I suppose the most alarming takeaway from Charles Lane’s Sidewalk Stories is that even though it was a remake of an almost 70 year old film at the time (Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid), the basic premise could still be applied to late 1980’s New York City. Lane never shied away from his giant homage to Chaplin but the bigger emphasis was on poverty and how bad it was even in the modern era. The cast of Sidewalk Stories is mostly Black so you could delve deeper in to race but a lot of the supporting and background characters are mostly white. Charles Lane has absolutely explored issues concerning race in his other works but I honestly don’t think this was his goal here. I think he was trying to make a general observation about poverty in the modern era and how it effects everyone.
There really isn’t much left to say about this movie after 35+ years. All the interesting and insightful stuff has been said. Outside of the race of the main characters there really isn’t anything different between Sidewalk Stories and The Kid. It’s essentially shot for shot. I don’t have anything profound to add.
What hasn’t been touched on a whole lot are the film’s influences outside of The Kid and the later films it would go on to influence. I find all that stuff interesting. Sidewalk Stories is a visual film and it hasn't really been looked at through that lens.
It [SIDEWALK STORIES] definitely came from THE KID - Charles Lane, hiddenfilms.com
The Kid / Sidewalk Stories
The Kid / Sidewalk Stories
The Kid / Sidewalk Stories
The Kid / Sidewalk Stories
The Kid / Sidewalk Stories
The Kid / Sidewalk Stories
A common theme of silent cinema is poverty. Even if you aren’t a silent movie aficionado, close your eyes right now and think about the basic elements of a standard 1920s silent movie. Scraps of bread, dirty faces, holes in shoes, winos, etc.
Sidewalk Stories is really one giant homage to the silent genre.
homelessness was the thing that made me make the film - Charles Lane, moveablefest.com
Menilmontant / Sidewalk Stories
Speedy / Sidewalk Stories
The Gold Rush / Sidewalk Stories
The Gold Rush / Sidewalk Stories
It should also be noted that Sidewalk Stories was a sequel to a lesser seen short film that Lane made in film school which was also an homage to the silent genre and laid the groundwork for his debut feature…
The Gold Rush / A Place In Time
The Gold Rush / A Place In Time
Sidewalk Stories was sort of a difficult film to track down for years but one huge momentary positive about the popularity of The Artist (2011) is that the director Michel Hazanavicius supposedly credited Lane’s Sidewalk Stories as a major influence and drew some attention to it. I say supposedly because while Indiewire, Film Comment, TIFF, The Atlantic and more all say this - I haven’t actually found a direct quote from Hazanavicius himself. Film critic Ashley Clarke did note that Sidewalk Stories had a series of screenings in France in 2002 which is where Hazanavicius may have seen it.
Sidewalk Stories /
The Artists
Sidewalk Stories /
The Artists
Lane would eventually acknowledge The Artist and it's similarities to his movie...
Now that Sidewalk Stories is finally on a proper blu-ray you should check it out if you haven’t…
