I have been thinking about 9/11 a lot lately. After all, the short film I am making is a tribute of sorts to 9/11. While it is a story mainly about grief and survival, the underlying tribute is to that of the survivors of 9/11.
The reason I feel so compelled to tell the story is because up until this point, I have felt unable to really contribute much to that event. However, as a writer, as an artist, I feel as if perhaps I can add something to the record; perhaps I can use words and images to make some kind of difference. As a writer, writing is the only way I know to heal.
Interestingly enough, in today's New York Times, there is an editorial about the proposed 9/11 memorial. The writer, Eric Fischl, is an artist, feels as if the proposed memorials are too stark and do not capture that anguish or the tragedy of the day. He fears that the memorial will be too sanitized. He wants to record the cruelty of the day, and not cover it over.
I understand what he is saying. Last night, I stayed up late and watched Spike Lee's film, 25th Hour. I knew the basic premise was about Ed Norton's character spending one last night in NYC before going off to prison. However, I hadn't expected to see the horrors of 9/11 interwoven into the story so brutally and visually.
I guess Spike Lee was filming this movie in post 9/11 New York and as a New Yorker and as an artist, he just couldn't ignore the gaping hole in the ground where the towers once stood. After an initial introduction to Ed Norton's character, the film's opening/credit sequence is interwoven with the 2 beams of light that first memorialized the site of the fallen towers. To me, those two lights are so visually powerful, and such a strong reminder of what was lost in a split second.
The film was powerful; perhaps a bit too long (some of the supporting character's storylines could have been limited because Ed Norton's performance alone could carry any movie). It was a polished, professional piece of filmwork; yet like all of Spike's films there is an undercurrent of raw anger and in-your-face attitude. You see Spike reacting to another NY tragedy with complex emotions. This is the city he loves, and yet it is a city that can make his blood boil. In one bold scene, Ed Norton looks into a mirror and spews hateful words about each and every type of New Yorker.
And yet, as much as Ed Norton wants to hate this city, and blame it's people for his own downfall, you can see the love he (and Spike) really have for it. The movie is, in a way, a nice complementary piece to Spike's "Do the Right Thing." There is such a complex, "love/hate relationship" with NYC for Spike.
In a way, I felt a bit removed from NYC during 9/11. Sure, my husband commutes in and out everyday. But since giving birth seven years ago, I have pretty much been out here in the burbs, having little reason to go into the city. The time I spent at NYU and interning at Women In Film, seem like a lifetime ago. However, now that I'm working on my short film (and my kids are in school) I have been in the city several times in just a couple of weeks time. In a way, much like the protagonist of my short film, I am going back to the city after a long hiatus.
And in a way, I am just beginning to feel the effects of 9/11. I was doing location scouting last weekend, and I took the ferry over from NJ to Wall Street. I expected to be "wowed" by the vision of NYC from the water. I was a bit disappointed. Without the towers, the NYC skyline is rather bleak, uninspiring, and incomplete.
When I was in high school we took a trip to Ellis Island with our history class. Later, our teacher asked us to write a paragraph of what we thought, or what affected the most about our trip. Still today, almost 20 years later, I remember that traveling on the ferry and looking over and seeing the NYC skyline at dusk was one of the most fabulous images I had ever seen. It was....like a painting.
Eric Fischl wrote in the NY Times today, that "Art has always served to bring form to what is experienced but cannot be seen. It recreates things that have happened and moves them forward into a new light. It brings order to chaos and clarity to confusion. Let us hope that the memorial will seek to include true artistic expression in its final configuration."
I agree with Mr. Fischl. I also agree that no memorial can ever give us what was lost on that tragic day. It cannot soothe the survivors soul's or really pay adequate tribute to the dead. Too much was lost on that day when the towers crumbled. We lost lives, innocence, hope, and art.
We cannot bring back the dead. But perhaps we can repaint the landscape that defines NYC...one artist at a time.
Hi! Thanks for linking to me. How interesting to hear about the casting process. I look forward to reading about the filming and etc. We had an article in this morning's San Francisco Chronicle about the new building going up, how it is going to be the tallest in the world. Argh, was all I could think. Are they making it another target?
Posted by: Jo | Sunday, December 21, 2003 at 12:02 AM