A young artist couple that moved into Detroit because of the cheap property prices.
America as a whole has seen better times. Cities that once were stand-up representations of America’s manufacturing power now lay in ruins as the economy is in turmoil and China’s cheap labor has taken away the same jobs that once made this nation great.
While there are plenty of stories and statistics about unemployment, Detropia, a film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, depicts the state of decay that has fallen upon the city of Detroit.
The film focuses on how a city that was one the fastest growing city in terms of population is now facing a declining populace.
Grady and Ewing are the founders of Loki films, which was founded in 2001. Since the creation of the indie film company, they have produced films such as Jesus Camp, Freakonomics: The Movie and Dissident: Oswaldo Paya and the Varela Project.
Each of these films shed light upon a facet of society that is normally hidden from the view of the public eye, and Detropia certainly is one of their greater projects in the sense that they personalize the sad story of Detroit, because it is one that may not be known to most Americans and other viewers.
The film was shot in various locales throughout Detroit, and it focused itself upon the lives of those who have been negatively affected by the economic downturn. Some of these downtrodden characters are auto workers and the union boss who vies for their rights to Mayor David Bing, who faces the daunting task of figuring out what to do with the growing number of unoccupied land.
The movie accurately portrayed a land that has definitely seen better times. A small backstory to the growth of Detroit is given to viewers as subtext while visual scenes portray the dilapidated structures and vacant houses that line entire blocks.
An aspect of the movie that aided the telling of this story is the various cast that the filmmakers followed during the production.
Instead of taking sweeping B roll of a destitute city and overlaying some expert’s opinion on the state of the city, Ewing and Grady employ people who are surviving in the city. One of these denizens is a video blogger who explores the ruins of this once automobile mecca.
Ewing and Grady also focused their feature to delve into the lives of those who were affected by association. One such example is a bar owner whose pub is down the road from a gigantic factory which used to be owned by GM and now is vacant. His customer base plummeted and the directing duo tell his story through a series of hazy bar shot scenes with old Motown music playing to remind the viewer of the better times that the dive had seen.
The movie leaves viewers off with a sense that the city could come back to the limelight, but the city will never hold the grandeur that it’s residents once believed to be the status quo.