Since they met, a moment that, by the way, neither of them remembers, Martin Scorsese and the satirical writer Fran Lebowitz they have maintained a great friendship occasionally unfolding into creative camaraderie. A decade ago they worked together in ‘Public speaking’, documentary about the figure of Fran, biographical medium, conversational medium. Now they collaborate on a series announced by surprise at the end of last year, ‘Suppose New York is a city’, which is no longer so biographical, although Lebowitz can talk about his life. The series is basically an excuse to hear Lebowitz ramble about New York and, by extension, urban life: its noise, its excess of people, its exhausting as well as addictive nature, its personal and economic cost, or what it costs not spending all the money on books. Scorsese asks things, but mostly he laughs, he laughs non-stop.
Each episode revolves around a different theme. Well more or less. ANDLebowitz’s swift speech may end a long way from where it started very precisely: for example, from bus drivers you can get to coriander. The first episode is the most general, a kind of introduction to the joys and shadows of New York. Hell, remembers this genius, are the others, from those who stand in the middle of a sidewalk of dense traffic to the bicivoladores who do not know where they are going or all the people they could run over. Lebowitz also vituperates Times Square, “the worst neighborhood in the world,” he says; when he goes to see a play, he looks for the route with which to tread less. In addition, she volunteers as a night mayor (“a lot happens at night in New York”) and promises to dedicate her first efforts to fixing the subway.
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There is also an episode centered, in principle, on culture, an opportunity for Lebowitz to reflect on the mysteries of talent, the therapeutic qualities of the sonido Motown (“music is a drug that doesn’t kill”) and that time your friend Charles Mingus he chased her down the street. In the episode dedicated to urban transport, Scorsese allows himself a self-homage: Lebowitz’s reference to the fastest taxi drivers serves the director to quote images of the flamenco-loving driver from ‘Jo, what a night!’. Other chapters revolve around money (for Lebowitz, a less than fascinating topic of conversation), sports, or bookstores and libraries. “I am totally incapable of throwing out a book,” says the author. “I cannot throw a book. For me it is like throwing a human being.” Before touching the bookish cornyness, he adds: “Well, although there are many more human beings that I would throw.”
As you might expect from something directed by Scorsese, the series is not only listened to with glee, but watched with delight. There is not a single neglected plane and photography of Ellen Kuras (‘Forget about me!’, For example) captures the pre-pandemic metropolis with elegiac beauty. Apparently, they got to shoot during confinement, but they preferred to dismiss the footage and do something less attached to today. That is, there is no final episode as sublime as in ‘How to with John Wilson’, another series in which we had the opportunity to observe New York through a particular perspective. But, in its elegant, timeless way, ‘Suppose New York is a city’ is another full-blown classic.
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