Detropia

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Mar 7, 2016 If the 1920s were the best of times for the city of Detroit, Michigan, the late 2000s were absolutely the worst of times. Detropia, a marvelous documentary by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, isn't exactly a tale of two cities. It's interested exclusively in profiling the worst of times in the Motor City, which is why it opens with a home getting demolished. This home is just one of thousands across Detroit (circa 2010) that's decrepit, abandoned, and both a visual and environmental scourge on the city. The only industry thriving, it seems, is the demolition business. The UAW (United Auto Workers) is being forced to accept steep pay cuts. Restaurants are empty. The arts are suffering. It feels like the setting of a post-apocalyptic film. Ewing and Grady's approach is in the tradition of a Pennebaker Cinéma vérité documentary insomuch as they stay completely removed from the proceedings. Yes, there are versions of your standard "talking head" interview, but they're all done in the moment. Detropia doesn't feature any sets or narration, which lends a great deal of truthfulness and immediacy to the picture. The film arguably tries to do too much, but considering it's trying to do something very broad-profile a city in ruin-it feels quite thorough. We meet Mayor Dave Bing, who's big plan is to relocate many of the city's residents into a denser population center. We spend some time with a local bar owner who's concerned, but ultimately optimistic about his city's chances. We head to an auto show to learn a little more about the electric car movement that's helping to revive the city. And we meet the leaders of the auto unions who long for a time when jobs were plentiful. All of this adds up to a film that packs a punch and feels surprisingly complete. Of course, it isn't. A two-hour profile of a city in peril can't possibly be complete. But if feels that way, and as such, it's a supremely satisfying film-one of 2012's very best documentaries. http://www.johnlikesmovies.com/detropia/ See more

Sep 14, 2015 A fascinating documentary about the ruins of the Detroit auto-industy, before the bail-out. The heartache, the hopelessness, and the fight to stay alive. It all seemed real, but when the white hipsters came in, it lost me. See more

Feb 26, 2015 A great portrait of what has happened to America's great city. See more

Dec 6, 2014 Eye rollingly pretentious at times, disjointed and politically inflected, yet at the same time heartbreaking and sobering Detropia is not a great documentary but a good insight into the challenges of post-fordist rust belt America. See more

Aug 9, 2014 A sad tale that enlightened me on Detroit's massive population exodus due in large part by outsourcing American factory jobs. The killer is in the details when watching this movie and hearing of GM being bailed out by America only to have fine print like mandating a 50% pay cut to new hires and eliminating dental and vision coverage for workers. We send aid overseas, we send jobs overseas, yet we don't take care of our own. See more

Aug 8, 2014 This movie was boring. I live near Detroit and it didn't bring any new perspective to the city. Other than manufacturing, it focuses on the same thing that every urban Midwestern city has faces for 30 years. Boring. See more

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Detropia

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