Terminal Bar (Short)
For some reason, when I watched this film on my computer, I was missing the voices on the soundtrack. I had to move to my phone for the sound to really come through correctly. The narration and voices add a gravitas and energy to the film, but it was interesting seeing the film with just the music, because you get the sense it would work, simply, as a tone poem devoid of words. The narration does not diminish the film, however; it is necessary to hear the words, from the voices we hear them out of, to add an air of authenticity and genuineness to the film.
This documentary is a collection of photographs and recollections about the Terminal Bar in New York City, which was closed by the time this film was made in 2002. The bar seems like a dive from all we see, but director Stefan Nadelman, whose father Sheldon worked at the bar for 10 years during the ’70s and ’80s (and who is interviewed on camera in the film), embraces that mystique to show how alive the bar became due to the people who would frequent it back in the day. Sheldon Nadelman speaks affectionately about the people who he saw come through the bar during that decade, unless they did something that didn’t deserve that affection. The images Sheldon took are evocative, provocative and emotionally engaging, aided by a soundtrack by Michael Reid, Steve Rossiter and Dick Zved that captures the feel in Sheldon Nadelman’s words, and images, effortlessly. It’s questionable whether the Terminal Bar deserves the tribute in receives in Stefan Nadelman’s short film, but it definitely would feel like a waste if this story hadn’t been told.
