What he's seeking is already right there, in his frame.The house will still be 51 Birch Street, even when there are no longer any Blocks living there, but it won't be a place any of them can go back to. What begins as his own intimate, autobiographical story, soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity and the mystery of family. Always close to his mother and equally distant from his father, he's stunned and suspicious. "Oh, come on, now," she says. The reverberating ironies of "51 Birch Street" begin with this one: Doug Block -- son, brother, husband, documentary filmmaker, wedding videographer -- begins using his digital camcorder to better connect with his parents, particularly his father, to whom he's never been particularly close, and to document a little family history for himself and his sisters. 51 Birch Street spans 60 years and 3 generations, and weaves together hundreds of faded snapshots, 8mm home movies and two decades of verité footage. While Doug pays some bills filming couples celebrating their first moments together as husbands and wives, his parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.The story of the film, and of these modest lives, seems to be following its natural and predictable course.
What begins as his own intimate, autobiographical story, soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity and the mystery of family. Early on, while setting up a shot of his mother, Doug attempts to do a little psychological digging, asking her if he's like his father. 51 Birch Street is very moving and the documentary takes its time explaining (or trying to explain) the sad but interesting dynamics that took place in the marriage of these two people. Rent $3.99 Filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parent's 54-year marriage was a good one.
51 Birch Street is the first-person account of a family's life-changing events. In “51 Birch Street,” a moving and fascinating documentary, Doug Block investigates the lingering, buried frustration in his parents’ otherwise ordinary lives. Following his mother's death, a filmmaker examines his parents' relationship. And it turned out that nothing in the Block family had been as it seemed In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Both unexpectedly funny and heartbreaking, 51 Birch Street is the first-person account of Block's unpredictable journey through a whirlwind of dramatic life-changing events: the death of his mother, the uncovering of decades of family secrets, and the ensuing reconciliation with his father. Realizing he has only a few short weeks before the movers come and his dad will be gone for good, the veteran documentarian sticks around, determined to investigate the mystery of his parents' marriage. Buy $7.99 The result is a timeless tale of what can happen when our most fundamental assumptions about family are suddenly called into question.Filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parent's 54-year marriage was a good one. And there, among the lifetime of memories being packed away forever, he discovers 3 large boxes filled with his mom's daily diaries going back well over 35 years. 51 Birch Street is a great examination of personalities and relationships over 40-50 years of social change, the social fallout, and potential for redemption.
And so, "51 Birch Street" (named after the Port Washington, Long Island, address where Doug and his sisters grew up) is also about returning to a house that was once your home. The filmmaker could not have known, when he began shooting this footage of himself and his family, what form it would eventually take, or what subtle revelations he would (circuitously) discover within it.Unlike the similarly home-made family narrative of "This personal, lovingly hand-crafted film offers a down-to-earth corrective to decades of comedies and romances from the Hollywood fantasy-factory that faded out on the climactic kiss at the altar. We visit dad in his cellar workshop, where he has long taken refuge from the activity upstairs.And, in an indelibly haunting memory-image that evokes Dad, who's habitually trying to give Doug things from around the house, makes his rounds from room to room, looking for some leftover thing his son might take away with him. And there, among the lifetime of memories being packed away forever, he discovers 3 large boxes filled with his mom's daily diaries going back well over 35 years. But Doug isn't looking for objects. "51 Birch Street" is one of those great documentaries that could not have been realized until the late 20th century. Read more.