The World Before Your Feet

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source: The World Before Your Feet

Filmmaker Jeremy Workman has the "Eye". Like Herzog, Morris and Broomfield, Workman sees for so many of us who simply either don't care, or don't dare to look deeper into a world all of us share...from an eccentric neighbor, ignored by his fellow citizens for most of his life as in MAGICAL UNIVERSE, to a treasure-trove of sheer wonders which lay just a few feet beyond us all...if we only dare to take a few steps and look...this is THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET. Following Matt Green's personal journey to walk every street, sidewalk, alley and footpath through the 5 boroughs of New York City - an adventure covering approx. 8000 miles -- the film is both understated and startling. Green is you and me, and everyone we know, along with every stranger we pass-by every day. He is thoughtful, curious and likable; someone anyone would enjoy knowing, enjoy having a conversation with. Matt Green embodies how we feel deep down about ourselves...that we have more to give, that something larger is out there, larger than we've ever seen. Something that transcends opinion and division and routine. Green, a highly-educated professional who turned his back on a 6-figure income career to walk an easy-pace throughout NYC, plotting a course which has him walking in daylight and darkness, fair weather and winter blizzards, encounters what can, at the end, be only described as fellow human beings. There are few interactions which one would find either 'intense' or potentially 'dangerous'; Matt Green is sincere and disarming, and even the most confrontational people - like a man who is incensed at Green taking pictures of his home - come to understand within seconds of the encounter that Green is no threat...ending with a smile, handshake and hug. Within SECONDS. To his credit and testament to his film-making acumen, Jeremy Workman is virtually invisible in this project. The viewer is never aware of Workman's presence or direction or even his voice...in spite of interviews with Green's family, former girlfriends and fellow sojourners. Workman takes care to ensure this is the story of Matt Green himself and in so doing, tells the larger story about everyone who views the film. THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET is a lesson for all of us, presented as a travelogue, of sorts. But it is much, much more. It is quietly uplifting and left open-ended for those of us yet to begin our own journeys.

I really like documentaries like this, as I find them quite fascinating. In this case, the camera follows Matt Green, with clips from his 8,000 mile trek walking the streets of the 5 boroughs of NYC, over a 6 year period. Green is a former civil engineer who disliked what he was doing and made a decision in his life to pursue what he really loved to do. Following a walk across America, he embarked on the NYC walk, filmed and directed by Jeremy Workman, whose doc "Magical Universe" I also found to be very fascinating. Green is an engaging guy and his interactions with the New Yorkers he meets along the way brings forth their support for him and their curiosity, with only a few being suspicious or even hostile. His visits to NYC cemeteries, parks, wall murals (many commemorating the heroes and victims of 9/11), even vacant land left barren for years after projects never got off the ground, and so much more just showed me how much I missed having lived in NYC for over thirty years. Green takes the information he garners very seriously and does research to learn even more about what he's come across during the day. He meticulously posts his daily walks on his blog each night, as well. Overall, just a most interesting and engaging film, but realizing that it may not appeal to everyone,

In case you needed definitive proof how *safe it is in New York City in this decade, look no further. This doesn't have necessarily the most top notch or artistically ambitious direction (the cute score and reliance, maybe over-reliance, on drones for those BIG shots), but damn if this isn't one of themost fascinating documents of the human spirit in a long time. You learn enough about the guy, Matt Green, to understand but at the same time not fully understand why he's doing this. That may sound off, but you don't need to know his full back story; a few key details about a younger brother, a bike accident, and two ex's are enough. What makes it a subject worthy of cinematic exploration is really just... Seeing him walk. Sometimes he interacts and talks with the locals, other times he tells us a fact about something, like a tree that is the oldest in New York City, or landmarks in cemeteries that we take for granted or even the first birth control center from 1910's. Like the Mister Rogers documentary this year, the movie is really about human connectivity and how , if you're open to what's out there and are genuinely curious, the World isn't such a bad place. * at least if you are white and man, but still I think my points can still be valid here.

The World Before Your Feet was well-received in its world premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. It is the strange story of 37-year-old Matt Green who dropped out of normal life to begin a project of walking approximately 8000 miles of every street, park, beach and cemetery in New York City. He has chosen to be intentionally homeless - staying with different friends - so as to pursue some sort of massive performance art project of exploring and photographing every block of the massive city. The documentary is beautifully filmed and really is, in part, a tribute to the beauty and complexity of the organism that is that most remarkable and complicated city. The film is entertaining and beautiful. The central conundrum of Mark Green's journey is never really answered. I get the feeling that Green is either running away or running towards something, or perhaps a little bit of both. I'm not sure he really understands his own "Forrest Gump"-like journey. I hope the walker eventually finds the direction he wants to travel with his life. Perhaps the film maker should have asked some questions about Green's mental condition since his behavior seems to be somewhat irrational. Recommended for those open to the highly unconventional.

This film is a beautiful look at why our humanity to one another is important. We can see the world best at ground level!

Trailer—The World Before Your Feet

The World Before Your Feet