Streetwise (1984)

Streetwise (1984)

A clear-eyed and tender documentary of youth living in the streets of eighties Seattle

8.6

Movie

United States of America
English
Documentary
1984
MARTIN BELL
Dewayne Pomeroy, Erin Blackwell, Lulu Couch
91 min

What it's about

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

The take

Martin Bell documents the lives of youth living in the streets of Seattle in the early eighties with profound empathy. It's a type of filmmaking that doesn’t judge or condescend, but seeks to capture the humanity of its subjects. The result is a film bursting with life and laughter, and although tragedy lurks around every corner it isn’t over-sentimentalized or exploited, taking a backseat to the compassionate depiction of everyday moments. 

The audience is left to its own devices to pull together the extent to which these youth have been failed by a broken safety-net and the expired promise of an American dream. These ideas rise to the surface naturally and serve as a testament to the power of the documentary form when it’s loosened from the grip of mawkish narrators and sugary moralizing.

Comments

Add a comment

Your name

Your comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Secret Sunshine (2007)

A grieving woman deals with the worst of fates in this challenging, disquieting riverside drama

7.6

Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows (1998)

A documentary capturing one of the most important transition periods in WWF, through the eyes of Canadian wrestling hero Bret Hart

8.5

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

La Belle Noiseuse (1991)

A sensual, spellbinding masterpiece depicting the creative process and its muse

8.1

Beyond the Mat (1999)

The quintessential ‘90s pro wrestling documentary that shows that the top of the mountain carries more insanity than glory

8.0

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Infamous (2006)

A slightly embellished, often compared, retelling that depicts the classic novelist’s larger-than-life spirit

7.0

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

Hail Satan? (2019)

Forget everything you think you know about the Satanic Temple

8.0

I Lost My Body (2019)

The Oscar-nominated unconventional animation

8.2

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.