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esther5.0

instantly one of my favorite wiseman's, of the ones i've seen so far this is one of the richest and most fully realized. so many fascinating threads here, from the surprisingly strong religious presence in the park (one committee member even explicitly calls it a "holy place") to the focus on the labor required to maintain the park's image to the contrast wiseman draws between the people who fundraise and spend the park's money and the people who actually use it (there's an amazing extended scene at a meeting of several rich old white ladies discussing how wonderful the park is while conspicuously never mentioning that they actually go there, only that they look at it from their apartment windows). more than anything else there's a strong emphasis on cleanliness and disposal, with wiseman directly drawing a line between park rangers cleaning up garbage after a concert to cops destroying homeless encampments, the idea being that park administrators see both actions as part of the same worthwhile goal. and there's just a wealth of classic wiseman characters and moments here, from the guy delivering a confusing and oddly dark ramble about dinosaurs to an audience of children ("why do we love dinosaurs? first of all, they're so big") to the daring rescue of a wayward turtle to the various personalities emerging at a public forum on whether or not to build a new tennis building. even mayor koch becomes a wiseman character, at one point bizarrely shown running through the park yelling "it's me!!!" if you've never seen a wiseman film before, this is the one i would recommend starting with. it's just so overwhelmingly brilliant.

KYK4.5

A park for everyone! But only if you use it a certain way and sell the right things. Such fascinating tension between public v. private funding, gentrification, living inside and being forced out v. living outside and looking into the park from a fancy apartment. Loved seeing the pride parade, the dinosaur event (what happened to that?!), FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA… also died at Ed Koch running through the park and yelling “it’s me!”

ShawnGlinis5.0

on first watch, i was too caught up looking for a through-line to understand that the film's subject informs its form. there's an openness to the film that is not only beautiful but accessible and comforting. once again, Wiseman is better understood as a filmmaker with the tactics of a novelist, particularly due to the lack of main characters. there are so many images here that Wiseman is clearly using as deeper resonances across the film, and I take comfort in recognizing I am nowhere close to understanding them all and look forward to dwelling on them on future viewings.So many great sight gags and funny moments imbued with Wiseman’s ironic deadpan. And a true highlight is the tennis club meeting, which, if I recall correctly, is the genus of a Wiseman staple: the civil discourse meeting placed about 30-40mins before the ending. The subject of that meeting is almost as important at Wiseman’s observation of how a community expresses itself, particularly how a community expresses itself over differences and the hegemony involved between an association or business with money and the people. Would also be remiss to not point out the richness of the Perimeter Association meeting. Just perfectly found metaphor & detailing.Wiseman spends the film’s 3 hours looking at performance, aesthetic upkeep and, as usual, where The Power is held. The result is a paradoxically dense yet airy film about how America, through this public place, expresses itself.