Requiem for Detroit? (2010)

A driftless 'documentary' of the city of Detroit. Prepared to be bombarded with cheap sound effects throughout the film and a very roughly stitched together history. There are some wonderful interviews interspersed with old footage of car factories and the riots.I suspect that the majority of the positive reviews don't know the history of the area very well. While it's not factually incorrect, it is so light on the details and motivations that surround the events that I couldn't recommend this to anyone.I'm still looking for a more cohesive film that explores the history of Detroit. If you know of one please let me know.

I was hoping for some realistic ventures into sites that perhaps were no longer available to the general public.., or at least a realistic view of the abandoned sites within a thriving city..or EVEN a city in decay... ..Disappointed..I was trying to pay attention to what the residents/ historians had to share about Detroit, incl. General Motors, Cadillac, etc....I found the film condescending with so many unnecessary/distracting sound effects & ridiculous song choices, eg: 'Dancing in the Street' during a riot, and the music kept changing throughout. I think it was an insensitive, poorly thought-out advent, after some quick something from someone close.I don't recommend it for anyone wishing to learn something here.

A brilliant 'fly on the wall' p.o.v. (point of view) documentary from a relatively neutral and non-intrusive film-maker/narrator, Julien Temple. While set in Detroit and focused on the history of that city, it could be 'anywhere' USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Europe. Detroit is the star because it is a dissertation on the rise and ultimate decline of a city that embraced the lessons learned from the previous British industrial revolution and when on to create and exploit a revolution of their own (Henry Ford's innovative manufacturing techniques such as the 'assembly-line' which became the ultimate template for most manufacturing etc), blinded by past successes when inevitable change came (various oil-crisis since 1973, demand for smaller, cheaper vehicles, needs for better public transportation). This brilliant documentary could be likened to an onion and peeling back the layers reveals changes that may come in the future to any industrialised nation or city, including China or India with their own unique aspirations and ambitions. This is a documentary that may enlighten and open a window of opportunity to learn from lessons we should have learned from in the past. The only thing to prevent that is our own self-interests, greed, lack of respect for the community around us. On a positive side, the documentary ends on a truly apocryphal note. The ultimate irony when what was once prized high-rise and industrialised real estate reverting back to small-plot farming within the precincts of a city that once swallowed them up. A heart-felt note of praise for the positiveness of impoverished and disenfranchised urban dwellers whose attitudes and desire to survive and re-generate their lives by growing small crops on small plots within their communities. A humble lesson for us all if we allow ourselves to open our minds, our eyes and our hearts to what is now happening around us. Whether it will continue to happen will ultimately be the responsibility of us all, both individually and as a community or society that we chose to live in.

Detroit might be anywhere. A city built on promises and wealth from the powers that be that often shape countries. A city left bereft of wealth and promise by the people who created it not so long ago.Temple's documentary is a strong message of what can happen should the worst happen. It reminded me of how reliant we are on the promises of big business and when the power goes out it might not come back on.Having never been to Detroit I wondered how this once burgeoning city, like all cities, could fall and emerge in the modern world like a post-apocalypse disaster town, where anarchy ruled. The word 'apocolypse' comes from ancient Greek and it translates as 'rebirth' (sic) and anarchy in Detroit is not as bad as it seems to Temple, as the city can only pick itself up from rock bottom.The documentary is solid and provides an insight into a city that is the butt of a lot of jokes in the US. This city is no joke if we take the future of capitalism seriously and Temple's Requiem For Detroit will be remembered as a non-sectarian view of capitalism gone awry.