Watch Ex Libris: The New York Public Library For Free

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Memorable, crazy movie

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I've been following Fred Wiseman's career since 1966, when I was in college at MIT, where he previewed his yet to be released debut movie "Titicut Follies". I've watched many of his subsequent works, including the hard to sit through (in an uncomfortable Alice Tully Hall screening) 5-hour "Hospital", and on the occasion of his look at NY's venerable library system I have some structural matters to discuss.Wiseman differs from most documentary directors in refusing to use voice-over narration, or on-screen commentary, or even any superimposed identifiers to show the identity of players on screen. This is a defect of "Ex Libris", though he gets all the brownie points imaginable for purity of his approach. Clarity, however, is sacrificed.Instead, it is both editing and the selection of which material (I'm sure he accumulated many hours of suitable footage to sift through here) to use that gives Wiseman his style. The tedium is usually worth the wait in terms of learning something.This reminds me of Cinema's worst self-imposed limitation movement of all time, the stupid (and hopefully dead as a door nail) Dogme manifesto of a couple of decades back. In the same search for some phony notion of purity, Lars von Trier and other misguided advocates eschewed all sorts of things like artificial light, special effects and many camera techniques - a horrible experiment. Cinema should be about using and discovering whatever will enhance the finished film, not tying one up in knots to adhere to some regimented akin to Puritanical belief.Simlarly, the Nouvelle Vague directors in France at the end of the 1950s created a still influential revolution cinema, but also through out plenty of "babies with the bath water" in the process. Besides disparaging the classic work of the '30s and '40s romantic greats like Autant-Lara, Carne, Delannoy and Prevert, led by Godard they abandoned many a basic element like reverse-shot set-ups and cutting that are fundamental to quality cinema. Watching the swish-pans from face to face that Godard & his followers would use instead of tried-and-true reverse shots was a painful experience for me (akin to sarcastic extreme camera moves in close-up coverage of a ping pong or tennis match) to endure. Net result is many a brilliant French movie made during the '40s left unknown to a couple of generations of film buffs thanks to the New Wave emphasis (especially in film schools), and so many current hacks, even lauded ones, unaware how to edit properly - e.g., the frequent and jarring cutting across the center line that folks untrained in proper reverse shot procedure commit regularly. (Hint: watch the heads jumping back and forth on screen during a simple conversation in many a bad TV show or indie feature.)

This documentary is extraordinary! Inspiring! Educational in a profound way. Not just about culture and history, but about humanity and our contemporary world with its complexe histories and fast coming future. Somehow, it achieves what I think the New York Public Library sets out to do for all its patrons: Open our minds, our hearts, give us hope and enthusiasm and bring us closer as a human community. I live in Edinburgh but felt so connected to everyone in this film. And without the use of a single interview! I love New York and now I realise that part of the soul of the city lies in this incredible institution. Man it is good to see powerful people who care! And people from all walks of life who care! I commend the filmmaker and the New York Public library for their incredible work. I would work for either in a heartbeat! Thank you thank you thank you for this beautiful documentary.

4/3/18. Oh, so the New York Public Library isn't at all like the way I would envision what happens to a museum like in those Night at the Museum movies. The books still sit on the shelves as silent as ever, but the people who go there do so for than just the books. Apparently, a lot more is going on than just people sitting around and reading or looking at a computer screen. This documentary takes a slice of life approach to looking at what goes on at this iconic library. I should say it's more a swath than a slice. I get that it's an extremely large library and there's a lot going on. However, nothing is ever explained, so it's like being a ghost wandering through the halls and looking into the meetings and programs going on. Not sure if spending over 3 hours of wandering around actually helps the viewer develop an appreciation for the library itself. I suppose it like visiting another country - you can wander around and discover new things, or get a good tour guide who can really help you tear the city apart for its precious secrets. I think I would have enjoyed a more historical approach that commemorates the building of the library and how its mission and vision have changed over time. Just going into some detail about its architecture would have been quite enlightening - the building is absolutely gorgeous. So, this documentary may be more for the curious than for the librarian at heart, who would definitely prefer the Dewey Decimal System for organizing people's thoughts and ideas embedded on the printed page.

Master documentarian Frederick Wiseman's latest offering is a magnum opus on the subject of the New York Public Library. If you can sit through it (as I did), it lasts an almost oppressive 3 hours and 17 minutes. Wiseman's approach is to shoot as much footage as possible and then pare it down to what he obviously regards as something "manageable." I'm not so sure that it's really manageable at all; in reality, Wiseman prefers throwing at us the proverbial "kitchen sink."A great deal of Ex Libris was shot at the iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. But Wiseman also branches out to many of the local branches in the city and gives us a taste of what kind of programs one can find in these neat neighborhood "hot spots."Wiseman's approach is often lugubrious, intent on providing a multiplicity of establishing shots outside each building, before we take a peek inside. He often tarries too long on almost each special event he's covering (I was particularly annoyed by the amount of time spent covering dull board meetings chaired by administrators committed to determining policy designed to shape library offerings in the years to come).Nonetheless, if one is patient enough, there are many interesting things going on behind the scenes at the New York Public Library and Wiseman covers programs and events with aplomb. One of the most impressive offerings is the library's extraordinary picture collection, which is primarily categorized by subject matter. If you're ever in need of an image for a project you're working on, NYPL is the place to go!Wiseman reveals many facets of the vast operation that constitutes the NYPL including librarians wearing headsets, fielding questions over the phone from the public to a conveyor belt that sorts all the returned items automatically.Other fascinating activities include a laptop loaner program, a dance class for seniors, a workshop for sign language theatre interpreters, a speech by the head of the Schomberg Center (for research in Black culture) and an interview with rock star Elvis Costello.Ex Libris is a documentary worth seeing; but I just wish it was an hour shorter.