The Cruise is a film about a tour guide that leads a double decker bus tour in New York City. The film begins with a close up shot of the main character, singing a song with a talking voice and his curly mess of hair waving around in the wind. Once he finishes the song, he says that it was written by a trodden down man - this is where I thought he was going to say that it was written by him - but he surprised me by saying that it was written by Gershwin. The camera then pulled out to reveal that he was narrating a tour. In the beginning, he is often shown doing this. However, during the middle of the film, after learning more about his personal life, the camera returns to the bus, but shows the tour from a tourist’s point of view while he continues to narrate. There was also a great shot where he was describing a beautiful terra cotta building and how light reflects off of terra cotta whereas stone just absorbs it. He begins making noises while talking to himself and the camera pulls out to show him in a fantastic wide shot and in this shot he becomes a New York exhibition for the passers by on the street. All of these different types of shots allowed us to experience him in many ways; as a tourist, a curious NYC patron, we even spoke with him like a friend.
For many reasons, he was a great documentary subject to follow. One reason, he likes to talk! He has opinions about everything. He knows a lot of history which probably comes in part from being a tour guide, but it is very apparent that he knows more than his scripted tour. He has an obvious love for history, architecture, people and New York City. He takes time to go out and stand and meditate on the Brooklyn Bridge. He loves art and interpreting art. He enjoys speaking poetically. He freely talks about his personal history and often relates that to New York.
Many of the things he said were explanatory of himself, whether he was speaking directly about himself or not. At the end of one of his tours he said a great line, “Ladies and gentleman, my name is Timothy...if you need advice or directions on New York City, on style, on how to appear as a debonair individual despite interior feelings of despair, let us know.” Another interesting fact about him was that he made the comment that Willy Wonka was one of his inspirations which I thought was, in many ways, very spot on. The entire film tends to give the appearance that he is alone and New York is his best and possibly only friend. He lives in his head a lot. Near the end of the film, he is back on the bus and tells passengers that when Greta Garbo was asked why she moved to NYC, she said that it was the only place in which she could be alone. It then cuts to a shot of him going out to have fun and interact with the city, still alone. The film in its entirety was edited well so that it really allowed the audience to get to know this one man from New York.
Nice. I like your thoughts about him becoming one of the NY exhibitions.
ReplyDeleteI like the way that this documentary begins. From your post about the film, it seems like the main character is set up perfectly. The audience can see how big his personality is from the very beginning of the film. I think it is interesting how someone who seems so normal and insignificant can be so significant. However, that is the beauty of documentaries.
ReplyDeleteI find your analysis of the shots extremely interesting. You said that we get to experience the main character in many different ways based on the different shots. There are so many facets to each and every human being’s personalities and it is amazing how all of those can be captured on film using different techniques. I also think it is important that you acknowledged how great of a subject he was to follow for a documentary. Choosing a subject that is interesting, relatable, and has a lot to say is what makes a good documentary.
It seems that the main character was somewhat of a loner. I find this interesting since his career is all about interacting with other people. It makes me wonder why he is so alone when he seems like someone people would want to be around. I am wondering also if he desperately wants companionship and is able to receive a small glimpse of that through his job. Oftentimes loners do not like people or do not feel accepted by people. However, everyday Timothy puts himself out in front of numerous people and performs and interacts with them. This is why documentary is so important. We are able to see the different sides of Timothy and try to diagnose why he is the way he is. He is an interesting subject because there are things that the audience wants to figure out about him. Even from your post I want to know more about Timothy and experience him in his element in NYC.