Leilah sent me this hoping for me to watch it. Typically I do get excited about this, as I was here, but I never know what to expect. Why’d I get sent this? Why does this person think I’ll love it, or why do they want to know what I’ll think? I can make guesses, but I’m never 100% sure. I went in with minimal information but maximum interest. And I was immediately taken. Many times, when a film opens immediately with its credits on a blank screen (in this case, the color red, already differing from the typical black) it sets the the tone for the rest of the film (sometimes to similar effect to a shot, albeit in different ways). The video game-esque visual design as if every person is a character and every scene is a level really play into the structuring of the rest of the film. This is why in the end when Leilahhas Egypt read and reread the closing words, one is confronted with the eternal subjectivity of film, even if it’s “Documentary”. Weinraub exemplifies this in the most beautiful way in the in-between of both of the previously mentioned moments, preserving the memory of Shakedown as well as the dignity of all involved, and that’s what truly matters.
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