New York City shines in this pedestrian affair.
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Matt Green likes to walk. A lot. Specifically he likes to walk around New York City. All of it. It is this project that attracted the attention of documentary filmmaker Jeremy Workman, and their collaboration has resulted in the marvelous new film The World Before Your Feet.
Green is a great subject and would make for a serviceable documentary in his own right. After working as a engineer, he dropped out of the rat race in order to just walk. He has gone across the entire United States but found his true calling with a project to walk every single block of NYC, a multi-year effort.
In his several hours per day, he shows the shiny as well as the mundane all over the five boroughs. He has certain things he looks for like memorials or “churchagogues” (Jewish houses of worship converted to Christian churches). He notices a lot and photographs much of it. He then posts on imjustwalkin.com and continues to do so.
But The World Before Your Feet wouldn’t be what it is without the city itself. The film is less a love letter to the city than a pulling back of the curtains that keeps so much of America’s biggest metropolitan area hidden from everyday view. Green observes that even for long-time residents, there may be blocks just over from the ones they tread daily that they might have literally never set foot on.
It’s this street-level view of mile after mile of the city that is fascinating. Of course, these streets wouldn’t be what they are without people, and Green is quick to stop and chat up people on his path. More often than not, they are interested in his project and will even take time to show him their world.
In a city known for its terseness (and in a world increasingly so), the connections Green makes with his adopted city and its residents is a breath of fresh air during these ever more isolated times. Workman’s film is an homage to this phenomenon, one that people from all walks of life will surely enjoy.
