Few cities have more cinematic exposure than New York City. To paraphrase Frank Sinatra: “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” The World Before Your Feet aims to cover the NYC streets that cinema has had no previous interest in exploring. This alone makes this film a fascinating documentary.
The World Before Your Feet is a documentary revolving around ex-cubical engineer Matt Green who has taken on the enormous and thoughtless task of walking every block of every street in the five boroughs of New York City. Director Jeremy Workman follows Green around, capturing anything that comes within Green’s way. What’s most exemplary about this documentary is that Green isn’t walking for charity or to write a book or any reason to justify the journey in its totality. The real pleasure is in the journey itself.
The majority of the people Green comes across ask him the same question: why walk over eight thousand miles? This documentary isn’t for people to discover what is turning Green’s gears for this objective. Green doesn’t have a definite answer for anyone but, part way through the film, the reasoning behind why he has thrown away everything for this abstract artistic journey becomes clear.
When asked why he walks, Green notes that biking or driving removes the intimacy of the world around them. What might go by in a flash without a substantial thought of its existence in a car becomes something fully immersive when walking by it. Those small holes in a concrete wall on Wall Street wouldn’t produce a second thought in a drive-by, but Green discovers they are remnants of a terrorist attack from the early 1900s.
It can be hard to understand and go along with Green’s excursion if you don’t have a definite answer to why he’s doing it. Remove walking from the film and replace it with another example like a writer who is in a constant pursuit their first big novel. It would be easier to understand why said fictional writer would push away their fiancé or their college girlfriend or their job to get their art out. It’s not healthy, of course, but it’s what they feel needs to happen to feel connected and achieve a sense of completion in their life. The destructive artist is a narrative that audiences can get behind. While Green isn’t exactly being destructive, he is pushing away those closest to him.
The documentary portrays Green as a wholesome person, but ultimately what he is doing is selfish. Even if the project seems to be a way to feel truly connected to the city he lives and breathes daily, he’s disconnected from those he would have still seen after it’s all over. He lost his fiancé because of his commitment to the project and we get to see her weep as she tells the story. The documentary is as enjoyable as it is disheartening — to see a man embody a project while also severing ties with anyone that isn’t a passing resident of New York City.
There’s no particular narrative, there’s no end goal or final realization for Green or for the audience. It’s 90 minutes in the life of someone growing closer to his community and exploring all the nuances that add up to the fantastic whole.
Matt Green takes the audience on a journey that you can’t get with a typical tour guide. I don’t see anyone enjoying the ride if they aren’t already intrigued by all the life that inhabits the concrete jungles of New York City. It’s mesmerizing to watch everything that’s captured from Green’s mini interactions with random people or his fascination with barber shops with the letter “z” in their name. As much as Green says he isn’t training to be a tour guide, this documentary ends up being the best way to explore the small and forgotten parts that hold a community together.
The World Before Your Feet screened once at the 2018 deadCenter Film Festival and has recently secured distribution with an expected late 2018 or early 2019 release. Keep your eyes peeled to the official website for more information.
