Growing up in the late 1960s and 1970s in the Ten Hills neighborhood of Baltimore gave me a curiosity about the harshness of violence and hatred even as our parents tried to shield and give us advantages they never had. All Fall Down, formerly titled Baltimore in Black and White captures the essence of that experience through the investigative documentary of the granddaughter of a murdered patriarch who was killed on the way to a community meeting at Edmondson High School.
Similar to a more recent treatment of murder and sexual abuse in that same neighborhood, The Keepers, the questions and answers are not neat and resolved. The strength of "All Fall Down" is that the story is driven by the same kind of passionate need for healing and clarity while exploring every possible aspect of the incident after a passage of decades. The film authentically captures diverse points of view from the neighborhood and some of the post-1968 riot questions, people in the white Catholic upper-middle class enclave experienced. The filmmakers do not shy away from conflicting perspectives and include a variety of participants who are not the most articulate or do not have the most powerful B-roll.
I recommend this film for its sincerity, careful treatment of a messy topic and its honesty in confronting, race, violence, and memory. I hope that more people can be able to see this film.
Similar to a more recent treatment of murder and sexual abuse in that same neighborhood, The Keepers, the questions and answers are not neat and resolved. The strength of "All Fall Down" is that the story is driven by the same kind of passionate need for healing and clarity while exploring every possible aspect of the incident after a passage of decades. The film authentically captures diverse points of view from the neighborhood and some of the post-1968 riot questions, people in the white Catholic upper-middle class enclave experienced. The filmmakers do not shy away from conflicting perspectives and include a variety of participants who are not the most articulate or do not have the most powerful B-roll.
I recommend this film for its sincerity, careful treatment of a messy topic and its honesty in confronting, race, violence, and memory. I hope that more people can be able to see this film.
