CIFF – In Jackson Heights – Offers lots of Whine

Frederick Wiseman’s documentary could easily be called schizophrenic.  The camera vibrantly shows the diverse nature of a neighborhood that hosts people speaking 167 languages.  There are beautiful shots of the streets, stores and homes.  The dialogue, however, is over 3 hours of complaining by a number of factions from the transvestites to small business leaders, to illegal immigrants and legal immigrants.  Not once does Wiseman attempt to seek out or show the other side of the complaints.  Not once are we shown a group of people talking about how happy the are in the neighborhood and tell all that it has to offer.  Wiseman makes Michael Moore seem like an unbiased presenter.  There is nothing that requires an even handed approach but hearing from a city official just once would have been a nice respite.  Wiseman does a disservice to what appears to be a dynamic neighborhood where many cultures have learned to meld and exist with respect.