-By John DeFore
For movie details, please click here.
Made with the former mayor's cooperation but allowing ample screen
time to those with harsh things to say about him, Neil Barsky's
Koch offers as comprehensive a picture as it can in 94
minutes of a man whose tenure merits a miniseries. Small-screen
appeal is strong, and specialized theatrical exhibition will draw
its fair share of New Yorkers and New Yorkers-at-heart.
Framing the story with scenes from the recent past, Barsky finds
the octogenarian still visible in New York City's political life:
stumping in 2010 for everything from local assembly candidates to
the gubernatorial contest, being toasted by current mayor Michael
Bloomberg, having a bridge renamed for him. It isn't long before a
witness to one of these honors takes issue with it, reminding
viewers of the problems Koch had with many black
constituents.
Barsky leaps back to 1977, with images of a Big Apple on the brink
of collapse. There's Ed Koch, P.A. set up on street corners,
claiming he's the best of the seven brave souls hoping to become
mayor of the imperiled metropolis. Mixing plentiful period footage
and interviews with participants including political strategist
David Garth, the film sees how the outspoken Koch won the job, then
follows as he quickly earned a reputation for nerve.
Koch stares down the transit union, daring to venture among the
commuters whose subway rides were replaced by hours-long walks to
work; he goes to D.C. to head off the city's bankruptcy. We see one
of his most controversial acts, the closing of Harlem's Sydenham
Hospital, which he now admits was a mistake—though whether he means
it was immoral or simply a strategic error is unclear.
Some of the film's talking heads suggest the latter. One black
leader defends Koch from charges of racism, accusing him instead of
across-the-board opportunism. Koch's problems with the gay
community, which accused him of exacerbating the AIDS crisis, get
equal attention. Barsky lingers on the issue of the mayor's
sexuality—many believe he's a closeted gay man whose foot-dragging
on AIDS resulted from fear of being outed—but Koch maintains his
stance when the director asks about it point-blank: "It's none of
your fucking business." (Gay, straight or asexual, Koch's use of
former Miss America Bess Myerson as a photo-op companion during his
first campaign was shameless.)
Amid the critical voices, though,
Koch finds much to
praise—particularly in the administration's massive spending on
housing, which one interviewee says is as responsible for lowered
crime rates as any of the controversial police tactics that earned
Rudy Giuliani renown in later years.
—
The Hollywood Reporter
Film Review: Koch
Lively doc observes a critical period in New York City history.
Jan 29, 2013
-By John DeFore
For movie details, please click here.
Made with the former mayor's cooperation but allowing ample screen time to those with harsh things to say about him, Neil Barsky's
Koch offers as comprehensive a picture as it can in 94 minutes of a man whose tenure merits a miniseries. Small-screen appeal is strong, and specialized theatrical exhibition will draw its fair share of New Yorkers and New Yorkers-at-heart.
Framing the story with scenes from the recent past, Barsky finds the octogenarian still visible in New York City's political life: stumping in 2010 for everything from local assembly candidates to the gubernatorial contest, being toasted by current mayor Michael Bloomberg, having a bridge renamed for him. It isn't long before a witness to one of these honors takes issue with it, reminding viewers of the problems Koch had with many black constituents.
Barsky leaps back to 1977, with images of a Big Apple on the brink of collapse. There's Ed Koch, P.A. set up on street corners, claiming he's the best of the seven brave souls hoping to become mayor of the imperiled metropolis. Mixing plentiful period footage and interviews with participants including political strategist David Garth, the film sees how the outspoken Koch won the job, then follows as he quickly earned a reputation for nerve.
Koch stares down the transit union, daring to venture among the commuters whose subway rides were replaced by hours-long walks to work; he goes to D.C. to head off the city's bankruptcy. We see one of his most controversial acts, the closing of Harlem's Sydenham Hospital, which he now admits was a mistake—though whether he means it was immoral or simply a strategic error is unclear.
Some of the film's talking heads suggest the latter. One black leader defends Koch from charges of racism, accusing him instead of across-the-board opportunism. Koch's problems with the gay community, which accused him of exacerbating the AIDS crisis, get equal attention. Barsky lingers on the issue of the mayor's sexuality—many believe he's a closeted gay man whose foot-dragging on AIDS resulted from fear of being outed—but Koch maintains his stance when the director asks about it point-blank: "It's none of your fucking business." (Gay, straight or asexual, Koch's use of former Miss America Bess Myerson as a photo-op companion during his first campaign was shameless.)
Amid the critical voices, though,
Koch finds much to praise—particularly in the administration's massive spending on housing, which one interviewee says is as responsible for lowered crime rates as any of the controversial police tactics that earned Rudy Giuliani renown in later years.
—
The Hollywood Reporter
