Funny that this movie, which I'd never heard of until yesterday, is in the National Film Registry, and famous for being the movie François Truffaut named as inspiration for The 400 Blows, saying "Our new wave would never have come into being if it hadn’t been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent film production with his fine movie Little Fugitive."
Little Fugitive, through non-professional child actors, a handheld 35mm camera, location shooting, and hundreds of clueless extras, captures the feeling of being a young boy from Brooklyn visiting Coney Island in 1953. The film is as light as the day of a child, eschewing adult world responsibilities, problems, neuroses, etc.
The narrative pivots on a case of mistaken homicide: the slightly-older boys execute a ketchup-blood-based prank that convinces young and clingy Joey he's shot and killed his slightly-older brother.
And then, true to both the movie's naturalistic style and its boyhood perspective, when Joey flees (aka goes on the lam) to Coney Island, he spends his time tossing baseballs at milk bottles, riding the carousel (felt like the whole carousel ride was included), collecting bottles for nickels he uses to ride ponies, and in various other ways behaves like a normal child.
During this trip, two peripheral characters are introduced -- one a small boy who teaches Joey about collecting bottles, and the man who runs the pony business. I can't tell you a thing about these peripheral characters, because Joey doesn't take the time to learn about them, because he's a kid, and for likewise reasons they don't volunteer their life stories.
I never felt afraid for Joey, whether because of assumptions about a safer 50s America, because he's only gone for one day, or because he doesn't seem too worried himself. There's the feeling that he's decided to live and spend the rest of his life on Coney Island, a place of endless pleasures.
Basically, the whole movie is off the rails, but in the meandering readworld way of childhood adventure.
I liked this movie so much. It reminded me of a kid's fantasy movie crossed with a 50s Japanese melodrama crossed with a documentary. Still photographers by trade, the moviemakers search out delightful details from Joey's journey, and the naturalistic style gifts the film with a sense of life and breathe. This doesn't feel like a scripted recreation of this life, it feels like an encounter with the real thing.
In 1953 this little independently made film surprisingly found its way onto commercial cinema screens across the land. Its big drawcard was remarkable cinematography by first-time moviemakers, Ray Ashley, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin. Sharing the writing, direction, photography, and editing this group of talented folk brought life to a raw but warm story of childhood that resonated with audiences the world over. A simple story of two brothers after one runs away following a practical joke that goes badly wrong - featuring non-processional cast members and using a 35mm camera that had been modified, allowing it to be used much like a steady-cam unit would be today.
ReplyDeleteSo fresh and inventive was the outcome - in the years that followed, mainstream moviemakers the world over adopted the techniques into their works, starting several new trends in filmmaking. The image and sound remain effective to this day and the newly re-masted Kino Lobar DVD has breathed new life into this ground-breaking little picture.