Synopsis
The Regional Planning Association of America's plea for community chaotic cities and urban sprawl. Directors: Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke. Script: Henwar Rodakiewicz, from an outline by Pare Lorentz. Commentary written by Lewis Mumford. Narrator: Morris Carnovsky. Photography: Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke, Jules V.D. Bucher, Edward Anhalt, Roger Barlow and Rudolph Bretz. Editor: Theodore Lawrence. Music: Aaron Copland.
Uploader's description on archive.org
Details
- Running time
- 16 minutes
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★★★ · Echoes from Vertov's "Man with a movie Camera" · pablo_altes · 2003-03-18
Excellent cinema piece. By many aspects, could be an american answer to Dziga Vertov's classic. Very "leftist" spoken commentary in my opinion, critizing Big Profit companies who deny human living conditions to the workers they exploit. The music is particularly good.
★★★★★ · Superb, the Copland soundtrack makes it · seetheoceanblue · 2005-05-15
This is without doubt the best of these films I've seen on here. It's pre cheesey-propaganda 50's (even though I love those films too) and very poignant. The Aaron Copland music is set perfectly with the footage.
★★★★ · Urban Planning Rids the World of Poverty! · Christine Hennig · 2003-11-30
This classic New Deal public service film of the 30s contrasts city slums with ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂplanned communitiesÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ such as Green Belt, Maryland. It does this in a very arty fashion, with skillfully edited montages of urban problems backed with a glaring, yet compelling, soundtrack by Aaron Copeland. Ultimately, it doesnÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂt really make its point very well, because it ignores the economic, social, and political problems that result in urban slums, attributing them entirely to planning failures. But it is a fascinating, historically valuable montage of life in the…
★★★★ · La'Farrah's Review of The City · La'Farrah · 2003-11-24
Viewing The City in black and white was very interesting because the colors made the footage look old in age. After watching this footage I was able to realize that an enhancement as been made in today's urban life. In the footage there were many examples of labor work being demonstrated. For example, there was an old man turning the nozzle on machinery in the middle of the neighborhood's street. In today's urban life there is no possibility that a driver would be able to ride through an urban neighborhood and observe an individual working on machinery. The usage of technology has illuminated…
★★★★ · Good City/Bad City · Spuzz · 2003-04-28
In this appeal to razing down neighborhood slums, the plea to build new cities, and get rid of the ghettos is emphasized. Strikingly visual for such a messaged film, the narration is pretty sparse, sticking with visuals of the city ala Baraka and Koyaanisquatsi. What I like about this film is again the visuals, treating petty items such as road signs into work of art, and it's salute to the car is very masterful as well. What I didn't like, I didn't really think the narration needed to be there, I would be perfectly happy with just the visuals alone, rather then the somewhat stilted…
★ · we got boredom · cashel · 2004-08-23
These new housing developments were so sterile. Everything was new, so clean and so boring. Generally an auto was necessary and people became lethargic. Neighbors were usually only glimpsed as they walked to the carport. Each house became a small fortress equipped with a barking dog or alarm system that would irritate at ungodly hours. The only visible activity was macho man cutting his lawns, often at times to irritate. Alcohol and drug taking boomed. The kids were frustrated and used vandalism and unsocial activities to express their feelings.
