I Was a Boy in New York

Overview

A film consisting of two shots recorded by a camera mounted on a lorry driving through Brooklyn, New York. At the beginning, in the foreground, we see a woman with a camera leaning against the roof of the vehicle, behind her the urban landscape of a run-down neighbourhood flashes by. The camera is mobile, gradually moving from the woman towards the direction of travel, showing an intersection of narrow streets and a cherry-coloured car, which it then follows. We hear the sounds of the surroundings and the creaking of the lorry. The title card appears, followed by the first notes of a song sung off-screen. The song hummed by the author is the pre-war tango ‘Pamiętasz Capri’ from Mieczysław Fogg's repertoire. It is the soundtrack for the second shot showing the viaduct with the expressway. The camera is positioned with its back to the direction of travel, and we see cars driving behind the lorry and heavy traffic on the street, reminiscent of classic shots from American films.

Directed by Józef Robakowski

Details