SIDEWALK STORIES

US, 1989, 97 minutes, Black and White.
Charles Lane, Nicole Alysia.
Directed by Charles Lane.

Sidewalk Stories is a delightful film. It is the first feature of Charles Lane, a black director from New York City. Not only did he produce and direct the film, he also wrote and acted the central character.

The film was photographed in black and white and is silent except for music, a few effects - and some final message conversation at the end about the homeless and shelterless people of New York. The musical score, atmospheric and wide-ranging, accounts for much of the success of the film. It was composed by Lane's friend Marc Marder.

The film is in the tradition of the Chaplin films, echoing much of The Kid. Lane is a delightful presence, he is also a good mime. The film is often very funny. It also has a great deal of sentiment and pathos.

Lane is obviously concerned about the shelterless people of New York City - he photographs the city lovingly, shows the wide variety of people there, shows the compassion and lack of compassion. Most important for the success of the film also is the central character, a little girl who is absolutely natural and charming.

A rewarding and unusual experience.

1. A film of New York City, its people, the poor, the blacks?

2. The quality of the black and white photography, editing and style? The decision to make the film silent except for the music, several sound effects, the final dialogue? The film in the tradition of the silents?

3. The musical score and its originality, the moods, the range?

4. The tradition of the silent film comedy: the inner cities, the tramps, the children, the class contrasts? The farce and slapstick styles?

5. The title, the focus on New York, the people on the sidewalks? The initial activity in Wall Street? The humour of the crowds? The humour of the street buskers and sellers? The conmen and women? The pathos of the hardships, the subways, the parks, the shelters?

6. The introduction to New York, its bustle, people pulling one another from taxis? The performers in Sixth Avenue, the juggler (not always catching his ball or orange)? The dancers? The portrait painters? The artist and his clash with the big artist, the fight about customers? $50 or $1 etc?

7. The artist as an ordinary young man, black, shrewd, short? His work? The portrait of the girl and his painting only an eye? The little girl and her parents, the money? Going home, fixing up the electricity, his possessions and his bed?

8. The build-up to the murder, the gambler, the child present, the artist rescuing the child, becoming fond of her, their walking the streets, going home and to bed, food, at the playground, at the shelter? Going to the shop and stealing the clothes - and the help from the girl whose eye he had painted? The visit to the library? The visit to the girlfriend's house, and the meal? The humour of the bath - for both the girl and the artist? His imagining the sexual encounter with the girlfriend? Looking for the shelter, the home knocked down? The newspapers and sleeping in the box? The taxi taking the little girl, the chase, in the horse and cart with the lovers, the fight? Finally the milk box with the photo? The artist taking the little girl back to her mother? The strong personality of the little girl, laughing, crying, dancing? Mimic? The quality of her acting and presence? The charm and the humour?

9. The artist and his adventures? Caring? Stealing, the library, the meal, the bath, the sex, the candles?

10. The sketch of the parents, the gambler and his range of bad luck? The mother and the loss of her child? Joy at the recovery?

11. The gamblers, the murder? The wacky comedy and comic gangsters? The taxi and their dealing with the little girl? The pursuit and the fight?

12. The girlfriend, the eye portrait, the shop, helping with the clothes? Punching the doorman? The dinner? In the sex fantasy? The meal and her care? ...........?

13. The range of characters: the pleasant people in the street, the ordinary people in the street, the black friend, the harsh people - the library, the doorman? The lovers in the carriage? The comedy of the oblivious lovers?

14. The finale, the people talking, the explicit message? Audience response to the message after what had gone before?

15. A comedy of the '80s, humour and seriousness? The importance of technique and the art of the silent film?