BOMBAY BEACH takes a look at the other side of the American dream
BOMBAY BEACH (Alma Har’el, 2011)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Opens Friday, October 16
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.bombaybeachfilm.com
Created by an overflow of the Colorado River in 1905, the highly salinic Salton Sea became a fashionable vacation destination in the 1950s, “the new recreational capital of the world,” as archival footage announces at the beginning of Alma Har’el’s feature-length documentary, Bombay Beach. “The future is now,” a promotional film proclaims, but over the years the “miracle sea in the desert” has instead come to represent the underside of the American dream. Currently an environmental disaster resembling a postapocalyptic landscape, the area is home to a motley crew of people just trying to get by. Har’el, a video director for such bands as Beirut, focuses her handheld camera on three protagonists: Red, a grizzled old white man who makes money by purchasing cigarettes at a nearby Indian reservation and selling them for a profit to his friends and neighbors and who doesn’t hide his racist upbringing; CeeJay, a black high school student who left the gang-ridden streets of South Central L.A. for Bombay Beach, where he hopes to star on the football team and make it to the NFL; and Benny Parrish, a young white boy who is fed medications to control his mood swings and whose parents recently served time for various weapons charges. Har’el intercuts scenes of the community’s daily life, from heartwarming stories to invasive moments, with choreographed dance vignettes that range from charming to manipulative, set to original music by Beirut’s Zach Condon and two songs by Bob Dylan. Har’el’s cinema verité style sometimes feels like it’s straining its neck out the window, gazing on a car wreck on the highway as it tells the story of these very poor people who have extremely limited resources, education, and access to health care. Winner of the Best Documentary Feature award at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, Bombay Beach opens October 14 at the IFC Center, where Har’el will attend the 8:20 shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.