"More Than the Rainbow" (2012 release; 82 min.) is a documentary about street photography in New York, and in particular chronicles Matt Weber. As the documentary opens, we are right away introduced to Matt Weber. I assume he is well known in the photographers' circles but I admit I had never heard of him. We get to know Matt and he brings his story of how he started taking pictures more than 30 years ago when he was a taxi driver in New York and he's literally shoot pictures from within his cab. Nowadays he's no longer driving a cab and has the good fortune of taking pictures on a full-time basis. Along the way we are introduced to others in New York, including other street photographers, who comment on what they think of Matt's work. And of course the documentary includes tons of pictures shot by Matt (and others).
Couple of further comments: first, I can't remember where I read about this documentary recently, but it came highly recommended, and so I sought it out at my local library here in Cincinnati. So glad I did. There is no "story line" as such in this documentary (unlike in, say, the similarly-themed "Finding Vivian Meier" recent documentary), but it doesn't affect the viewing experience negatively, as long as you have an interest in photography (and New York, I suppose). Second, Matt makes some astute observations about life as a photographer, let alone a street photographer. Comments Matt: "it's a pretty obscure profession. If people are asked to name a photographer, Ansel Adams is often the only name people know." Comments another photographer: "the camera saved me from a boring life", ha! Third, the overall feel and mood of the documentary in certain parts of this documentary seemingly comes straight out of "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese's 1976 pic): the setting, the music , etc. Amazing. This leads me to my last, but certainly not least, comment: the music that is featured in this documentary is nothing short of stellar and spectacular, holy cow. The jazzy-sounding score plays virtually non-stop the entire movie, and much of it is courtesy none other than Thelonius Monk (with tracks like Locomotive, We See, Green Chimneys, Ugly Beauty, Ask me Now, and on and on), and the rest of the music is from Keith Gurland. How in the world were the documentary makers able to get the permission to use all of this Monk music? (Maybe that also explains why there is unfortunately no soundtrack available for purchase, be it digitally, or on CD, vinyl or any other medium.)
Bottom line: if you like documentaries and havean interest in art in general or photography in particular, I'd readily recommend you check out "More Than the Rainbow", you will not be disappointed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Couple of further comments: first, I can't remember where I read about this documentary recently, but it came highly recommended, and so I sought it out at my local library here in Cincinnati. So glad I did. There is no "story line" as such in this documentary (unlike in, say, the similarly-themed "Finding Vivian Meier" recent documentary), but it doesn't affect the viewing experience negatively, as long as you have an interest in photography (and New York, I suppose). Second, Matt makes some astute observations about life as a photographer, let alone a street photographer. Comments Matt: "it's a pretty obscure profession. If people are asked to name a photographer, Ansel Adams is often the only name people know." Comments another photographer: "the camera saved me from a boring life", ha! Third, the overall feel and mood of the documentary in certain parts of this documentary seemingly comes straight out of "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese's 1976 pic): the setting, the music , etc. Amazing. This leads me to my last, but certainly not least, comment: the music that is featured in this documentary is nothing short of stellar and spectacular, holy cow. The jazzy-sounding score plays virtually non-stop the entire movie, and much of it is courtesy none other than Thelonius Monk (with tracks like Locomotive, We See, Green Chimneys, Ugly Beauty, Ask me Now, and on and on), and the rest of the music is from Keith Gurland. How in the world were the documentary makers able to get the permission to use all of this Monk music? (Maybe that also explains why there is unfortunately no soundtrack available for purchase, be it digitally, or on CD, vinyl or any other medium.)
Bottom line: if you like documentaries and havean interest in art in general or photography in particular, I'd readily recommend you check out "More Than the Rainbow", you will not be disappointed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
