IMAX 3D movie review

["John Bell" <johnb@xxxxxx>]

Last weekend I went to New York and saw "Across the Sea of Time," the new
Sony IMAX 3D film. I figured there'd be no better topic for my first posting
to this list.
  I went with a friend who studies urban history at Columbia. He had little
interest in 3D photography and I had little interest in New York's ethnic
enclaves. Slightly different perspectives seemed appropriate for a
stereographic spectacular.
  "Across the Sea..." is indeed spectacular in its picture of New York. Its
highlights are helicopter shots of the city on a clear day. In one the camera
swoops down the curve of the Brooklyn Bridge's central span. I looked below
for frightened motorists veering off the bridge, but even a diving helicopter
doesn't faze New York drivers.
  Another powerful sequence was the obligatory roller coaster ride, imagined
by the hero. I got "non-motion sickness" because I refused to close my eyes.
  A third attraction is stereo views of New York from the early part of this
century, converted from white-and-black negatives to IMAX size. There are
scenes of immigrants, construction, even a stereoscope factory. While waiting
to enter the theater, you can view these photos in a corner of the lobby.
Oversized prints and perpendicular mirrors are mounted along one wall. (Look
down at this display area when you leave the theater, and you'll see it's
shaped like a roller coaster.)
  Inside the theater an usher announces how to use the 3D goggles like a
flight attendant explaining oxygen masks. The goggles fit easily over
eyeglasses and make everyone look like Robocop. In addition to polarized
filters, the goggles have small speakers near each ear, so the filmmakers
have more sound to play with. The usher pleasantly explained that these
goggles weren't our souvenirs, and if we forgot to return them as we left an
alarm would go off.
  Sometimes the IMAX format actually gets in the way of 3D. The movie opens
with a shot in a ship's hold. We see plumbing and chains with a blurry shape
in the background. That shape turns out to be the young hero, stowed away.
Shortly after that another shot shows the boy, his face crisp and his knees
blurry. I suspect the filmmakers tried to turn the IMAX lens's depth of field
into a benefit by using it for "rack focus." That works against 3D's
verisimilitude, however, because you can't focus wherever you want in the
scene.
  Even as "Across the Sea..." puts the biggest image of New York ever on a
movie screen, it also shrinks the city. The boy climbs a building in Little
Italy and looks out over Union Square. He sees Ellis Island, Coney Island,
and lower Manhattan all in a day. After misfortune in Central Park he spends
the night on the steps of the Public Library (at least a mile away), then
washes his face and feet in a fountain (another several blocks). Manhattan
comes off as a cozy little town.
  The movie ends up implying that New York's best period is behind it, when
the stereoscopic photos were taken. In the film Ellis Island is a ruin. The
Coney Island roller coaster is a ruin (the coaster we "ride" must be a
similar one elsewhere). The heroic building of the subway, bridges, and early
skyscrapers is over. Even the Broadway show the boy sees is a revival in
1920s style.
  What New York has going for it now, the movie implies, is nice people. An
11-year-old orphan arrives in a city of 9 million with no friends, no money,
little English, and a handful of stereoscope cards. He manages to find lost
relations within 36 hours. A hot dog vendor gives him a free sample.
Passersby pay to use his stereoscope. He's mugged in Central Park, but only
by 13-year-olds, and the worst they do is steal his knapsack and stomp on his
stereoscope. (Yes, I know that constitutes a major crime for many people on
this list.)
  I suspect one reason for both rosiness and nostalgia in "Across the Sea..."
is that it's meant to become a standard stop for Big Apple tourists for the
next several years. By showing the past, the timeless (the Empire State
Bldg), and the undying (Donald Trump), the movie won't become dated. And it
will let visitors "see" a lot of New York without actually having to walk
there.
  (My friend the urban historian would want me to say that the details of
Chinatown and Little Italy shown so sensationally in the movie--live
chickens, cooks tossing pizza dough--are rare. We disagreed on whether a NY
subway car ever goes as fast as the movie depicts.)

John Bell
johnb@xxxxxx


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