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Roger Ebert waves back at Vincent documentary
June 9, 2009 – Film critic Roger Ebert has given an unofficial thumbs-up to the documentary about Marina City resident Vincent Falk. Writing in his Chicago Sun-Times blog last Thursday, Ebert called the film “remarkable” and “beautifully photographed.” Vincent: A Life In Color is a 95-minute documentary about Falk, better known throughout downtown Chicago as the man who dresses in brightly colored suits and dances on bridges for the amusement of tour boats. It was produced and directed by first-time film-maker Jennifer Burns. Also appearing in the film are Marina City residents Nancy Kolos, Patricia Burnett, Gladys Campione, and Harold G. Bellamy. Ebert, who was given a copy of the documentary on DVD by fellow Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg, who also appears in the film, says Vincent’s life “is one that Oliver Sachs, the poet of strange lives, might find fascinating.”
The first time he saw Vincent, Ebert says, “I saw a man with unfocused squinting eyes and a weird suit, and leaped to conclusions.” Now, he says, “I respond to Vincent, and applaud him.” He believes the people on the tour boats are more entertained by Vincent than by the architectural history they’re getting. “At least they can smile and wave and tell the folks at home about that wacky guy they saw on the bridge.”
Burns says she has been reading and watching Ebert for more than 20 years. “For him to call my movie ‘remarkable,’ is just overwhelming to me.” She is still planning a limited run of the documentary in an independent Chicago theater sometime this summer, hopefully followed by a distribution deal. Ebert is a Pulitzer Prize winner. He has been a film critic for the Sun-Times since 1967. His reviews are syndicated to more than 200 newspapers worldwide. He was on television for 23 years, co-hosting two programs with Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel.
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