SENTINEL WATCH March 24, 2008 Issue

UNDERSTANDING 'THE OTHER'

RUTH WALKER

ON A RECENT TRIP TO NEW YORK I heard Albert Maysles, the noted documentary filmmaker, talk about his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maysles impressed me with his humanity and keenly observant, yet deeply compassionate, eye. He doesn't interview; rather he captures spontaneous storytelling. He doesn't direct conversations but waits for people to say what they want to say.

What especially caught my attention, however, was his discussion of his 1969 film, Salesman, about men who sold Bibles door to door. A number of the salesmen were of Irish background. Maysles commented that he'd seen an opportunity in making the film to learn to understand some Irish-Americans who, when he was growing up, had often treated him badly as a Jew.

It was just a passing comment. He didn't elaborate. But I was impressed with the idea of his seeking to understand a group of people rather than somehow trying to get back at them.