Filmmaker Jeremy Workman has the "Eye". Like Herzog, Morris and Broomfield, Workman sees for so many of us who simply either don't care, or don't dare to look deeper into a world all of us share...from an eccentric neighbor, ignored by his fellow citizens for most of his life as in MAGICAL UNIVERSE, to a treasure-trove of sheer wonders which lay just a few feet beyond us all...if we only dare to take a few steps and look...this is THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET.
Following Matt Green's personal journey to walk every street, sidewalk, alley and footpath through the 5 boroughs of New York City - an adventure covering approx. 8000 miles -- the film is both understated and startling. Green is you and me, and everyone we know, along with every stranger we pass-by every day. He is thoughtful, curious and likable; someone anyone would enjoy knowing, enjoy having a conversation with. Matt Green embodies how we feel deep down about ourselves...that we have more to give, that something larger is out there, larger than we've ever seen. Something that transcends opinion and division and routine.
Green, a highly-educated professional who turned his back on a 6-figure income career to walk an easy-pace throughout NYC, plotting a course which has him walking in daylight and darkness, fair weather and winter blizzards, encounters what can, at the end, be only described as fellow human beings. There are few interactions which one would find either 'intense' or potentially 'dangerous'; Matt Green is sincere and disarming, and even the most confrontational people - like a man who is incensed at Green taking pictures of his home - come to understand within seconds of the encounter that Green is no threat...ending with a smile, handshake and hug. Within SECONDS.
To his credit and testament to his film-making acumen, Jeremy Workman is virtually invisible in this project. The viewer is never aware of Workman's presence or direction or even his voice...in spite of interviews with Green's family, former girlfriends and fellow sojourners. Workman takes care to ensure this is the story of Matt Green himself and in so doing, tells the larger story about everyone who views the film.
THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET is a lesson for all of us, presented as a travelogue, of sorts. But it is much, much more. It is quietly uplifting and left open-ended for those of us yet to begin our own journeys.
Following Matt Green's personal journey to walk every street, sidewalk, alley and footpath through the 5 boroughs of New York City - an adventure covering approx. 8000 miles -- the film is both understated and startling. Green is you and me, and everyone we know, along with every stranger we pass-by every day. He is thoughtful, curious and likable; someone anyone would enjoy knowing, enjoy having a conversation with. Matt Green embodies how we feel deep down about ourselves...that we have more to give, that something larger is out there, larger than we've ever seen. Something that transcends opinion and division and routine.
Green, a highly-educated professional who turned his back on a 6-figure income career to walk an easy-pace throughout NYC, plotting a course which has him walking in daylight and darkness, fair weather and winter blizzards, encounters what can, at the end, be only described as fellow human beings. There are few interactions which one would find either 'intense' or potentially 'dangerous'; Matt Green is sincere and disarming, and even the most confrontational people - like a man who is incensed at Green taking pictures of his home - come to understand within seconds of the encounter that Green is no threat...ending with a smile, handshake and hug. Within SECONDS.
To his credit and testament to his film-making acumen, Jeremy Workman is virtually invisible in this project. The viewer is never aware of Workman's presence or direction or even his voice...in spite of interviews with Green's family, former girlfriends and fellow sojourners. Workman takes care to ensure this is the story of Matt Green himself and in so doing, tells the larger story about everyone who views the film.
THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET is a lesson for all of us, presented as a travelogue, of sorts. But it is much, much more. It is quietly uplifting and left open-ended for those of us yet to begin our own journeys.