The New York of My Memory
Brooklyn in film, books and practice
I do not live in Brooklyn. But I still accidentally think of myself as a New Yorker.
Fifteen years is hard to shake.
I have (mostly) released the label as integral to my “self.” However, it is difficult to do so without a different banner to affix to my personal definition of home.
Two years ago, I returned to the state of my birth as a stopover, unclear where the next leg of my journey would take me. Eventually my employer restructured and opted to bring the role back into the office. My remote position ended. I enrolled in graduate school at UNC School of the Arts. I’m a semester into my MFA in Filmmaking.
Much of the writing I am developing shoots me back to the city of my adulthood. Not on purpose.
The nature of certain writing exercises requires concrete, specific short sequences. The events of daily life in New York almost always lend themselves to three scripted pages. Rooftop shenanigans, faux-mysterious bouncers, friends “kidnapping” you out of your neighborhood into the city at 2 in the morning to eat in Chinatown.
One of the books that caught the power and experience of living and becoming an adult in Brooklyn was Motherless Brooklyn (Lethem, Jonathan. Motherless Brooklyn. FABER AND FABER, 2019).
It captured the rhythm neighborhoods and the energy of both isolation and community. I don’t recall when I finally read it. I’d owned it for at least a year before getting to it. But when I did….
It identified the emotional current and the necessity that underpins everything in that city. The urgency. The normal and the weird like…
- Hiking block upon block canvassing neighborhoods as a real estate broker in heat and freezing temperatures;
- Staring at the morning skyline in a car service on my way home after a working third-shift in a law firm document center;
- Riding shotgun with a stunt driver when a voice on the walkie announces “cut” because Bobby DeNiro walked into the shot. Open set. NYC. It happened. He was not in the movie.
Motherless Brooklyn is more than a story; it’s the very feeling of New York, hype and release, chaos, and frozen moment.
But that makes for a difficult film to construct. Because when stories unfold with challenging plots or disconnects, moviegoers (a notably finicky group) are not known for patience. Countless ticking bombs would have made the film untenable. These challenges would have put some viewers up against their suspension of disbelieve and pulling on a thread could potentially unravel the whole experience.
Enter Edward Norton. Actually, he entered before the manuscript had hit stores, and upon devouring it, he scooped up the rights to the film. But time is necessary to steep an idea.
* Potential spoilers below.
In 2019, I both thought it odd that Motherless Brooklyn had not been made into a film. But the immediate thought that follows recalls the complex era-bending identity of the book.
Norton gleans the very emotional essence of the book, distills it down to the core, and transplants it to a world where today’s audience could receive it. His screenplay operated on my emotions like ticks, desperately asking for a reset and attaching me to Lionel’s journey.
Norton’s intelligence and precision has long been one of the most dynamic features of his performances. The nuanced characterization that layers in the full intellectual and emotional trajectory ground his acting.
With Motherless Brooklyn, he has challenged himself to lean out on a limb and take it further. He utilized Lionel’s psychological obstacles to heighten the stakes and pin himself into a corner. The result is one of his most emotionally resonant performances weaving the cerebral of Lionel (and Norton) with the elusive calm and clarity the character seeks.
Quiet, awe and wordless tears fell down my cheek during a stunning nightclub sequence featuring Norton dancing with Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Michael Kenneth Williams anchored the scene as the trumpet player, and the film’s music bloomed inside me, fusing me to Lionel’s emotional journey.
Norton engaged mammoths of music, including Daniel Pemberton, Wynton Marsalis, Thom Yorke, and Flea, resulting in a soundscape that fully transports the audience.
Norton’s genius lies in his ability to rally the troops — the artisans of the industry — to form a star-studded cast lead by Alec Baldwin and Bruce Willis. NYC Theater mainstays Stephen Adly Guirgis, Bobby Cannavale, Russell G. Jones, and Cherry Jones added depth and authenticity to the world of the film. Shout out to Erica Sweany for an excellent turn as the Formosa Hostess!
Motherless Brooklyn took twenty years to arrive at the movie house, but perhaps it is fortuituous. Daily, we witness abuses of power that were not conceivable three years ago. We must disrupt those that chip away at ethics. Norton has delivered a compelling call to action via the most unexpected hero.
Tim Ferriss chats with Edward Norton.
* Spoiler — I will never forget Willem Dafoe’s scene-stealing moment when he answers whether Lionel should read Walt Whitman. I think I shall use it for constant motivation to do anything I know I should have already done.
