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Cinemania

2003, Movie, NR, 80 mins

Cinemania: Review

CINEMANIA
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There are fans and there are fanatics; Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak's documentary portrait of five film-obsessed New Yorkers is a sobering chronicle of the difference. Sobering, at least, for film buffs in danger of allowing moviegoing to replace living, as Jack Angstreich, Bill Heidbreder, Harvey Schwartz, Eric Chadbourne and Roberta Hill have. No one who spends a lot of time in movie theaters, particularly repertory houses and museum/film society-related venues, can fail to recognize the type. Unkempt, bursting with arcane knowledge and unruly opinions, disturbingly intense and wedded to routine — heaven help you if you inadvertently sit in their favorite seats. Roberta, Eric, Harvey, Bill and Jack attend movies religiously, seeing as many as they can squeeze into the day, every day, sacrificing friends, work and simple human dignity to their mission. What kind of person adheres to a constipating diet so he won't have to factor toilet breaks into his breakneck viewing schedule? That would be Jack. How do you get yourself banned from the Museum of Modern Art theaters? Attack an usher for ripping your ticket rather than returning it intact, the way Roberta did. At the time the film was made, none had a job: the youngish Bill and Jack live off a modest inheritance and unemployment benefits, respectively; the others — all middle-aged and older — collect disability. Harvey lives with his mother; Roberta and Eric's apartments define "squalor." They're too maddening to maintain friendships, even with each other; they mill around together because they're always in the same places. What's truly sad is how little pleasure they seem to derive from their passion; each is so driven to collect — whether movie-related ephemera or simply the experience of having seen a particular film — that there's little time to enjoy. Harvey doesn't even have a turntable on which to play his trove of obscure soundtracks, while Jack and Bill are so obsessed with the minutia of the perfect viewing experience that something always ruins it, be it candy-wrapper rattlers or imperfect prints. Their mania might be funny if it weren't so creepy. After Jack's dissertation on his movie-made fetishes — he's hot for Lady from Shanghai-era Rita Hayworth, but only in character and B&W (maybe he could wear special contact lenses, he muses) — it's hard to look at vintage Hollywood glamour shots without shuddering. Let the viewer beware! leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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