“Ex Libris: The New York Public Library” is a celebration of libraries — arguably among our most valuable cultural institutions — that leans toward fantasy. Frederick Wiseman, the prolific, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker with a distinctly cinema-verite style, treats New York’s many library branches as hotbeds of intellectual pursuit and civic engagement. The cumulative effect is calming, as if we are being invited to bask in the city at its most idealized.
Wiseman shoots three types of scenes, interspersed with secondary footage of the main library’s stunning architecture. These include lectures and performances; ordinary library patrons; and meetings in which library president and chief executive Anthony Marx leads discussions on the role of the library in the 21st century. Among the lecturers are such prominent intellectuals as biologist and author Richard Dawkins and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. But the lion’s share of cameos are of New Yorkers who simply want to better themselves.
Like Wiseman’s other films, which include the seminal “Titicut Follies,” “Ex Libris” starts to unveil its narrative slowly, without narration or on-screen titles. Marx is keenly aware that one of the most important functions of the modern library is as a provider of broadband Internet; the film includes the shocking statistic that one in three New Yorkers do not have access to this service at home. While Wiseman’s camera follows that discussion, he suggests that the institution’s more traditional role is where its true value lies.
As reductive as it sounds, the best parts of “Ex Libris” are scenes in which strangers are shown helping one another. In one quietly moving scene, a blind library volunteer shows a newly blind patron how to read Braille. Another features an after-school program in which eager-to-read kids are told they must finish their homework first. Whether Wiseman is filming the city’s homeless population or its classical musicians, the filmmaker’s optimism and gentle curiosity is infectious. This is slow, almost languid filmmaking, yet it’s a delight to watch the countless ways in which the library is still capable of lifting us.
“Ex Libris: The NY Public Library” — 3.5 stars
No MPAA rating
Running time: 3:17
Opens: Friday at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., www.siskelfilmcenter.org
RELATED STORIES:
‘Blade Runner 2049’ review: Ryan Gosling stars in stylish, brooding upgrade of the ’82 model
‘Lucky’ review: Ode to Harry Dean Stanton
More Top Picks Forks Plants
‘Trouble in Paradise’: The Lubitsch touch, newly polished
.galleries:after {
content: ”;
display: block;
background-color: #144A7C;
margin: 16px auto 0;
height: 5px;
width: 100px;
}
.galleries:before {
content: “Entertainment Photos and Video”;
display: block;
font: 700 20px Georgia,serif;
text-align: center;
color: #1e1e1e;
var playlist = ‘chi_ent_movie_trailers’,
layout = ‘autoblurb’,
iu = ‘%2F4011%2Ftrb.chicagotribune%2Fent’;
Watch the latest movie trailers.