A film review by
Christopher Null - Copyright © 2000 filmcritic.com
(3 1/2 stars out of 5)
Director: Jason Rosette
Producer: Jason Rosette
Screenwriter: Jason Rosette
Stars: Jason Rosette
MPAA Rating: NR
Year of Release: 2000
There are a million stories in the naked city, and a new
documentary from Jason Rosette does a remarkable job at
ferreting out one of them -- and where you'd least expect
it.
BookWars examines the strange and unexpectedly intense
world of street booksellers in Manhattan -- specifically, a
little stretch of 4th Street near NYU, where otherwise
unemployed types set up an 8-foot table, covered with
treasures of the printed word.
Rosette tells the story from the inside, having spent three
years on 4th, selling precious volumes of Dostoyevsky,
Kerouac, and Kierkegaard. We meet his colleagues, who range
from surprisingly well adjusted to almost completely
insane. And we discover the origins of the books -- estate
sales, libraries, the trash, and even other street sellers
when they inevitably wash out.
But Rosette's tale is especially remarkable from several
perspectives. First, the streetwise merchandising tactics
you learn in BookWars' 79 minutes teach you more about
business than any MBA program. Second, the socio-political
microscope the booksellers find themselves under when
Giuliani's "Quality of Life" program is introduced (thus
attempting to whisk them off the sidewalks) makes a
powerful statement about who programs like these are really
helping out. Corporate America and academia are the
understated targets as the independent street booksellers
are gradually given less and less "official" space in which
to operate.
While Rosette's over-earnest narration can get thick at
times and the finale feels a tad dismissive, his story is
never short of enthralling. Altogether, it's a fresh break
from more sanitized documentary filmmaking, giving us a
unique look into a part of life I've always wondered about.