22 August 2008

Sprawling from Grace

Sprawling from Grace, is probably a movie that I will never see. The movie includes an interview with Jan Gehl, and I would like to see it for that reason alone:


The Director of the movie says:
...I grew up in the suburbs. ....We would gather on the fringe of our suburban subdivision, smoking cigarettes atop the hills of newly excavated earth, earth that gave way to the construction sites where the next tier of suburbia was to be built. We would gather in the basements of each other’s suburban homes playing Atari games, listening to rock and roll, raiding our parent’s liquor cabinets, and experimenting with drugs that dulled our senses into acceptance of this mundane existence. One day bled into the next without distinction. Our lives mirrored the homogeneity of the communities we lived in. And so, we emulated the architecture that surrounded us. There were no stores, cafes, or arcades to gather in. No jobs for teens within walking or biking distance. No place to meet someone new and interesting, outside of those neighbors who lived close by. Just, row upon row of neatly kept houses that only varied in appearance every third house. And so, we bided our time, waiting for that magic age. Sixteen. Freedom. If only I could drive...


Another movie from 2006 that also looks interesting: Manufactured Landscapes.
...a thought-provoking investigation of photographer Edward Burtynsky's legacy, with its aesthetic studies of industrial landscapes. But Baichwal's documentary probes deeper than a mere surface-level glimpse of Burtynsky's life and work. It uses the topic of Burtynsky as a springboard, segueing, from there, into a protracted exploration of "the aesthetic, social and spiritual dimensions of industrialization and globalization." Whereas Burtynsky's photographs reveal human beings dwarfed by the massive industrialized landscape that surrounds them, Baichwal (much as Louis Malle did in his Humain, trop Humain) sheds a light on the tedium and monotony suffered by workers who are assigned small components of huge manufacturing processes, and must endure the repetitive work that it entails.

3 comments:

justforview said...

Sounds pretty similar to The End of Suburbia, which features Howard Kunstler and Peter Calthorpe.

CityKin said...

Yeah, I was kinda thinking I've seen this trailer before, and that was it.

David M. Edwards said...

Sprawling From Grace is now available on DVD. Visit www.sprawlingfromgrace.com . Dramatically different from End of Suburbia and features Pres. Bill Clinton, MA. Gov Michael Dukakis, USGS Thomas Ahlbrandt, ASPO- Randy Udall, and many more.