New York Portrait, Chapter I

New York Portrait, Chapter I

1979 · 16 min · ★ 7.3 · Documentary

Hutton's most impressive work ... the filmmaker's style takes on an assertive edge that marks his maturity. The landscape has a majesty that serves to reflect the meditative interiority of the artist independent of any human presence. ... New York is framed in the dark nights of a lonely winter. The pulse of street life finds no role in NEW YORK PORTRAIT; the dense metropolitan population and imposing urban locale disappear before Hutton's concern for the primal force of a universal presence. With an eye for the ordinary, Hutton can point his camera toward the clouds finding flocks of birds, or turn back to the simple objects around his apartment struggling to elicit a personal intuition from their presence. ... Hutton finds a harmonious, if at times melancholy, rapport with the natural elements that retain their grace in spite of the city's artificial environment. The city becomes a ghost town that the filmmaker transforms into a vehicle reflecting his personal mood.

Directed by Peter Hutton

Your Rating

Make it a double feature

1h 33m together

New York Portrait, Chapter I

The Deadly Art of Survival

Both from Peter Hutton.

More from Peter HuttonSee all →

Riverbody

Riverbody · 1970

A continuous dissolve of 87 male and female nudes. "The film's fascination lies with the suspense of that magic moment, halfway between two persons, when the dissolve technique produces composite figures, oftentimes hermaphroditic, that inspires awe for the mystery of the human form." - B. Ruby Rich, Chicago Art Institute

New York Portrait, Chapter III

New York Portrait, Chapter III · 1990

New York Portrait, Chapter III

MovieDocumentary

"[Hutton’s] latest urban film, New York Portrait, Chapter III, takes on a unique tone in relation to Hutton’s ongoing exploration of rural landscape. The very fact that Hutton is dealing with older footage, with archives of memory more than immediacy, gives it a different texture than his earlier New York films. Hutton always found the presence of nature in the city, not only in his many shots of sky and vegetation, but also in the geometry and texture of the city itself, which seemed to project an independence from the human." (Tom Gunning)

Looking at the Sea

Looking at the Sea · 2001

Looking at the Sea

MovieDocumentary

“When I was shooting the material that ended up in "Looking at the Sea", I was standing on these cliffs on the west coast of Ireland, looking west into the sun and thinking about the immigrants who wanted to leave Ireland because of the famines and were confronted with that same perspective. They must have seen the sea as this huge complicated obstacle. I was struck by how alluring, how seductive the light on the sea was, and also how, when you’re standing on the shore, there’s something utterly incomprehensible about the sea. I remember being reminded of a piece written by Henry David Thoreau in "Cape Cod", about a ship that crashed at Cohasset, an amazing meditation on the aftermath of the ill-fated St. John, which had come from Galway.” –Peter Hutton

Baseball

Baseball · 1994

SeriesDocumentary

The history of the sport of baseball in America, told through archival photos, film footage, and the words of those who contributed to the game in each era. Writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans review key events and the significance of the game in America's history.

New York Portrait, Chapter II

New York Portrait, Chapter II · 1981

New York Portrait, Chapter II

MovieDocumentary

Chapter Two represents a continuation of daily observations from the environment of Manhattan compiled over a period from 1980-1981. This is the second part of an extended life's portrait of New York.

At Sea

MovieDocumentary

Three segments depicting the life cycle of a freighter boat.

Three Landscapes

Three Landscapes · 2013

Three Landscapes

MovieDocumentary

Shot on 16mm, this wondrous silent film study from avant-garde master Peter Hutton (At Sea) observes human movement across three distinct landscapes: Detroit, along the Hudson River Valley and in the Dallol Depression in Ethiopia.

In Titan's Goblet

In Titan's Goblet · 1991

In Titan's Goblet

In Titan's Goblet refers to a landscape painting by Thomas Cole circa 1833. The film is intended as a homage to Cole, who is regarded as the father of the Hudson River School of painting.

The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty · 1985

The Statue of Liberty

MovieHistoryDocumentary

For more than 100 years, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of hope and refuge for generations of immigrants. In this lyrical, compelling and provocative portrait of the statue, Ken Burns explores both the history of America’s premier symbol and the meaning of liberty itself. Featuring rare archival photographs, paintings and drawings, readings from actual diaries, letters and newspapers of the day, the fascinating story of this universally admired monument is told. In interviews with Americans from all walks of life, including former New York governor Mario Cuomo, the late congresswoman Barbara Jordan and the late writers James Baldwin and Jerzy Kosinski, The Statue of Liberty examines the nature of liberty and the significance of the statue to American life. Nominated for both the Academy Award ® and the Emmy Award ®, The Statue of Liberty received the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle, the Christopher Award and the Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival.

No Picnic

No Picnic · 1990

Down-and-out jukebox operator Macabee Cohn wanders the cheap tenements, dive bars, and derelict streets of the East Village in search of a mysterious woman in a striped dress.

Sweetgrass

Sweetgrass · 2009

MovieDocumentary

An unsentimental elegy to the American West, Sweetgrass follows the last modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks of sheep up into Montana's breathtaking and often dangerous Absaroka-Beartooth mountains for summer pasture, revealing a world in which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are all intimately meshed.

Skagafjördur

Skagafjördur · 2004

MovieDocumentary

A film documenting the landscapes of northern Iceland.

Landscape (for Manon)

Landscape (for Manon) · 1987

Landscape (for Manon)

MovieDocumentary

A languid, beautifully shot collection of landscapes, edited into a whimsical and touching film.

Study of a River

Study of a River · 1997

Study of a River

MovieDocumentary

The first part (winter) of a seasonal study of the Hudson river in New York.

The Deadly Art of Survival

The Deadly Art of Survival · 1979

The Deadly Art of Survival

Real-life kung fu master Nathan Ingram stars in this gritty, low-budget martial arts epic as a local karate school owner who clashes with a gang of drug traffickers posing as the owners of a rival dojo. Director Charlie Ahearn (who helmed the landmark hip-hop film Wild Style) used the housing projects next to his New York Lower East Side apartment as his central location in this 1979 classic, shot on a vintage Super 8 camera.

Lodz Symphony

Lodz Symphony · 1993

MovieDocumentary

A portrait of Łódź, Poland that exists in a time-warp of sad memory.

More Like This

Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North · 1922

Nanook of the North

MovieDocumentaryDrama

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City · 1927

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

MovieDocumentary

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter