In 2010, HBO released Public Speaking, a documentary by Martin Scorsese about writer Fran Lebowitz. For those who savored the idea of one iconic New York artist making a film about another, it was a welcome arrival. Writing about the film in the The Village Voice, Melissa Anderson hailed Lebowitz’s approach to life, calling her “the best kind of New Yorker: one with a long memory who’s averse to nostalgia.”
A decade later, Scorsese has made another film about Lebowitz — and it’s set for release on Netflix. The new project is called Pretend It’s a City, and — as The Film Stage reports — there’s now a trailer for it out in the world.
Based on the trailer, the documentary finds Lebowitz reflecting on her life in New York (“I’m the only person who’s lived in New York for as long as I have who has never made a correct real estate decision”) and giving a strange look to a group of people doing CrossFit.
The scenes shown offer plenty of warmth, along with wry wit. And getting to see images of a pre-pandemic New York City also feels surprisingly moving: remember going to venues to see people in conversation? Remember looking askance at other pedestrians? Pretend It’s a City debuts on Jan. 8.
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