Koch (DVD)
“KOCH IS A NEW YORK STORY FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO APPRECIATE.”
—Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Former Mayor Ed Koch was the quintessential New Yorker. Ferocious, charismatic, and hilariously blunt, Koch, who died in February at the age of 88, ruled New York from 1978 to 1989—a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. First-time filmmaker (and formerWall Street Journal reporter) Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man, his legacy as a political titan and the town he helped transform. The tumult of his three terms included a fiercely competitive 1977 election; an infamous 1980 transit strike; the burgeoning AIDS epidemic; landmark housing renewal initiatives; and an irreparable municipal corruption scandal. Through candid interviews and rare archival footage, Koch thrillingly chronicles the personal and political toll of running the world’s most wondrous city in a time of upheaval and reinvention.
- HD transfer, enhanced for widescreen viewing
- Witnesses NYC: A new film by director Neil Barsky, featuring more extraordinary 1980s archival footage plus interviews with New Yorkers—a graffiti artist, a Wall Street executive, a crack dealer, a restaurateur, a peepshow employee, an activist/urban gardener and others—who lived though the Koch years (29 min)
- Director interview by filmmaker Ondi Timoner (Dig), for BYOD: Bring Your Own Doc (35 min)
- Ed Koch Q&A at the New York Jewish Film Festival, his final public appearance (17 min)
- Theatrical trailer
- Optional subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- 5.1 and stereo soundtracks
- Neil Barsky - Director
Reviews
EXCELLENT.... .Neither fawning nor eviscerating but always compelling.... Both liberal and judicious in [its] use of the rich trove of news footage. It pays off in creating A FASCINATING SNAPSHOT OF THE PAST.
The movie will appeal to anyone who lived in – or followed – New York through the ‘80s, but not exclusively to them. It’s ultimately a tale of humanity, not power.
Sharply made.... The glimpses of Koch's bravado and colorful campaigning are invigorating.
THRILLING! A mayor and a metropolis linked by tumultuous events in the worst and best of times.
An incredibly complex portrait of an incredibly complex man, a completely honest yet decidedly humanist portrayal of one of the seminal politicians of the last half century.
Dramatically constructed and beautifully shot, interspersed with excellent historical footage.... a deeply personal film about the ultimate political creature.
Skillfully directed and assembled...a very good movie—vivid, touching, and fair.
Barsky’s portrait of iconic former mayor Ed Koch avoids hagiography at all costs, sinking its claws right into the controversy while touching on the biggest issues New York was facing while Koch was in charge. The archival seventies and eighties footage of the city way back when is a welcome addition.
FIERCELY HONEST...intrigues and intoxicates like a David Mamet stage play....a riveting portrait of a towering and polarizing man. It's also great fun!
4 1/2 Stars! Barsky's documentary, like his subject, does not shy away from controversy.
A treasure trove of little moments that illuminate a famously cantankerous, sharp-elbowed, showboating personality.
A beautiful documentary examining one man's fascinating journey into rehabilitating the very unhealthy city of New York in the 1980s.
HIGHLY ENTERTAINING, and at times quite moving.
A FASCINATING glimpse, not only of the man, but of the decades when he ruled New York, changing it forever, mostly for better.
Mr. Koch...remains as contentious, as mischievous and at times as inflammatory as ever....A portrait of a complicated man in an era that is quickly fading in memory....Like Walt Whitman, another hard-to-classify embodiment of the spirit of New York, [Koch] is contradictory and multitudinous....He is charming, infuriating and sometimes coy....He can be exhausting...but he has never been boring.
NUANCED AND SOPHISTICATED.... Arguably both the most beloved and polarizing political figure in late 20th-century New York City history, former Mayor Ed Koch presents an uncommonly juicy subject for a documentary, and filmmaker Neil Barsky makes the most of the opportunity.
GREAT NEW FILM...It is fabulous...It is such a great history lesson not just of this fascinating and very colorful mayor but also of the city of New York.
CRITICS' PICK! A canny balancing act.
Barsky covers Koch’s story magnificently.
Offers as comprehensive a picture as it can in 94 minutes of a man whose tenure merits a miniseries.
For those who didn't live through it, the film is informative and entertaining, and for those who did, it will bring back a lot of memories.
I loved Koch. A fair, honest portrayal of New York's most colorful Mayor.
Impressively presents Koch's public and private life by transitioning between old footage and new and by highlighting problems past and present.
A wonderful retrospective of the political life of a quintessential son of New York City.... Such disparate cultural moments as Saturday Night Live, Annie Hall, the Son of Sam, the rebirth of the New York Yankees, and the life and death of both disco and punk rock, all took place within the era and dawning of Ed Koch.
Koch....captures some of the controversial elements of his time in office and is clear-eyed about the financially troubled, racially divided city he governed.
An informative — and wonderfully funny — documentary about a difficult time in New York City and one of its most celebrated citizens.
A cinematic view of former New York City mayor Ed Koch. The warts-and-all portrait of the complicated leader of a major metropolis explores both the political and the personal.
A sweeping yet personal cinematic portrait of the ‘quintessential New Yorker.’
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