New York Portrait: Chapter Two

New York Portrait: Chapter Two consists of views of the iconic metropolis, the stylistic profile of which is totally transformed by cinematic form. Its buzz and hectic pace are missing in the silent movie as are (most conspicuously) police sirens; static cameras rob the city of its dynamism; precise openers and fades isolate each shot, thereby denying the viewer a psychological narrative: an illustration of hyper-modernism in a reductive style reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy (2).