There are no absolutes; but one thing that is
absolutely true is that good films will always eventually find an audience. Yes, sometimes it takes years. They might be rejected at first only,
years later, to be discovered by an appreciative audience.
And sometimes, for various reasons, they’re popular at first and
get great reviews, but fall by the wayside, and are forgotten only to be rediscovered
again years later for filmgoers looking for something different and of
substance.
The latter has been the case for Charles Lane’s wonderful silent dramedy "Sidewalks Stories," which I vividly recall seeing when it first came
out in 1989, and thought it would signal the beginning of a great filmmaking
career by a unique and original voice.
Well, that didn’t exactly happen, after the box office bomb
he made for Disney, "True Identity," and Lane seemed to disappear, though, from
time to time, I would wonder whatever happened to him.
So it so very gratifying that Stories has been rediscovered and appreciated again, and that Lane is deservedly coming back into public view.
And, by the way, I suggest that you read Zeba Blay’s wonderful
review of the film, which she wrote back n May here.
Just last week, Lane himself was present for an
interview with filmmaker Rel Dowell, at a special 25th anniversary
screening of the film in Philadelphia, and, as you will see, Lane was enlightening
and very honest, especially about his post-"Sidewalk Stories" career.
Take a look:
