Wiseman is one of those directors whose style is so consistent that there is scarcely a wrong place to start. But “Public Housing,” filmed at the Ida B. That makes it an excellent gateway to other Wiseman movies, which, because their subject is nothing less than the building blocks of society, are inevitably interlinked. In “Public Housing,” the focus on poverty recalls Wiseman’s masterpiece “Welfare.” The ambiguities of the police’s presence at the housing project bring to mind “Law & Order,” his early portrait of Kansas City cops. Pennebaker, documentarians who pursued a style in which directors wouldn’t interpose themselves with questions.

Source: New York Times October 08, 2020 17:15 UTC