On a March night in 1964, 37 neighbors in Queens, New York, witness the brutal murder of Kitty Genovese. None of them takes action or calls the police. 37 tells the story of a few of these people and what led up to the night when they unexplainably remained passive observers. The film is a convincing portrayal of a borough in change and a time characterized by racism, the Civil Rights Movement and political shifts. The actual event that inspired the film’s plot has been called a symbol for the moment when America lost its innocence. The director Puk Grasten skillfully weaves into her feature film debut various fates, dreams and family conflicts by leading us through an apartment building that comes to bear a collective failure.
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What... in the hell... did I just WATCH! Really? Really?? REALLY?!? Good God this was awful. I only watched this to see how well Sophia Lillis can act, seeing as how IT is coming out this Friday. She was good, that's all I have to say in regards to that. The other actors and actresses? Holy cow, awful, just simply awful. I really do hope the situation didn't actually go down like this in real life, what happened to that poor girl, with no one helping. If it did, what a bunch of weak and moronic people. The film itself? Horrible direction, camera work, editing, dialogue, pacing, and acting (save for Sophia Lillis). What a complete slap in the face to the victim, and insult to her family. I don't believe it's the actors and actresses fault one bit. If this director has any association with the Directors Guild of America, fire her from any and every future project. This is a high contender for The Golden Raspberry Awards. Huge thumbs down.
On its face, I would give this film 7 stars because it has gripping characters and story telling. If it had just been a film about 3 children growing up in a lower middle class complex in Queens, it would be effective in showing the turmoils of their lives in 1962. The acting is great, the cinematography and directing are effective, and the characters are very engaging. Where this film failed, and the reason it lost 3 stars in my estimation, is in that it exploits the tragedy of the Kitty Genovese murder for no purpose other than to attract viewers. The attack is barely addressed at all, and there are huge holes in the story once "it" begins. Now, there's nothing wrong with making film based on, or inspired by, true events. However, this film does nothing for the story or what truly happened on that day to merit its use of those events as a way to draw an audience.There are a lot of lessons to be learned from what happened that night, and if this film addressed those issues, it would be a legitimate tribute to Ms. Genovese and would at least teach the audience about the bystander effect. Instead, this film does not teach anything as most of the characters, except one, are completely unaware that anything was happening (for different reasons). Shame on whomever used this tragedy as a marketing ploy.
I won't repeat all the justifiably outraged comments this film deserves by distorting not only the basic facts of the Genovese murder but also perpetrating misguided fiction. If you decide to make a movie based on any *real* case, at least do basic research. Even before "The Witness" (an amazing film) was released it was well-known that the Times had fluffed the apathy angle to stoke sales.No, what makes Puk Grasten's film irredeemable is it's utter lack of a story or any compelling (strike that --- NON-repellent), even interesting characters. These fantasy "neighbors" are all given stereotypical bad-sitcom dilemmas and we watch them yell, kick, scream, and drag for the longest 85-minute run-time I've endured this year. None of the subplots has any bearing on the crime (you could be watching a really dull Law and Order) and Grasten falls back on primitive symbolism such as the innocent all-seeing nature of the child vs. jaded self-absorbed adulthood. Maybe "37" is what it appears to be --- a glib, inauthentic, attention-seeking morality-play payday. But if "37" *is* a sincere attempt at making a meaningful or engaging film, its dismal failure doesn't make it any less a waste of anyone's time.
Barely references the murder or the things that were shouted by the victim. The directors pointlessly use whale noises all the way through to try and add atmosphere and try to force the film into being a point about racism.It feels like watching a bad art house picture and belittles the victimIt's hard to find enough substance in the film to even meet the IMDb review minimum lines requirement. I definitely do not recommend you waste your time watching the film. I don't think the producers did any research into the crime that supposedly inspired it.