This is observational portrait of the island of Tangier which is the Chesapeake Bay. A small close knit community that relies on fishing and tourists for it’s livelihood, it is also at the mercy of the tide and wind with the size of the island being reduced the two thirds over the last century and a half.
Told in the style of the great documentarians such as Frederick Wiseman BEEN HERE STAY HERE is a wonderful look at place that knows it doesn’t have many more years left. The world outside is big and loud and changing how people on the island see themselves. At the same time the storms are lessening the place they call home and there is no way to stop it.
I was moved.
This is a glorious little film that does what great docs do, which is take us to another time and place. I was on the island for the whole run time. I also enjoyed myself so much that I want to go back and see this when it hits theaters so that I can see the images big and I can fall into them.
A small aside, I was hooked on the film in the opening minutes when we got a history of the island via the announcement made on a ship sailing to the island. Rarely has all the information you need to enjoy a film been so perfectly handled. Seriously in two minutes we heard more than most voice overs or text screens ever give us. Not only that the film does it in such a way that we are in the film from frame one instead of being lectured to.
Highly recommended.
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