Rudy! Documusical’: Film Review | Tribute 2022

You understand why filmmaker Jed Rothstein didn’t want to make a traditional documentary about Rudy Julian, whose life and career have not gone unnoticed. Rothstein’s conception was to add a traditional mix of archival footage and interviews with scenes from an imaginary Broadway-style musical about Julian. This may have been a mistake, as the results look more like a standard cable TV documentary that inexplicably tracks snippets of the festival’s stage performances.

Despite this, Rudy! DocumentaryThe world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival is fascinating. How could it not, given the completely bizarre downward trajectory of its subject’s reputation? Although in Julian’s case, the Broadway musical is less appropriate than the Greek tragedy. Or it could be a horror movie, because the bigger it gets, the more it looks like nosferatu.

The film includes an extensive interview with two knowledgeable sources: journalist Andrew Kirtzman, author Rudy Julian: Emperor of the City, which has covered Julian for decades; And Ken Friedman, a former councilman who served as his press secretary during his first successful mayoral election. Not surprisingly, neither has much to say, though Kirtzman admits how he got hold of Julian after the 9/11 attacks, and Friedman seems to indicate that the current Julian is less like the person he worked for. “Giuliani didn’t even smoke or smoke at that time,” Friedman said in surprise.

However, the film makes a strong case that the current Julian, while at first sight crazier, isn’t too far from the prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, seeking revenge on the mafia or the authoritarian-leaning mayor. He claimed to have been a paragon of virtue in many one-on-one relationships. “He liked that they were fighting,” Friedman said.

After losing the first mayoral election to David Dinkins in 1989, Julian won four years later, using many of the same tactics he used in the service of Donald Trump. Images where he yells “Let’s fight in the trial!” He is best known during the January 6 rally, but only those with the longest memory will remember his incitement against the police decades ago, which led many of them to drunken riots at City Hall. The documentary clearly shows how he incited racial tensions to light up the city, which was later ravaged by crime. In a brazen takeover, he also tried to extend the mayor’s term by three months, saying it would be good for the city.

We hear from Julian associates such as former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton and former FDNY Commissioner Thomas Van Essen, but their relatively innocuous comments are taken aback by Al Sharpton and Carl McCall’s harsh criticism of the mayor of Julian; Bitter comments by journalist Olivia Nuzi; And the observations of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Band X. Lee (Ed. Donald’s Dangerous Case trumpet), which offers disturbing diagnoses not just of Julian but also of Trump and his loyal supporters who stormed the capital.

Julian became the “Mayor of America” ​​after 9/11 and for a time enjoyed such popularity that she received nearly every honor, including the title of Queen Elizabeth Knight. But once again he squandered his reputation in his brazen business, which included representing Perdue Pharma and serving as a security adviser to various dictatorial foreign governments. His 2008 candidacy was a quick defeat in the presidential election.

There’s nothing special about the film, and the inclusion of incidents as recent as his disparaging press conference at the Four Seasons (a plantation company rather than a hotel), while perhaps necessary, is superfluous at this point. The simulated musical numbers that comment on the action, while cleverly and entertainingly staged, don’t add much, and it’s a relief when the device is used less frequently during the film’s sequences.

Despite this, Rudy! Documentary It gives us the portrait of a man who really went astray, causing the greatest damage not only to himself but to the entire country. At the beginning of the film, we hear Julian talk about his constant love for opera. “I think it saved me a lot of money on psychiatric bills,” he said. It seems safe to say that he was better off making a financial investment.