51 BIRCH STREET

RATING 3.5

(Director: Doug Block, Not Rated, 88 min)
Our first screening - South By Southwest 2006
(Regional Premiere)

For many people, there will come a time when they realize the fact that their parents are human, too – they have issues, secrets, and desires of their own. How much do you want to know... and when does it become too much information? Especially when it comes to their happiness, their marriage, and their possible infidelities. Doug Block is opening Pandora’s Box in order to come to terms with his relationship to his mother and father.

Whether it’s following a divorce or death, there is a certain amount of grief involved. It’s one thing to deal with grief in public, but then to watch your father move on to a new relationship – that’s hard no matter what age you are when it happens. As a child, even an adult child, we expect our parents to stay together and be happy about it – when that’s not the reality, it’s tough to take. It takes a lot of courage to dig deep through your past – and to do it on camera for everyone to see...

One could look at the subject matter and cringe – how voyeuristic is it to watch someone basically use the documentary format to go through family therapy (it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last). But there is something about the way this is presented that you are completely engaged in what happened to this family and what their future will look like.

You can see how easily we make up our histories to fit with how we think of people. This challenges some very long-standing beliefs for Doug and his sisters about their parents and their family dynamic. It’s interesting to see if they can take the blinders off and still feel love and affinity for both their mom and their dad.

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Movie Chick Cherryl:
"It's so open and raw you feel a little like you're snooping when you're watching this family drama unfold, but you can't stop watching - 3.5"

Movie Chick Leigh Ann:
"This has a lot of powerful messages about love and family – 3.5"