My 2017 feature film, DEATH & LIFE was a dark movie with a pessimistic view of living as a transplant in a big American city. I knew when I was producing DEATH & LIFE, that I'd probably create a sister-film... a flipside... , though at the time I was unsure as to what that would be.
As I powered through the second draft of FRACTALS, I wanted to create a flipside to DEATH & LIFE.
While I wanted a reasonably balanced view of city life, I made it a point to remove the pessimistic atmosphere I had previously curated.
In this clip from DEATH & LIFE, the character Jane (played by Jan Major), discusses the importance of the Love/Hate relationship a citizen might have with their city. She suggests that a Love/Hate relationship is the healthiest relationship a person can have with their city.
I wanted to make use of this duality in my approach to creating DEATH & LIFE's sister-film, FRACTALS.
If DEATH & LIFE was the Hate, then FRACTALS would be the Love.
I would attempt to achieve my Love Letter to New York by engineering an artistic vision that stood apart from all the projects that came before. More than that, it was important to me to create a film that wasn't like all the other countless cinematic love letters we've seen over the decades. I wanted this to be grounded in the very real struggle that most New Yorkers contend with - especially transplants - I wanted to portray the energy expenditure required to remain in New York, especially during tough economic times.
The film is not at all unrealistic about what it takes to function in New York City and what it takes to stay. I don’t romanticize it. But I do find a way to communicate a very real and healthy love for it, and that’s evident from the second draft to the final shooting sides.
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