Chelsea Walls

Chelsea Walls is not the usual film, that somehow all of the characters and their stories are inter-related. In 'Walls', none of the characters and their stories touch one another. This is what makes it more life-like, because all of us know that this is reality and not the movies. This film requires the participation of the audience in viewing it, there are many fascinating characters who are telling fascinating stories, just watch and listen. Finally, it is about Americans who are still 'On the Road' for that career in the arts and the experiences that they have and the people that enter their lives while they are on that journey. It is somewhat in the genre of Jack Kerouac, the difference being that this is a group of total strangers who never connect with each other, just with life.

The young poet Audrey is shown writing an epic love ode to her boyfriend. Montage of her on her bare-roomed floor with voice over ("I want to be your wristwatch band so that every pulse throb will subtly remind you of my eternal love", etc.), images of this young Romeo, a spoiled-looking kid with all the depth of a ham sandwich. More poetic verbal images and then the [unintentional] comic moment, seen in a silent image: Romeo and Juliet on the balcony of the Chelsea Hotel where in a Romantic Moment that justifies all her deathless love and poetry....he spits, intentionally, on a sidewalk passerby many feet below. Yes, what Musedom he provides for the piss-elegant poetry of her young being. Priceless! (And, oh yes, a few lines must be dedicated to the usual Kris Kristoferson tired, substance abused, world weary artiste performance: would you want to spend 15 minutes with this drunken dope at a party?)

The residents don't seem to have money to turn on the lights, so most of the time I can't even see who is talking. There are many scenes that contain incomprehensible monologues which are superimposed onto irrelevant visuals. The numerous characters and the unrelated stories make the whole film impossible to understand for me.

Christopher Walken is credited as a character without a name (and his name appears on the VHS cassette). Can anyone tell my exactly what part he plays and/or when he appeared? I surely didn't see him - and I watched for him through the whole movie as I expected him to fit in quite well in this original movie. Or maybe I just went blind?

I feel so ashamed for the people who have trashed this film, they obviously don't know a lot about movies. This film is a wonderful work of art, and it seems that many of the people posting comments here don't appreciate art. Many have noted the grainy and obscure shots in the movie, that is because it was filmed entirely in digital format. It is the second film in the InDigEnt series of films shot entirely on digital, and on a budget of $150,000 or less (another film in this project being Richard Linklater's "Tape", which is an AMAZING film). The film was shot over a period of 16 days using Sony PD-100 digital cameras. As for the writing and characters that have been belittled, these characters are not entirely the creation of screenwriter Nicole Burdette, the story was inspired by the play "Under Milk Wood" by a man called Dylan Thomas, you may have heard of him... if you haven't, go to school, and then come back and critique this movie. Thomas actually resided in the Chelsea at one point in time, as well as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. And if you didn't enjoy the music of the film by Wilco/Jeff Tweedy... shame on you. Chelsea Walls is a wonderful film, directed by an amazing artist. For Hawke's directorial debut, I think he did a wonderful job.