7.3

At  feature  length,  Puk  Grasten’s  37  reconstructs  events  that  took  place  on  March  12  and  13,  1964,  in  the  Kew  Gardens  neighborhood  near  Austin  Street  and  the  station  for  the  Long  Island  Railroad.  But  while  the  murder  of  Kitty  Genovese  might  be  the  most  unusual  of  those  events,  37  focuses  on  the  stories  and  people  that  surround  and  bear  witness  to  that  horrific  act.  We  see  what  they  see,  throughout  the  day  and  night.  From  those  many  perspectives,  the  deeper  meanings  of  the  Kitty  Genovese  story  –  and  as  it  speaks  to  us  today  –  emerge  with  new  urgency.  Just  as  recent  acclaimed  films  such  as  Lincoln  and  Selma  have  asked  us  to  consider  turning  points  in  American  history  through  the  prism  of  contemporary  social  issues,  37  reimagines  the  Genovese  story  through  that  same  historicized  lens,  as  well  as  the  eyes  of  witnesses  to  history. 
Grasten  explains:  “With  the  short  film,  I  was  able  to  explore  mood,  characters  and  take  on  that  challenge:  how  much  can  you  tell  the  story  of  Kitty  Genovese  without  her  being  the  main  character?  And  the  answer  was  to  further  explore  the  bystanders,  to  put  yourself  in  that  situation.” 
Returning  to  her  native  country,  Denmark,  Grasten  found  development  support  from  New  Danish  Screen  ,the  indie  department  at  the  Danish  Film  Institute,  which  allowed  her  to  fund  pre-production  and  start  bringing  the  project  to  life.  As  a  feature,  37  is  not  intended  to  be  documentary  or  precise  reenactment.  While  some  of  the  actions  and  general  descriptions  of  the  dozen  principle  figures  in  the  film  have  some  historical  parallel,  the  characters  have  fictional  names  and  circumstances,  except  for  Kitty  Genovese.  This  reimagination  of  the  event,  framed  from  so  many  different  perspectives,  meant  giving  each  character,  family,  and  even  specific  location  a  unique  look.  While  certain  scenes  in  37  will  remind  viewers  of  fly-on-the-wall  cinema  verité,  other  sequences  are  more  stylized.  Grasten  began  that  process  of  differentiating  perspectives  by  developing  a  visual  “mood  book”.  “We  wanted  it  to  feel  like  separate  worlds  for  each  family  –  we  refer  to  it  as  a  POV  film,  with  specifically  different  perspectives  from  the  adults,  the  children,  and  the  buildings.  I  rewrote  the  script  specifically  with  those  POVs  in  mind,  trying  to  capture  that  subjective  experience.  These  different  points  of  view,  different  filters,  convey  different  emotions  and  reactions”. 
The  visually  inspired  production  concept  helped  fuel  the  creative  process  on-set  during  the  film’s  18-day  shooting  schedule.  “Everyone  on  the  crew  had  their  favorite  family  or  character,”  the  filmmaker  says.  “They  all  found  themselves  identifying  strongly  with  one  perspective  or  another.  It  was  interesting  to  see  how  they  discussed  or  defended  different  characters  ‘actions  based  on  their  own  life  and  believes.” 
It  also  helped  that  Grasten  worked  with  a  talented  team  of  actors  who  understand  how  to  craft  deep  characters  through  focused  ensemble  work,  and  the  ability  to  inhabit  their  characters  naturally  and  organically.  That  can  be  a  particularly  vexing  challenge  when  working  with  children,  who  populate  the  film  and  whose  perspectives  occupy  a  great  deal  of  screen  time.  Already  dealing  with  traumatic  issues  and  finding  it  difficult  to  navigate  with  and  understand  the  adult  world,  their  witnessing  of  the  attack  and  murder  on  their  young,  vivacious  neighbor  proves  especially  complex  to  evoke  from  young  performers  under  the  age  of  12. 
Puk  Grasten  explains  that  the  child  characters  are  really  the  central  thread  of  the  film  –  “They  are  the  ones  being  taught  by  circumstances.  Combining  their  perspectives,  they  become  one  person  when  witnessing  the  murder  –  Troy  hears  everything,  Billy  sees  everything,  Debbie  physically  tries  to  get  to  Kitty.  When  they  seek  the  truth,  they  are  confronted  with  doors  shut  in  their  faces.  “I’ve  worked  with  kids  in  short  films  before,  and  have  used  a  lot  of  improvisation  and  creative  games,”  Grasten  says  of  nurturing  her  younger  cast  members.  “I  knew  I  wouldn’t  be  able  to  work  with  these  young  actors  for  a  long  time  to  deeply  develop  their  characters,  so  I  had  to  rely  a  lot  on  their  ability  to  play  along.  During  auditions,  I  was  interested  in  the  ones  who  weren’t  just  saying  the  words,  but  wanted  to  take  time  to  listen  and  respond.  That  also  meant  spending  time  with  the  parents,  adapting  the  script  where  I  needed  to,  and  really  focusing  on  the  kids  before,  during,  and  after  each  take.  By  the  time  we  got  to  the  end  and  the  more  difficult  scenes,  I  think  we  all  trusted  each  other  enough  to  get  the  kids  where  they  needed  to  be”. 
“I  had  some  of  the  actors  in  mind  when  I  was  writing  the  script,  because  I  knew  their  work,  but  actually  getting  a  chance  to  work  and  create  with  them  were  a  huge  opportunity.  They  felt  like  real  people  who  lived  in  that  neighborhood,  and  the  creation  of  their  characters  extended  to  costume,  makeup,  props  we  all  found  together.  It  was  a  very  organic  process,  and  with  the  liberty  of  the  camera,  we  could  get  a  lot  done  –  shooting  rehearsals,  improvising,  finding  great,  real  moments  that  weren’t  in  the  script.” 
The  detail  extended  to  the  neighborhood  where  37  was  filmed.  State  law  understandably  prohibits  filmmakers  from  recreating  real-life  crimes  in  the  exact  locations  where  they  occurred,  so  Grasten’s  crew  made  do  with  similar  looking  buildings  and  structures  located  in  Forest  Hills,  just  to  the  north  of  Kew  Gardens. 
As  the  story  of  Kitty  Genovese  is  reconsidered  through  the  eyes  of  the  characters  of  37,  Grasten  is  confident  that  the  film  will  foster  positive  and  productive  discussion  despite  its  still  difficult  subject  matter.  “This  story  is  the  beginning  of  what’s  going  on  today,  where  we  see  everyone  hiding  and  pointing  fingers  at  others,  and  we  say  ‘it’s  horrible  but  someone  else  will  take  care  of  it.  We’re  behind  closed  doors,  in  our  own  groups,  liking  things  on  Facebook.  So  I’m  hoping  we  can  use  Kitty  Genovese  as  a  place  to  begin  the  conversation  about  how  we  are  asked  to  stay  in  our  place,  instead  of  being  asked  to  make  things  right.  What  is  it  about  everyday  life  that  we  refuse  to  see  when  bad  things  happen?  Why  is  it  that  if  we  can’t  care  about  ‘everything,’  we  can’t  care  about  anything?”
1964年英国皇家植物园附近，37个邻居目睹了杀人案的发生但没有一个人阻止，此事震惊整个美国...