Synopsis:
The latest film from Abel Ferrara, New York’s notorious poet of the street, Chelsea on the Rocks is a fascinating, freewheeling personal journey inside the walls, history and mythology of...
The latest film from Abel Ferrara, New York’s notorious poet of the street, Chelsea on the Rocks is a fascinating, freewheeling personal journey inside the walls, history and mythology of Manhattan’s celebrated bohemian landmark, The Chelsea Hotel. Famed home to such icons as Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Tennessee Williams, Charles Bukowski, Andy Warhol and Mark Twain, and perennial shelter to artists great and small, new management has recently begun evicting boho tenants in favor of a more upscale crowd, prompting long-time resident Ferrara (Go Go Tales, King of New York, Bad Lieutenant) to capture the ragged splendor of the place before its unique spirit is lost forever.
Trolling the low-lit halls, visiting the hotel’s cast of memorable characters and raconteurs, and hanging out in the gallery-like lobby strewn with tenants’ paintings, Chelsea on the Rocks is shot through with an infectious brio, gallows humor and a hard-knock warmth to match its uniquely beloved subject. Ferrara’s first documentary feature, it includes interviews with residents past and present such as Milos Forman, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper and R. Crumb, vintage music and archival footage, and dramatic re-enactments summoning ghosts of the Chelsea’s storied past – Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious, Janis Joplin – performed by Bijou Phillips, Adam Goldberg, Giancarlo Esposito, and Grace Jones.
Built in 1883 and steadfast within an ever-changing city landscape, The Chelsea Hotel remained a respite and inspiration to artists, writers and performers, as well as a remarkably supportive base for assorted junkies, prostitutes, aspirants and hermits. As yet another of New York’s cultural landmark’s threatens to effectively vanish for the sake of a bland corporate status quo, Chelsea on the Rocks passionately shows how it’s often the misfit structures – and citizens – that possess a city’s soul. --© Official Site
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