  Mpow Member Username: Mpow Post Number: 152 Registered: 11-2003 |
http://vimeo.com/2371774 great docu on detroit. french subtitles. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 5525 Registered: 04-2005 |
It's a long one, though. About 1/2 hour. My son in law showed it to me over Christmas. I wonder who the narrator is? | ||
Islandman Member Username: Islandman Post Number: 1812 Registered: 08-2004 |
Very nice. Will watch the rest when I get home. | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 801 Registered: 04-2008 |
Beautifully done! "Enjoy the country life - Move to Detroit!" | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 523 Registered: 08-2007 |
Great video. Thanks for sharing it. Seems to concentrate on just a certain portion of Detroit tho' it does capture the urban prairie that the city has fallen back to. | ||
Homer Member Username: Homer Post Number: 379 Registered: 08-2004 |
Yes, who is that guy? He looks familiar, but can't place him. Think he lives in that blue bus? | ||
Steamaker Member Username: Steamaker Post Number: 88 Registered: 03-2007 |
Wow! Even with its ruins, Detroit is still a beautiful city. Great Video | ||
Skippy313 Member Username: Skippy313 Post Number: 6 Registered: 09-2008 |
Very nice. Sad but beautiful. | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 655 Registered: 08-2007 |
Okay, now I'm depressed . . . | ||
Ruxy17 Member Username: Ruxy17 Post Number: 72 Registered: 08-2007 |
why depressed? i see hope in this video. so much opportunity! | ||
Yupislyr Member Username: Yupislyr Post Number: 226 Registered: 07-2004 |
I liked it. From the comments, the creator says he's coming back this summer to make the real, full length documentary. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 907 Registered: 12-2006 |
beautifully shot, I thought the score was well selected for the mood. It was like watching a cracked out version of Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6346 Registered: 12-2005 |
It really puts a lump in your throat. Here's the author's web site: http://florent-tillon.fr/. There are some very subtle cinematography techniques there. Watch for things like reflections in glass. | ||
Detroitbred Member Username: Detroitbred Post Number: 216 Registered: 06-2008 |
Haunting, sadly beautiful, and still a glimmer of hopefulness. | ||
Eriedearie Member Username: Eriedearie Post Number: 4424 Registered: 08-2007 |
Thanks Mpow for your post. The video is very interesting and very well done. That fellow does look familiar to me too. | ||
Mpow Member Username: Mpow Post Number: 153 Registered: 11-2003 |
yes, the soundtrack was very cool and really set the mood, nostalgic and hopeful | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 1104 Registered: 11-2006 |
Change is coming...I like the idea of urban gardens and self sufficiency.. It was cool to see that little red barn and the farm animals in the city. Sections of the city are devolving back to a rural look and lifestyle. There is an area around 12th and I think, Lawton that has a country look and feel...with fields trees, farmhouse looking houses, an empty warehouse and some train tracks if I remember correctly.. | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 1105 Registered: 11-2006 |
Oh thanks Mpow... | ||
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy Post Number: 266 Registered: 08-2006 |
good so far, but the tower above mcs was for office not hotel use, correct? | ||
Homer Member Username: Homer Post Number: 381 Registered: 08-2004 |
Yes, upper floors were planned for offices in the MCS. Good catch. | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 3118 Registered: 02-2007 |
Honestly, I seen nothing hopeful in that portrayal. Could this guy have tried harder to find empty streets or at avoiding anything positive about Detroit? Just another piece about the great city of Detroit on it's knees. If you were trying to sell Detroit, would you use any footage from this? Perception is everything. If one knows nothing about Detroit and watches this, they'll come away with Detroit is a ghost town full of empty buildings and homeless people. Well made documentary, but it missed the real Detroit by miles. These folks coming here making their documentaries are not doing Detroit any favors. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 914 Registered: 12-2006 |
Sstashmoo, What makes that not the "real" Detroit? While it may not be the entire story of what is going on in Detroit right now, just because it focuses on one aspect of what is going on in the city doesn't make it any less real. What I took away that was hopeful was the adaptability of people. Clearly what has happened to Detroit has been staggering. What is hopeful is seeing how people have been "taking lemons and making lemonade". The people who are now farming in the city could have left those fields barren and empty. Instead they are making the most of the situation by creating a new local industry that not only makes money, but also supplies a new and much healthier food source for the community. It is a story of revitalization. Maybe not the typical story we are used to with new developments and expansion of the man-made, built environment, but perhaps a natural revitalization. Maybe this is me putting a positive spin on things, but to see this film as being totally negative speaks to the pessimism that dwells within just as much as the images may portray the decay of the urban environment happening before our eyes. | ||
Ruxy17 Member Username: Ruxy17 Post Number: 75 Registered: 08-2007 |
my thoughts exactly, el_jimbo. it's like that guy said, there's something remarkably freeing about losing everything. there is so much opportunity here. (Message edited by ruxy17 on January 15, 2009) | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 572 Registered: 01-2008 |
My computer wouldn't or couldn't quite show me the video. No audio and a series of stills. I was amused to see I could read and understand the subtitles though. Took several years of French in Jr. Sr High and haven't used it since. I will give it a shot later or try on my other computer. | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 3120 Registered: 02-2007 |
Just my opinion. If you guys see empty streets and settlers with goats and chickens where homes used to be as "hopeful", great. This piece stressed past tense, desolation and forlorn. | ||
Hockey_player Member Username: Hockey_player Post Number: 291 Registered: 10-2003 |
How is something shot a few months back "past tense?" Do you think it will look different next summer? | ||
Mpow Member Username: Mpow Post Number: 154 Registered: 11-2003 |
Of course Detroit is more than the urban prarie, utopian pastoral wet dream. Yet, I think with some clever marketing and shift in perceptions this could put Detroit as one of the leading urban centers growing local food and practicing green living. The potential in this in the Obama era could be astounding. I see all this being beside high technology, engineering and new developments. The capital of Jetsons meets the Flintstones. Viva Detroit!! | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6351 Registered: 12-2005 |
I emailed a link to this thread to the author and the response was: quote:I hope he comments here. There's a lot of talent in that film. The traffic signals directing nonexistent traffic is something that can't be captured with still photography. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6352 Registered: 12-2005 |
Then there's this man at 23:20.  He never utters a word yet his face is permeated with emotion like some silent, exhausted plea. | ||
J_to_the_jeremy Member Username: J_to_the_jeremy Post Number: 159 Registered: 03-2007 |
I'm really impressed by the short film, it was breathtaking and I didn't even realize it was a half hour long. I think it paints a hopeful picture of the city because it shows so much beauty, just not necessarily the kind you'd expect. I'm looking forward to seeing the full film one day. | ||
Skylark Member Username: Skylark Post Number: 124 Registered: 08-2007 |
The man in the video said the power failure was July 14, 2003. Actually it was Aug. 14, 2003. The video was sad and very well done. I recognized the Detroit Tour guide from Pecha Kucha night at the DIA. I wonder if the rabbits eat the vegetable crops that they are trying to grow. | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 810 Registered: 04-2008 |
Anyone know where I can get a Detroit Hunting License? | ||
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy Post Number: 268 Registered: 08-2006 |
hunting license??? why bother, hunting is year round in the d and you don't need an ak for a few bunnies and phesants | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 97 Registered: 10-2007 |
This guy is very sophisticated. Check out the video on his website on la Porte Maillot, a huge traffic circle in central Paris. He documents the human, animal and vegetative life on the island, and focuses on the wild rabbits that live in the middle of this intense traffic. One critique: His videos are too long. he needs a good "editeur." | ||
Applesauce Member Username: Applesauce Post Number: 217 Registered: 06-2007 |
Great find Mpow. | ||
Gencinjay Member Username: Gencinjay Post Number: 102 Registered: 03-2008 |
There are three moments that really moved me in this video: 1) the sound from the movie playing in the background early on when the last line is, "I believe in you, Nicky. If I helped you, would you try?" 2) In the middle there is a shot of an older man amongst some ruins that looks like he's gasping for breath. 3) The last line of the video, "We still have a lot here. More than we realize I think" I can't wait to see a full length film. | ||
Harmonie Member Username: Harmonie Post Number: 201 Registered: 08-2004 |
I spent a day with Florent while he was here (he was here for over a month living in Woodbridge btw) I showed him all my favorite things and positive things and was quite surprised when none of the redevelopment made it into the video, though I think the video is a beautiful piece of art. Here is what I wrote to him when he sent me the link, and his reply. From Me: Hi Florent, Of course I remember you, and the piece is a very beautiful piece of art. It makes me sad though because it is only one part of Detroit. Even from the comments that people left on vimeo they think that Detroit is all wasteland, when we have lots of great things here. There are great neighborhoods throughout the city like Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, University District, East English Village, Indian Village, Corktown, etc. I bet people think that you hated it here. I understand the point of your video but I hope there is a sequel that shows us rising from the ashes. That shows the photos of Campus Martius before the park, the renovated Victorian homes, the new stores and the life and opportunity that Detroit offers. You're a great artist. I look forward to seeing the rest of the video once you get the funding. From Florent Tillon: I'm glad that you anderstand my point of view as an artist, and I anderstand your desappointing, quitte ! But don't worry this is just a video taster, there is a lot more to say about Detroit, and I'll do it... and actually, I'm working on a script with my producer at this moment, and the renaissance you and others are trying to pull back in downtown is in !!! I really want to show that : campus martius place, the lofts, the new stadium, it's already on the script, but I hadn't the time to shoot that in my staying, and it would even be hard to put it in a taster. Don't believe that I don't like Detroit : the month I spent in it this summer was part of the best days in my life ! I love Detroit. And if you read more precisely the comments, you will see that some people from Detroit are glad to see a movie which is not just talking about the gangs, and violence, and cops, but also, and specialy what's beautifull in this kind of return to a place more natural, biologic, and friendly... I have a friend who said to me that he would love drink bear with Scott around the bonefire during a summer night. I believe that this film will be better for the tourism of Detroit that the hardrock café promotion, I'm sure about that ! Trust me, all that I want is to show what's is beautifull over the crisis : Detroit is to me, a way to talk about something else that just Detroit... But you anderstood that already. But, the question is : in the script I would love to show the new downtown detroit with your help again : do with you the tour you do, but not just with the few things I shot this summer, but also the new shops, the new restaurants, the new plaza, etc. And this time with a lot of people. will you accept to help me again in june, when I'll come back ?... I have also to fine some archive, photos, promotionnal vidéos, those kind of stuffs. Maybe you can give me a precious hand about this ? Bye and thanks again. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6366 Registered: 12-2005 |
Thanks, Harmonie. I don't think Florent needs to apologize for anything. I think what's needed is for Detroit to welcome him back. Welcome, Florent. Back to the film. At 20:50 there's a brief reference to the bonfire as a place of social gathering. Within the context of the film it seems incongruous yet it wasn't edited out. Was it a subtle metaphor for why Detroit's suburbs stay gathered around Detroit? (Detroit burning isn't explicitly mentioned for reasons that should be obvious.) If that metaphor was intentional, it was a stroke of genius! | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 196 Registered: 10-2007 |
It's really a beautiful piece of work, made with an artistic rather than reportorial sensibility. One of the most real and close to truth things I've seen about present-day Detroit. Certainly much better than a hundred clueless U.S. media sensation pieces about the fall of the auto industry and the poor, dangerous, black city and its exotic inhabitants, or even than most rising from the ashes, look we have a Hard Rock Cafe too, boosterism. | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 3134 Registered: 02-2007 |
Quote: "I really want to show that : campus martius place, the lofts, the new stadium, it's already on the script, but I hadn't the time to shoot that in my staying, and it would even be hard to put it in a taster." He drove past anything positive and purposely omitted it because it would have ruined the continuity of the piece. Portraying Detroit as some post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by a few lost souls. | ||
J_to_the_jeremy Member Username: J_to_the_jeremy Post Number: 163 Registered: 03-2007 |
...And acknowledged that he would focus very much on that part when he comes back. Nothing in the "wildlife" video was untrue. And honestly, Detroit can feel that way sometimes, probably more so to a visitor from another country with different expectations and experiences of what cities are. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 5563 Registered: 04-2005 |
I don't always agree with you SStash, but I'm with you on this one. It's not a wonder that people are asking 'what happened to Detroit'? Stuff like this sends out a message that there is nothing to come here for. Why visit a city where there is no traffic, chickens wandering the streets and goats munching on garbage? It may be artistically beautiful, but it's not a great advertisement. My son in law from Denver saw this and showed it to me, and asked why in he world we want him and my daughter to move back to an area with no jobs and no people living in the largest city in the state. | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 3135 Registered: 02-2007 |
There is a big family of "BeBacks" out there. Don't bet on it.  Edit: Jcole, this post was in reference to the notion that the film maker would return and do a more positive piece on Detroit. Never gonna happen. (Message edited by Sstashmoo on January 17, 2009) | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 197 Registered: 10-2007 |
It's not supposed to be a damn ad. There is no other major modern city on Earth that is as empty and abandoned as Detroit. That's simply a fact, and it is what's most remarkable and singular about the place from any perspective but an internal one. It's also the message we have to send to a world undergoing massive economic, social, and ecological changes - this could (and perhaps will) happen to you. But this filmmaker has also captured something beautiful in the reversion of much of our city to the Michigan coastal prairie from whence it came, and that is what makes it a cut above most of the other pieces I've seen on Detroit. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 5567 Registered: 04-2005 |
I'm sure the man didn't intend it to be an ad. He intended it for what you see in it, a beautiful, albeit sad, commentary on what was and what can be. But, not everyone will look at it through his, or your, eyes. People who aren't familiar with Detroit will see an empty city with no cars, empty lots and animals wandering free. Not the place you want to go on vacation unless you're an anthropologist. | ||
Bosch Member Username: Bosch Post Number: 51 Registered: 11-2008 |
Anyone who gets out of the car and walks or bicycles through town will see the rural side of Detroit. One thing missing from this film is the predators. To be fair, the film should also show some of the dangers. | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 198 Registered: 10-2007 |
"People who aren't familiar with Detroit will see an empty city with no cars, empty lots and animals wandering free." And people familiar with Detroit will just see what they see all the time. For the people who aren't familiar with the city, which part of this isn't true? Why does it matter whose eyes someone sees it with? In my neighborhood streets that were clogged with traffic at rush hours every day, with SRO buses, you can now stand in the middle of at 5 PM and see not a single car. The bus doesn't even run there anymore for most of the day. Places that were lined with side-by-side houses when I was a kid are now open fields with pheasants, rabbits, and wildflowers. Institutions that once served the community - schools, churches - are now closed and sit open to the air because there's little or no community left to serve. I saw all of this in that film. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 5568 Registered: 04-2005 |
It matters in that there are other parts of the city that DO have traffic and people. If you want Detroit to become what you see, then fine, show only the wildflowers, rabbits and empty streets to the rest of the world. If Detroit is ever going to become a 'world class city' again, we need to attract visitors, businesses and residents, and that isn't going to happen with movies of the return to Little House on the Prairie. Show the areas that have open businesses as well as the community gardens and open land. Show the restaurants and casinos AND the bunnies and birds. If outsiders see only the rural spots, that's all they think there is. I grew up in Detroit when it was vibrant and had side by side houses everywhere and schools and churches that weren't afraid to stay open at night too. I'd like to see it like that again. | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 199 Registered: 10-2007 |
Again, it's not a Chamber of Commerce piece, it's not the evening news, nor is it meant to boost the city's business community or bring in the tourists (although it may actually have that effect if it's ever fully made - I already know a number of foreigners who are fascinated by Detroit and want badly to come here and experience the place like Florent Tillon did). It is intended to be, I think, one artistic fimmaker's vision of what he saw and felt here. A view of what is remarkable, in a wider world context, about Detroit. All cities have big buildings, side-by-side residences, and traffic - that's what we expect of cities. What's remarkable about Detroit though, what makes it a subject of interest, is how much of the city no longer has these things, how much of it is nearly empty and effectively de-urbanized, how many large buildings sit empty and abandoned, how much of the city and its inhabitants are largely living outside of the mainstream of modern American life and effectively detached from the American economy. What's interesting about this piece is that it doesn't treat these things - which any one of us has to admit are a big part of the reality of current-day Detroit - in a sensationalistic way. But instead uses the condition of our city and its people as part of a more artistic meditation on this place and time. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 5574 Registered: 04-2005 |
I'm not going to argue my point any more here, Al. You have your opinion and I have mine. That's what makes this site interesting and worth spending time on. I just hope that someday Detroit comes back into it what I believe it can be. | ||
J_to_the_jeremy Member Username: J_to_the_jeremy Post Number: 164 Registered: 03-2007 |
I agree with both of you | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 5575 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks, J to the J | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6410 Registered: 12-2005 |
Ordinance allows backyard chickens in Ann Arbor -- if neighbors give OK quote:http://www.a2citychickens.com/ Is it legal to raise chickens in Detroit? | ||
Dtowncitylover Member Username: Dtowncitylover Post Number: 454 Registered: 02-2008 |
It wasn't July 13, 2003, it was August 13, 2003 when the power went out. Anyways, I hope hippies don't take over Detroit.I just hope these urban prairies will be built upon again, I love local gardens in one's backyard, but I ain't for farming in Detroit. |
