With 133,000 residents speaking 167 languages, the 300-acre stretch of land known as Jackson Heights, Queens boasts the most culturally diverse neighborhood in the world. It’s also the subject of 85-year-old proudly self-professed, “non-fiction filmmaker” Frederick Wiseman's (National Gallery) 40th feature, a mammoth, 190 minute undertaking shot with his trademark avoidance of voiceover narration, talking heads, or annotative text cluttering the screen. The sites and sounds of the city act as linking devices for Wiseman, who stitches together a tapestry of seemingly irreconcilable roars, coolly knocking down barriers to rough out a microcosmic portrait of a community struggling to find harmony between old world loyalties and assimilation in a new land. The best movies don’t end with the projectionist hitting the house lights, but few directors have the know how to extend a viewing experience so that it changes the way audiences looks at everyday life. Wiseman is one. Taking a drive through town after the movie ended was a revelation! (2015) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.