". Variety . p. 12.
  2. ↑ The City at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg .
  3. ↑ The City at AllMovie.
  4. ↑ Tooze, David W. DVD Beaver, review. Last accessed: December 27, 2007.
  5. ↑ Holden, Stephen. The New York Times, film review, "Citizens of Poverty Yearning to Be Free," October 22, 1998. Last accessed: December 27, 2007.
  6. ↑ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun Times, film review, January 7, 2000. Last accessed: December 27, 2007.
  7. ↑ Guthman, Edward. San Francisco Chronicle, film review, February 25, 2000. Last accessed: December 27, 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.