CHARM CIRCLE

 

Appearing in cinemas from 24th February, Charm Circle is a labour of family love for New York based film-maker Nira Burstein.

Charm Circle offers an intimate glimpse into Burstein's family's eccentric lifestyle in the place called Charm Circle, a suburb of Queen's the lesser known or portrayed borough of New York City. 

Burstein offers us an unfiltered glimpse into her family, exploring the divisions and the emotional connections between her parents and her sister's upbringing by incorporating archive footage from decades-old home videos and contemporary footage. This paints a family portrait about the ties that bind and bond people together, and how the place you grow up in affects your upbringing. 

Burstein films with an affectionate but intriguing eye, as with documentaries the camera lingers longer on subjects than they would in narrative cinema. This allows us to see individuals naturally act with their defences down - this boldness and frankness in their depiction shows the parents' eccentricities front and centre and this is a credit to Nira the filmmaker who is able to maintain a closeness to her parents as the protagonists of the narrative and yet be able to be critical when required. 

Eye-opening and personal, making this universal for all who view it, Charm Circle is a film where there is something for everyone to take away from it - you learn about Jewishness and the daily battle of mental illness as suffered by one of Nira's sisters. In life, there is so much that is considered taboo that you cannot talk about seemingly, yet in a family nothing is taboo and this openness is refreshing to view.

The film is produced by Fred Armisen, a SNL veteran, who has form in morphing into very eccentric characters and you can imagine Armisen portraying him in a spin-off feature should that occur. Armisen's work in Documentary Now and Portlandia, marries to this offbeat portrayal of family life and has spoken of his love for how the depiction of the parents is so unexpected.

As for the director, Burstein has a long history of directing several narrative short films and music videos, Charm Circle is her feature documentary debut and it provides a unique look at family life by the family themselves. A film is a joy full of heart and one that will stay with you long after you leave the Burstein's small piece of New York utopia. At a breezy 79 minutes this film is sure worth your time.

Charm Circle is out on limited release on 24th February.

A list of screenings at DocHouse can be found here

My thanks to AR-PR for the review opportunity.