When it comes to the city, many people today think of all the popular places that have the most tourist attractions or what has the best sites to see. Of these highly sought out locations, people tend to forget that not every city is glistening with appealing visuals. Even the great New York City of the United States of America has its areas that require necessary attention. However, across NYC and over the Hudson River lies Newark, New Jersey. What was once a largely industrial and populated city now lays an urban landscape with several stretches of poverty and crime. For those who are not familiar with Newark intimately, their viewpoints unanimously converge on the assumption that Newark is a place nobody should visit. Yet for filmmakers Jerome and Marylou Bongiorno, they have a much different mentality about New Jersey's Newark. The Bongiornos are not your typical set of documentary movie makers. In this documentary, they cover how Newark changed after 1967.
One of the biggest advantages the Bongiornos have in their favor versus numerous other filmmakers is that they live in Newark. What better way to get in contact with the people who know the city best, to immerse oneself in the culture and to gain an understanding of the city's history? Yes, research is needed but a disconnect will still exist unless the people involved actually experience the neighborhood itself. The year of 1967 was a time of change for Newark, in its social and political issues. Audiences are reeled into the enticing story of how things got so uncontrollable so quickly. Now of course just giving the reason is not all that is reported. As viewers are explained the set of events that brought about such an uproar, the next step was giving more food for thought by elaborating on the socio-economic history that plagued Newark before any of it even happened. In short, Newark was a slow cooking pot boiler that had unresolved problems.
What's intriguing to know, is that the infamous riots of Newark in 1967 were a culmination of circumstances. These quandaries had been brewing decades before and they span from subtopics about the housing commission, discrimination among people, corrupt city leaders, freeway construction, poverty and much more. Along with that are several clips of people being interviewed that were either indirectly and (more importantly) directly involved with this tragic set of events. This list of people that help give the audience a richer understanding of the complications at hand range from activists, historians, former politicians, public safety officials, journalists and others. Of these individuals, Tom Hayden, Ronald Smothers, Sharpe James, Amiri Baraka, Nell Irvin Painter, George Richardson are just some of the people who help relay this information. What's even more surprising is to see and hear how much of a disadvantage other races had compared to working white folk.
Yet if there was one group of people being interviewed that should have had more time to explain their side of the story, it should have been for the veterans of the National Guard. It's definitely important to have your audience understand the topic at hand and receive the message the film conveys, but it is also important to have equal amounts of information on both sides. This is not to conflict the overall comprehension, but to see the viewpoints from both perspectives equally. There are nonetheless some very disturbing statistics displayed throughout the film that can resonate for quite a while. Another aspect to this documentary that really helps the atmosphere and tension feel all the more authentic are the numerous snippets of 8mm videos that were taken during the violence that occurred that day. During those particular pieces of recorded history, one can only imagine what it would've been like to see the National Guard advancing through local streets.
In wrapping up, the last segment updates viewers on Newark's current status. There are things going on in Newark, but it still needs the right guidance. For Jerome Bongiorno working as cinematographer, the camera-work was fine. For the interview elements, the camera is rigid much of the time and that's how it should be when filming a classic documentary. Then again it would have been quite stimulating to see more shots that caught today's Newark in action. For those who don't live in Newark, just having the camera pass through pedestrians or by sidewalks doesn't show Newark's other surroundings. The music was an enjoyable added touch though. Composed by Yotam Rosenbaum, the music is a callback to the days of early jazz when the instruments at the forefront consisted of piano, organ, and light brushes on the snare. These sounds all in some way assist in reflecting the time and tone of that era. This will actually help the viewers be more engaged. It's very appropriate.
Aside from not having enough stories from the National Guard end and missing some contemporary shots of said location, this documentary on the history of Newark New Jersey should be seen not just to educate, but to understand. The facts, the people interviewed, the music and historical evidence shown through pictures and video all mingle to form a cohesive empathetic break down of this misunderstood city.
