Other People's Families, One

Only one odd note rings in 51 Birch Street, the new documentary about a post WWII suburban family.  It's the title.  51 Birch Street does not let you know that this is a film about mom, dad, and the kids.  It could be on any street or road.  The painful couple at its center might be your parents or mine. 

Doug Block, the filmmaker, experienced unexpected and profound change when his mother died suddenly and his father renewed a relationship with a woman he'd known in his earlier work life.  At the start,  Doug was only making a visual record as his father moved out of family home to a new one with his  new wife.

The project became more complex as Doug learned more about his late mother--her discontent, unfufilled creativity.  We see her at various times--early child-raising, 50th anniversary; her husband is a distant, busy partner.  The viewer makes the journey with Doug to a different place at the end of the film from the assumptions we held at the beginnning.   

We were lucky to be there for  the final "talk-back" at the movie 's end.  Doug, his father and second wife graciously--and with great courage--answered questions.  A.O. Scott in his New York Times review , commented, "...it may take more than one viewing to recognize it as a work of art."  When you see it--and it is in general release--I'd like to know your reaction.

[Ceramic vase made by Nick Bloom, our son, in the late 1980s.  One of my favorites.]