80 Blocks from Tiffany’s (1979)
December 10th, 2012 by Mr. C
After some Planet Chocko pump fakes and a few schedule shot blocks, we finally posted up & drop stepped into Spectacle Theater in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn for a late & rainy Sunday night screening of cult-doc 80 Blocks from Tiffany’s. Spectacle is a grassroots DIY movie theater that seats around 30 people. Though small, the space is comfy with stadium seating and seats staggered just perfectly as to avoid pumpkin head blockage! Definitely do make your way down there! The programming at Spectacle often features movies of the offbeat & rare variety! Now back to BronxSploitation…
(Savage Nomad member – FLY with a fly jump kick!)
80 Blocks from Tiffany’s is a well baked, entertaining, & sometimes funny documentary depicting gang life in the Boogie Down South Bronx from the late 1970s. The crews that were profiled were mainly the Savage Nomads (latin and black members), the Savage Skulls (mainly puerto rican), & the Black Spades (African American). Some interesting personalities included president of the Savage Nomads – Crazy Joe, members – Fly, DSR, & Jamal. Frankenstein and Outlaw Manny from the Savage Skulls were also a trip and half! Not to be outdone were former gang members telling their tales of the street including Blackie, Commanche, and Heavy who even drove the film crew around as a personal tour guide! Police Officer Bob Werner who formerly served in the force at the Riverdale section of the Bronx would ask to be transferred to the South Bronx because Riverdale was too quiet and he wanted more of a challenge! Challenge he would definitely get as he ended up in the gang task force in the Boogie Down!
The beauty of this documentary is that the director lets his subjects shine on the screen by allowing them to tell their tales with minimal interjection from the film crew besides asking inquisitive questions.
From watching the film, the consensus from the neighborhood seemed to point fingers to the fact that some of the gangs in the south bronx helped to provide protection for the community and some of the storefronts. But then again, there are many sides to a story which in this case, we only saw one side of the coin. Did these businesses who were protected give any extortion money to these gangs for extra security? Were there ramifications or backlashings from these clubs if you were to speak against them in the movie?
The documentary failed to unearth the underworld of these ‘clubs’ but then again, we shouldn’t be expecting the gang members to spill the beans and incriminate themselves by peppering the film crew with their illegal doings. We did however, find out that the gangs would inhabit the abandoned buildings and sometimes would be paid by the property owners to burn down a building in order for them to collect insurance.
Other really neat footages from the film included riding along with an undercover police van in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx during the daytime to shine the light on the prostitutes and the excellent aerial & rooftop views of the Bronx to reveal the decrepit state and bombed out abandoned buildings. The outdoor block party sequence was also a great display of unity for the community providing food, drink, and dance with cameos by Officer Bob, the Savage Nomads, & other drama that might unfold!
Another fun, but thought provoking scene from the doc were the “reenactments” of real life day to day situations of the gangs like the scenerio when Savage Nomad member – FLY scaled three stories up an apartment building to an open window to steal merchandise as he hoisted down the freshly stolen product on rope to his friends below. I was beginning to think if they were going to show us a realtime stripping of a car that was freshly stolen! Thoughts had me going back to the 1988 movie “I’m gonna git you sucka!”.
All in all, 80 Blocks from Tiffany’s brought back a slap in the face slice of reality with living in the Bronx from the 1970s! If you want a retro boogie down slice without the hype, you have found it! Also, if you like the movie THE WARRIORS then you’ll know what to add to your playlist next!
Tags: bronxsploitation, documentary, mr c, new york
Posted in movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
