Following closely on the heels of this allusion to Amos Poe’s “The Foreigner,” I was out and about with my son Oliver yesterday afternoon, and we found ourselves walking east on Great Jones Street. As such, I was struck with an idea.
Just as a bit of backtracking, “The Foreigner” is this strange little film made back in the late 70’s during the gestation of all things NYC punk. Ponderous and stiff in parts, the film is sort of like a cross between “Alphaville” and “After Hours,” following bizarre protagonist/secret agent Max as he tries to navigate his way through the Lower East Side of the late 70’s on a star-crossed clandestine mission. Along the way, he encounters some notable characters like Debbie Harry and The Cramps.
While the film is sometimes ploddingly slow in its narrative, it's compelling in how it captures lower Manhattan (and the punk scene of the day) in a manner that is, of course, strikingly at odds with what’s here today. It’s tough to find, but worth tracking down.
In any case, at one point in the proceedings, Max is being chased through the streets by a carload of merry cutthroats, all the while gleefully chanting “We Love You, Mr. Zig-Zag!” (referring to the serpentine manner in which Max is trying to outrun the car).
The chase careens down the Bowery, hangs a left on Great Jones and then onto Lafayette Street. Back on this post, I took a couple of screengrabs. Below is our fleeting homage to poor Max.
1978
2015... finding Oliver (in brand new red sneakers...yay!) in roughly the same spot....
We had fun, at least.
Here's a trailer of the film in question....
More ….
Exhuming ‘the Foreigner’
Back to Great Jones Alley
‘We Love You, Mr Zig Zag’
Cramped in the Men’s Room
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