Do the subjects of this film know that most everyone who viewed it still thinks about them and wonders what happened to them? Does Martin Bell know this? How the world would eat up a sequel...a follow-up on the people who can be located...
42 Reviews
harrowing documentary
SnoopyStyle21 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
It's a documentary of a bunch of street kids in Seattle. Rat is doing and selling drugs. He's friend with older Jack and living in an abandoned building. He'd take his gun to "roll a queer" and dumpster dive. Tiny is a 14 year old prostitute who won't consider abortions and lives in a dysfunctional family with her mom and stepfather. DeWayne is a panhanding and thieving hustler. He hangs himself in the end.
It's an amazing insightful documentary. It's praise worthy for director Martin Bell, his wife photographer Mary Ellen Mark and the Life Magazine article writer Cheryl McCall. They really got the trust from these kids and get right inside in their lives. It would be helpful if they include the kids' name in caption as well as their ages. Their ages are really shocking and it would have been more compelling to see it shown in bold block letters.
It's an amazing insightful documentary. It's praise worthy for director Martin Bell, his wife photographer Mary Ellen Mark and the Life Magazine article writer Cheryl McCall. They really got the trust from these kids and get right inside in their lives. It would be helpful if they include the kids' name in caption as well as their ages. Their ages are really shocking and it would have been more compelling to see it shown in bold block letters.
This used to be my life.
artsmartfamily25 June 2007
Wow! This site sure brought back a flood of memories. I lived on these streets from 1979-1983. I remember some of the kids. Life was more dangerous than the movie actually portrays. I remember life on the streets being numb to what was really going on in my life. For awhile i was lucky enough to suffer from amnesia. Life was dangerous! I was abducted at 13 from 1st and pine by two men they kept me for 3 days I still do not remember everything except for the abduction and escape. This was not the only serious thing that happened. These things were part of that life. Unfortunately, memories of that life have come back to haunt me forever, nothing can ever change that. There where so many horrible situations, seeking to destroy my soul forever. Shannon Thorne.
Questions of 'Streetwise' authenticity answered.
lutherdesmond21 November 2004
'STREETWISE' the documentary film
Director & Cameraman: Martin Bell
Sound Recordist: Luther Keith Desmond
The rest of the credits are on the 'Streetwise' web site.
Recently, someone mentioned ' Didn't you have summat to do with Streetwise? .' This prompted me to look through the Streetwise website for the first time. I was more than a trifle surprised to find, there's a whole raft of you out there believe this remarkable film was 'scripted.' As the only soundman on the streets of Seattle during the filming of Streetwise, had there been a script, it would have been necessary for me to have a copy. There was no script - period.
The relationship between Dewayne and his father was later developed into a story by Peter Silverman. Martin Bell, Mary Ellen Mark and Peter Silverman wrote a screenplay, which became the 1992 movie 'American Heart' directed by Martin Bell.
Cheryl McCall, who is down as the writer on the website, is most certainly a writer, and also the credited producer of Streetwise. The entire film was inspired by an article in Life magazine (1983) entitled 'Streets of the Lost'- text by Cheryl McCall, photographs by Mary Ellen Mark. All of the action on the street and all of the dialogue in the film is that of the kids. How do I know? Well I recorded the stuff. No-one could write dialogue that good.
Some have thought 'Streetwise' was too beautifully filmed to be a documentary. For the UK television audience, the quality of the images in Streetwise was standard documentary TV in the early 80's. I only mention this, as the crew shooting 'Streetwise' were Limey's. Martin and I had worked together for fifteen years - cutting our teeth on documentaries shot for UK television.
The Limey factor proved to be a stumbling block at the outset. The kids on Pike Street were confused by the accents of two bearded characters, unable to speak American properly, and it took us two to three weeks to convince them we were not the CIA. In two and a half months we shot close on 50 hours of film. This is normal for obtaining enough content to give the editor a chance of constructing a truthful account.
Some of you on the web indicate disbelief as to how some sequences were gathered, indicating a possibility of manipulating the contributors.
The only manipulation of any contributor was administered by myself, in placing radio microphones on the characters involved. It could also be argued that it was manipulation to put a radio microphone on Tiny in her prison cell, prior to filming the visit by Rat. Likewise, with Dewayne's father, also in jail. If this was manipulation, I stand guilty as charged. This was the only way I could gather dialogue from contributors.
Many have expressed dismay or doubt, about the Coke can on the coffin of Dewayne. This was not orchestrated by the crew, simply a forgetful gesture by a father, out of jail for the day for the funeral, distraught at his failure towards his son. What you do not see in this scene is Dewayne's father giving his son a drink of coke from that can.
Some of you may be unaware of the dedication and involvement of the film editor and the editing crew. The skill, sensitivity and integrity of editor Nancy Baker and her sharp shooter assistant, Jonathan Oppenheim is overwhelming. These people make my stuff 'sound' good, and they gave us a memorable film.
I cannot offer you hopeful news on most of the street kids in Seattle, I only wish I could.
The last I heard was that Tiny (Erin) had now given birth to eight children and is about to give birth to her ninth.
Lulu was killed by street kids, without provocation. Over 300 attended her funeral.
Shadow is now working in construction in Seattle.
Munchkin is a chef in a Seattle restaurant.
Patti died of AIDS.
Kim married a Navy Seal and has a child.
Rat, could be almost anywhere.
The rest, Dawn, Shellie, Lillie, I know nothing of.
Someone asked, who sang 'Teddy Bears picnic?' this was not Tom Waits, but a street musician in Seattle known as 'Baby Gramps' wasn't he good?
Luther Keith Desmond Sound Recordist London. U.K. November 2004
Director & Cameraman: Martin Bell
Sound Recordist: Luther Keith Desmond
The rest of the credits are on the 'Streetwise' web site.
Recently, someone mentioned ' Didn't you have summat to do with Streetwise? .' This prompted me to look through the Streetwise website for the first time. I was more than a trifle surprised to find, there's a whole raft of you out there believe this remarkable film was 'scripted.' As the only soundman on the streets of Seattle during the filming of Streetwise, had there been a script, it would have been necessary for me to have a copy. There was no script - period.
The relationship between Dewayne and his father was later developed into a story by Peter Silverman. Martin Bell, Mary Ellen Mark and Peter Silverman wrote a screenplay, which became the 1992 movie 'American Heart' directed by Martin Bell.
Cheryl McCall, who is down as the writer on the website, is most certainly a writer, and also the credited producer of Streetwise. The entire film was inspired by an article in Life magazine (1983) entitled 'Streets of the Lost'- text by Cheryl McCall, photographs by Mary Ellen Mark. All of the action on the street and all of the dialogue in the film is that of the kids. How do I know? Well I recorded the stuff. No-one could write dialogue that good.
Some have thought 'Streetwise' was too beautifully filmed to be a documentary. For the UK television audience, the quality of the images in Streetwise was standard documentary TV in the early 80's. I only mention this, as the crew shooting 'Streetwise' were Limey's. Martin and I had worked together for fifteen years - cutting our teeth on documentaries shot for UK television.
The Limey factor proved to be a stumbling block at the outset. The kids on Pike Street were confused by the accents of two bearded characters, unable to speak American properly, and it took us two to three weeks to convince them we were not the CIA. In two and a half months we shot close on 50 hours of film. This is normal for obtaining enough content to give the editor a chance of constructing a truthful account.
Some of you on the web indicate disbelief as to how some sequences were gathered, indicating a possibility of manipulating the contributors.
The only manipulation of any contributor was administered by myself, in placing radio microphones on the characters involved. It could also be argued that it was manipulation to put a radio microphone on Tiny in her prison cell, prior to filming the visit by Rat. Likewise, with Dewayne's father, also in jail. If this was manipulation, I stand guilty as charged. This was the only way I could gather dialogue from contributors.
Many have expressed dismay or doubt, about the Coke can on the coffin of Dewayne. This was not orchestrated by the crew, simply a forgetful gesture by a father, out of jail for the day for the funeral, distraught at his failure towards his son. What you do not see in this scene is Dewayne's father giving his son a drink of coke from that can.
Some of you may be unaware of the dedication and involvement of the film editor and the editing crew. The skill, sensitivity and integrity of editor Nancy Baker and her sharp shooter assistant, Jonathan Oppenheim is overwhelming. These people make my stuff 'sound' good, and they gave us a memorable film.
I cannot offer you hopeful news on most of the street kids in Seattle, I only wish I could.
The last I heard was that Tiny (Erin) had now given birth to eight children and is about to give birth to her ninth.
Lulu was killed by street kids, without provocation. Over 300 attended her funeral.
Shadow is now working in construction in Seattle.
Munchkin is a chef in a Seattle restaurant.
Patti died of AIDS.
Kim married a Navy Seal and has a child.
Rat, could be almost anywhere.
The rest, Dawn, Shellie, Lillie, I know nothing of.
Someone asked, who sang 'Teddy Bears picnic?' this was not Tom Waits, but a street musician in Seattle known as 'Baby Gramps' wasn't he good?
Luther Keith Desmond Sound Recordist London. U.K. November 2004
i was there
summers50029 February 2010
Its been twenty twenty six years since the streetwise film was made i was in a boys home at the time of filming i was asked to be in the film but i was unable to be there i knew rat and lulu Kim Dwayne tiny munchkin and Pattie hell i even dated Lillie for a while the days of the doughnut shop and the aftermath when Gunther got busted and yes even to this day the murder of lulu still makes me cry to some people out there these kids were ghosts to me they wers my friends and family who at times were the only family we had its sad to think so many of them are gone but never will be forgotten my name is T I am now 42 years old and live in Nashville tn im married with two kids and work in law enforcement i see kids today just where we all were downtown on first and pike just as scared and just as tough trying to survive in a world that is not that easy to survive in
yet i try to help them the best way i can hell somebody has to. to all those who was in the film i still think of you everyday and send love im even writing a book about the seattle street kids in those days if any of you are still around and remember me T please send word email me i would love to hear from you
yet i try to help them the best way i can hell somebody has to. to all those who was in the film i still think of you everyday and send love im even writing a book about the seattle street kids in those days if any of you are still around and remember me T please send word email me i would love to hear from you
The city of the lost children. (spoilers)
vertigo_1424 March 2006
Streetwise is a documentary that follows several runaway youth in the 1980s living on the streets of Seattle. Most are no older than 16, but already have made careers for themselves as pimps and prostitutes, thieves and muggers, panhandlers and dumpster divers, and doing what they can to survive.
In a 2006 edition of the New Yorker, a critic suggested that these kids are kind of led by a sense of street freedom, but as another viewer commented, it is likely that a lot of these people, even Rat, were probably miserable, despite the best attempts to hide it or convince themselves otherwise (This was made clear by Rat's opening remark about the things he hated about flying--"coming back to the f***in' earth.") Clearly, Dewayne was, as he committed suicide at the age of 16. The sad thing is that these were kids of children themselves. Not in the sense that they were born to teenagers (which may actually be the case), but that many of their parents had not yet matured beyond their own selfishness to care for these kids as they needed to be (Tiny's mother rationalized her daughter's prostitution as a "phase"). Some of the young girls, 14 and hooking, tell us about their abusive fathers and stepfathers that, despite miserable marriages, their mothers still stuck by them irregardless of the negative consequences to their own children. Rat tells about this too, where he was tired of being between his helpless, divorced parents feuding. Or just parents who seemed capable of having kids, but not raising them. And since no one cared for them as children (most of them, I'm not sure what the background was on the young black man who was pimping the girls, the one who's mother and probably grandmother later show up and ask him to come home), they took the streets and became, as Tiny's mother says, 14 going on 21. They were the city of the lost children.
Some might criticize this movie as being unrealistic, and at least the things coming from Dewayne's dad when talking to his son sounds like something from a film, although the Sound Recordist for the film has assured in his own comments that this is not the case. That there was no script. It makes the events all the more heartbreaking. If the purpose of the film was to raise awareness of the life of young runaways, it makes it point and drives it home hard. It also drives home hard that the policies of Regeanomics (joked by Dewayne later in the film) were hurting those lowest on the income scales (and consequently, moving many into the street). And it makes me wonder what the numbers of runaways and street kids are these days. Washington, DC (where I live now) has a large homeless population relative to the size of the district, but I never see any young panhandlers or prostitutes and wonder, is the situation still the same? Are the institutions working more to get kids off the streets? What has become of the Streetwise now?
In a 2006 edition of the New Yorker, a critic suggested that these kids are kind of led by a sense of street freedom, but as another viewer commented, it is likely that a lot of these people, even Rat, were probably miserable, despite the best attempts to hide it or convince themselves otherwise (This was made clear by Rat's opening remark about the things he hated about flying--"coming back to the f***in' earth.") Clearly, Dewayne was, as he committed suicide at the age of 16. The sad thing is that these were kids of children themselves. Not in the sense that they were born to teenagers (which may actually be the case), but that many of their parents had not yet matured beyond their own selfishness to care for these kids as they needed to be (Tiny's mother rationalized her daughter's prostitution as a "phase"). Some of the young girls, 14 and hooking, tell us about their abusive fathers and stepfathers that, despite miserable marriages, their mothers still stuck by them irregardless of the negative consequences to their own children. Rat tells about this too, where he was tired of being between his helpless, divorced parents feuding. Or just parents who seemed capable of having kids, but not raising them. And since no one cared for them as children (most of them, I'm not sure what the background was on the young black man who was pimping the girls, the one who's mother and probably grandmother later show up and ask him to come home), they took the streets and became, as Tiny's mother says, 14 going on 21. They were the city of the lost children.
Some might criticize this movie as being unrealistic, and at least the things coming from Dewayne's dad when talking to his son sounds like something from a film, although the Sound Recordist for the film has assured in his own comments that this is not the case. That there was no script. It makes the events all the more heartbreaking. If the purpose of the film was to raise awareness of the life of young runaways, it makes it point and drives it home hard. It also drives home hard that the policies of Regeanomics (joked by Dewayne later in the film) were hurting those lowest on the income scales (and consequently, moving many into the street). And it makes me wonder what the numbers of runaways and street kids are these days. Washington, DC (where I live now) has a large homeless population relative to the size of the district, but I never see any young panhandlers or prostitutes and wonder, is the situation still the same? Are the institutions working more to get kids off the streets? What has become of the Streetwise now?
My opinion of streetwise- from Rat's wife
janelb127 August 2007
Hey, Jen! How funny to see you on here! Love Ya!
I personally love Streetwise. I've seen it a million times. My husband gets embarrassed whenever I show the movie, and hides in the other room.
I am Rat's wife. We live in California, where he originally came from. It's funny that no one knows where he is. Martin and Maryellen still keep in contact and send Christmas cards. Anyway, Rat is alive and doing well. It just goes to show that eating garbage won't kill a person. It might just make them stronger.
Janel
I personally love Streetwise. I've seen it a million times. My husband gets embarrassed whenever I show the movie, and hides in the other room.
I am Rat's wife. We live in California, where he originally came from. It's funny that no one knows where he is. Martin and Maryellen still keep in contact and send Christmas cards. Anyway, Rat is alive and doing well. It just goes to show that eating garbage won't kill a person. It might just make them stronger.
Janel
Close to home
jjessey18 May 2002
This documentary hits very close to home. I grew up with "Rat" after 1984, and our lives are still involved in some ways. I saw this movie as a teenager and it really makes you think about how things could be. Most kids can't wait to get out "on their own" and when you look at the way some roads can take you, you don't ever want to leave. When I look back at how "Rat" grew up and the lives of these other kids, I think to myself how easy it could have been me or kids that I know now. When you watch this movie, you will always remember that LIFE is such a short period of time and so many things can bring you down along the journey. But you have to keep in mind that the negative is always a learning experience, the question is...would you take the same journey again?
most recent article I can find on Tiny and Mary Ellen Mark
tonlo-119 February 2006
I have followed (or tried to follow) Tiny through the years, she is up to 9 children now and is moving to North Carolina with her husband. He is the father of her last 4 kids. Her oldest son Daylon lives alone and is 19, her 2 oldest daughters live with a relative. Here is the link to http://seattletimes.nwsource.com
type in Mary Ellen Mark, the article is called: Focused on a life: Photographer uses camera as force for change
I heard that Rat is living on a farm or ranch, , some people say he died, does anyone have any current info?
Does anyone have a picture of Roberta, the victim of the Green River killer? I cannot remember her face.
type in Mary Ellen Mark, the article is called: Focused on a life: Photographer uses camera as force for change
I heard that Rat is living on a farm or ranch, , some people say he died, does anyone have any current info?
Does anyone have a picture of Roberta, the victim of the Green River killer? I cannot remember her face.
One of the best documentaries I've ever seen
JulietV26 October 1998
Absolutely one of my all time favorite movies. I think my brother and I have watched my copy 20-30 times.
It's fascinating to watch the teens (Tonya, Munchkin, Shadow, Tiny, etc.) as they live their lives dumpster diving, turning tricks and hustling on the streets of Seattle. You watch them in their day to day lives... dealing with living in abandoned motels, parents who honestly don't care that they're prostituting, and dealing with the violence of pimps and venerial disease.
Warning: You will wonder for the rest of your life what happened to these people and where they are today (if they're still alive after the harsh reality of life on the streets.)
It's fascinating to watch the teens (Tonya, Munchkin, Shadow, Tiny, etc.) as they live their lives dumpster diving, turning tricks and hustling on the streets of Seattle. You watch them in their day to day lives... dealing with living in abandoned motels, parents who honestly don't care that they're prostituting, and dealing with the violence of pimps and venerial disease.
Warning: You will wonder for the rest of your life what happened to these people and where they are today (if they're still alive after the harsh reality of life on the streets.)
Wising Up
sol-17 April 2016
Some runaways, others abandoned or neglected by their parents, this Oscar nominated documentary tracks the experiences of a group of teenagers living on the streets of Seattle. The film has several powerful moments as it is revealed just how young some of the teens are and the scattered scenes featuring their parents certainly linger in the mind. Most memorably, one mother refers to what her daughter is going through on the streets as "just a phase" while a teenage boy visits his father in jail who does nothing but criticise him and lecture him on what not to do. Interesting as it is to have such a candid insight into the issue of homeless teens, several moments nevertheless feel rehearsed and the way the kids philosophically wax poetic about life never quite feels real. Some playing up for the camera is, of course, to be expected, but the film may have benefited from the filmmakers more judiciously editing these parts to ensure focus on the teens interacting naturally in their surrounds. On the same note, less interview style footage and more fly-on-the-wall (observational) footage may have rendered the film more intimate. If imperfect, 'Streetwise' has had an undeniable effect on many who have viewed it throughout the years, and if one engages with all of the teenagers, the experience is no doubt overwhelming. One's mileage with the film simply may vary. Whatever the case, the film both begins and concludes on pitch perfect notes with whistling over the opening credits in lieu of music and a Teddy Bears' Picnic ditty at the end, sung with perfect restraint.
I was there!
DawnMarre6 October 2005
Hi! This movie is as close to home as ever! I was there while filming , knew these people personally, and WOW ! Very nice to see reality once in a while and I dearly miss the ones who went through this experience with me - youth has a way and that way we shall find !.....Long live these memories of my beloved Seattle friends ! I recommend this film to kids who want to try it on their own, to see their mistake ahead of time - in time..... "RAVEN"-Marre P.S. To Scott , Damien , & Kevin.....Hello....I made it out alive ! To all the girls I tried to help....luv you all ! To all those who know what I mean...it was real! Hope your lives are better for the fun we tried to have , and the pain we conquered while on the great quest for love !
Dubious Authenticity and other problems here
sikihac24 January 2024
First of all most of these characters are not the gender they present as, it's fairly obvious so the stories they tell are false categorically in many ways. So we have casting decisions as to who will tell stories so you look for people who will do that no problem.
Another one is the credits where we have the writer Mario Puzo in there, huh? What's a major writer of those awful smear movies which are about the tribester mafia just projecting to defame doing involved with such a "real" doco? We also have the fact that this is a warner bros distributor at the end, they hide this here of course so as to give some more creedence to the authenticity here. Now I'm not going to go through the details of the film itself but just the indicators of awards and nominations and such don't help it. And interested parties posting here who "knew" them or "worked" there here don't help either, they reinforce the scam more than anything. This seems to be a series almost with reuninons of sort pointing to the franchising aspect which no one can deny.
Now it's obvious there are homeless adolescents out there but movies are about scripting and imagery so then you have a huge incentive to just cast people you can control to either improvise or script. The pro camera and audio work is evident here and real people on the streets are difficult and unsteady as to be not good for narrative and hundreds of hours of footage needed. Just the obvious staging of conflict and conversations as to be sitcom like is another indicator of scripting.
Therefore I'm not convinced this was 100% real nor do I think it's 100% fake either but I'd lean to this being like modern "reality" shows which are scripted, pro camera and audio work and they leave out massive amounts of info to give a false image.
Another one is the credits where we have the writer Mario Puzo in there, huh? What's a major writer of those awful smear movies which are about the tribester mafia just projecting to defame doing involved with such a "real" doco? We also have the fact that this is a warner bros distributor at the end, they hide this here of course so as to give some more creedence to the authenticity here. Now I'm not going to go through the details of the film itself but just the indicators of awards and nominations and such don't help it. And interested parties posting here who "knew" them or "worked" there here don't help either, they reinforce the scam more than anything. This seems to be a series almost with reuninons of sort pointing to the franchising aspect which no one can deny.
Now it's obvious there are homeless adolescents out there but movies are about scripting and imagery so then you have a huge incentive to just cast people you can control to either improvise or script. The pro camera and audio work is evident here and real people on the streets are difficult and unsteady as to be not good for narrative and hundreds of hours of footage needed. Just the obvious staging of conflict and conversations as to be sitcom like is another indicator of scripting.
Therefore I'm not convinced this was 100% real nor do I think it's 100% fake either but I'd lean to this being like modern "reality" shows which are scripted, pro camera and audio work and they leave out massive amounts of info to give a false image.
Truthful
peu_de_noir_ange25 December 2002
I have lived in Seattle all my life, I watched and knew people like the kids in Streetwise. Many people would like to think that Streetwise was a "scripted" movie and that these kids "played up" their lives for the cameras. Scary as it might seem they did not. This was life on the streets of Seattle when I was 12-13. I know, I was a part of it.
Children, barely old enough to take care of themselves ran amok on the streets, had drug habits and prostituted themselves for some food money. They had parents that beat them or were in jail or molested them and that life on the streets was preferred to life at home.
I appreciate that this movie was so truthful and showed what life is really like out on the streets when you open your eyes.
I've watched this movie several times and I am happy that I got off the streets and survived. But the movie does make me wonder if I was the only one. Watch this movie and open your eyes.
Children, barely old enough to take care of themselves ran amok on the streets, had drug habits and prostituted themselves for some food money. They had parents that beat them or were in jail or molested them and that life on the streets was preferred to life at home.
I appreciate that this movie was so truthful and showed what life is really like out on the streets when you open your eyes.
I've watched this movie several times and I am happy that I got off the streets and survived. But the movie does make me wonder if I was the only one. Watch this movie and open your eyes.
This is all of our stories!
spanky7779886016 May 2007
I was not in the movie but I was there I lived it. Me "Lil Kelly" and my sis Cheryl were joined together at the hip runnin hard. This was our life I didn't know that Roberta had even died until Gary Ridgeway was convicted and her name was read as one of his victims. I have a picture of Bert when we were down on first and pike I will always remember her that way young, blonde, beautiful and full of life. And Lulu how can anyone forget her! My first day downtown someone told me she was a girl not knowing any better I said quite loudly B.S. that's a dude! Well she overheard me ran up to me and lifted up her shirt and say's does this look like a man B**** Well she scared the hell outa me almost made me want to runaway back home!!LOL and Patty well she was a whole story in herself I remember her sitting on "her" garbage can down on Penny's Corner waiting for dates. And Dewayne my "lil man" he always wanted to run away with me and take care of me. Still to this day 20+ years later I cry what a sad tragedy! Why Baby why did you have to leave us like that??? There were people who loved you my "lil man" we did we all did we, us all of us the street kids your family. You have been greatly missed baby and thought of often. And Kim my sis who I wish Cheryl and I could find if anyone knows where she is please e-mail me! Kimmy you were in our lives for so many years the last time we saw you was about 13 years ago with Boxcar! Anyways anyone from block out there please write I always have wondered where everyone went or if there is anyone left. spanky77798860@yahoo.com Lil Kelly
You'll Be Wiser
The_Core27 April 2000
Someone commented that certain portions of this movie are obviously scripted. Although that's likely the case, I can testify that having personally met director Martin Bell (on the filming of "American Heart") and seeing him interact with young people (at the time, I was friends with someone who had been around on while Streetwise was being filmed), the man has an *incredible* way with these kids. He has a way of gaining their trust, of almost becoming one of them. Thus, I suspect that much less of this film was "scripted" than would appear.
"Streetwise" is not a documentary, although it has a documentary feel. It's a movie, and thus absolute realism is not to be expected. However, his portrayal of the streets of Seattle is amazingly realistic. As I live in the area, I've frequented many of the places portrayed in the film, and just about every scene is recognizable. It was all filmed on location, of course.
Things have changed on the Seattle streets since the early 1980's. Most of the youth (especially the prostitutes) have moved elsewhere, and the areas portrayed in the film are now inhabited mostly by older homeless people (over 18), many of them mentally ill and drug addicts. Crack cocaine abuse is rampant in many of these areas, especially downtown on James St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, just north of Pioneer Square. Times have changed, the "bad areas" have changed. First Avenue has been cleaned up, the Ferry runs have been cut way back due to budget cuts, and the younger kids mostly hang in other areas now (I don't know where). Perhaps on Capitol Hill (Broadway) and in the University District.
I too wonder what happened to many of the kids in this film. We will probably never find out. Martin Bell is a strange director, having filmed only two movies (8 years apart), both in Seattle. If you haven't seen "American Heart," I "heartily" recommend it. It's more of a "movie-movie" and has less of a documentary feel than Streetwise.
Because Streetwise is absolutely tops in its genre (pseudo-documentary), I rate it 10/10. If you can still find it (as far as I know it's out of print), see it -- you'll have no regrets.
"Streetwise" is not a documentary, although it has a documentary feel. It's a movie, and thus absolute realism is not to be expected. However, his portrayal of the streets of Seattle is amazingly realistic. As I live in the area, I've frequented many of the places portrayed in the film, and just about every scene is recognizable. It was all filmed on location, of course.
Things have changed on the Seattle streets since the early 1980's. Most of the youth (especially the prostitutes) have moved elsewhere, and the areas portrayed in the film are now inhabited mostly by older homeless people (over 18), many of them mentally ill and drug addicts. Crack cocaine abuse is rampant in many of these areas, especially downtown on James St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, just north of Pioneer Square. Times have changed, the "bad areas" have changed. First Avenue has been cleaned up, the Ferry runs have been cut way back due to budget cuts, and the younger kids mostly hang in other areas now (I don't know where). Perhaps on Capitol Hill (Broadway) and in the University District.
I too wonder what happened to many of the kids in this film. We will probably never find out. Martin Bell is a strange director, having filmed only two movies (8 years apart), both in Seattle. If you haven't seen "American Heart," I "heartily" recommend it. It's more of a "movie-movie" and has less of a documentary feel than Streetwise.
Because Streetwise is absolutely tops in its genre (pseudo-documentary), I rate it 10/10. If you can still find it (as far as I know it's out of print), see it -- you'll have no regrets.
Amazing film has to be real.
stealthsurvey115 July 2008
I first saw this film the night before I left for Navy boot camp October 7th 1986. I watched it 4 times that night and was blown away. I had just turned 18 and had been living on the streets for a year and just returned home. My dad and I watched it together he asked me if I had ever hustled my body for money and I truthfully told him no. (I seen a lot of guys do sick stuff for cash.) This film reminded me of so many people I left behind who are locked up, or dead. There are very interesting scenes, such as the doctor or nurse speaking to Tiny does not try to push condom use, the tattoo artist wears no gloves, and the young man Jimmy who turns tricks is donating Plasma. Wow! Talk about high risk. Since the Navy I have been working the streets of the United States as a bounty Hunter for 15 years. I have been in several documentaries and have been asked to redo a conversation or take another shot on several occasions. It's a fact that when the cameras are around things change to an extent you have to accept that, and if it seems too good to be true remember the magic is in the editing. I have also been told to kick doors and get the fugitives violent. I seen thousands of kids like this and it breaks your heart. I get so sick of seeing 15 year old girls in Camden or Philly nodding off on heroin while they are in the streets tricking. A friend of mine from Turkey told me that the lowest form of life in his country is a pimp. The time I spent on the streets is what made me into a good bounty hunter because I would treat everyone with compassion, respect, and understanding. I don't think for one minute that this was scripted here is some proof. Tiny answers her mother with "Whatever" before it became popular ten years later. All of these kids have been talking street since they said their first words. Except for Kimberly who you could tell came from a better situation. Anyone who comes in daily contact with the streets knows this was for real. Every city of the United States has its own street lingo. Street terms for drugs, sex, cops, snitches and prostitution vary from city to city. If this was scripted the director from the UK would have not known the local slang and dialect. These kids were pure street, they were also masters of street psychology something that cannot be learned through a book, or film class. This has to be one of the best films ever. Why did it not take with the main stream media? Well I will answer this. Timing... America was not ready to face its demons. The Polo shirt wearing execs that controlled the film industry shoving coke up there noses in massive amounts figured that America was more obsessed and better represented by John Hughes suburban brat packers, Family Ties, and Karate Kid than the castaways of the trailer parks and projects. Had this film came out ten or more years later on HBO it would have had inspired a series. The filmmakers new they had something explosive but there was no internet or mass media delivery other than the conventional channels. Simply put before it's time. This was generation X at its youth. Ask your self this..b was Quentin Tarantino influenced by this movie? There is some one named Alabama on the credits! True Romance featured Alabama as call girl from the south. We need to know not through websites but through another documentary exactly where the survivors are and how they are living. Rat, Tina, and LuLu were the most likable. I could care less for the pimps. Watch this then watch celebrity rehab with Dr. Drew. It will make the celebrities look more like the whining babies they actually are. This was the first reality show! Plus I would love to see the outtakes from the first one! A second Streetwise would generate a lot of dough and I'm sure that Erin and her husband with all those kids could use the cash, and Rat probably wouldn't mind extra dough either right. Some one contact the film maker and get this project started.
Haunting, Real, Beautiful, Compassionate
cotleen22 June 2020
I used to watch this all the time on PBS as a kid growing up in the 80's. I'm not sure how it made it onto TV and why my parents let me watch it, because I was pretty young and it deals with very raw themes. Years later in my adulthood I remembered it; the black and white images just stuck in my sub-conscience. I have re-watched it a couple times now and have learned more about Mary Ellen Mark and the context of the film, including the Green River Killer who murdered one of the young women from the film.
I think everyone should watch this to appreciate and better understand the trauma that leads young people into life in the streets, and how that trauma is then perpetuated and amplified. While it's hard to watch what these kids went through, Mark and Bell filmed with such respect and compassion, it's impossible not to feel that sense of affection for the kids and the hope that they will find their way out of the trauma. It really sheds a light on addiction, the reasons that drive people into prostitution, the ways that the kids still find joy in life... It's just an amazing, beautiful, raw, and eye-opening film that personally changed my perspective. This is truly one of the best films I've ever seen in my life.
I think everyone should watch this to appreciate and better understand the trauma that leads young people into life in the streets, and how that trauma is then perpetuated and amplified. While it's hard to watch what these kids went through, Mark and Bell filmed with such respect and compassion, it's impossible not to feel that sense of affection for the kids and the hope that they will find their way out of the trauma. It really sheds a light on addiction, the reasons that drive people into prostitution, the ways that the kids still find joy in life... It's just an amazing, beautiful, raw, and eye-opening film that personally changed my perspective. This is truly one of the best films I've ever seen in my life.
Teddy Bear's Picnic
Quinoa198410 September 2008
This is one of those documentaries that gets passed over in the list of really noteworthy entries in the form over the past 30 years, but it's rather extraordinary. At the time, runaway kids weren't something new in the news, and homeless kids and urban strife were well known among cities like New York and Detroit and DC. But Bell took his perspective to Seattle- future of the grunge scene, which I'm sure sprung somewhat out of an atmosphere of despair such as this- and embedded himself with a collection of kids, some young as 9 and old as their early 20s, either by some harsh decision out on the streets away from their parents doing petty crimes or because they have no choice by the conditions of life with their respective parents (or lack thereof).
Its structure of moving around loosely between several people isn't anything new (I'm reminded of the loose form of Vernon, Florida only with more purpose), and there's a slight sense now in 2008 of it being like an extended episode of MTV's True Life. But it's also like the best episode of the show never made, filmed in large part in a style that can only be compared to the Maysles, who don't even seem to be in the room or setting for most of the time getting these people as they are. And when there are certain moments or scenes that feel 'staged', it's only insomuch as the kids knew they were in a movie or the director may have asked them to say what happened here or there. Not a moment feels inauthentic, not once.
And in this unsentimental but sympathetic portrait of these kids- some prostitutes like 14 year old Tiny or hard-bitten fighters Lulu or just without any home or drunk or absent or dead parents- interweaves actual stories with these kids as simple events, conversations, a dramatic bits like 'this is how we eat and shower' or 'I'm checking to see if I have an STD or am pregnant'. All of this is presented frankly enough, but it's when things are stripped away to stark truths that it becomes harrowing: 16 year-old Dewayne, who has tonsillitis and wants to go in the navy someday, visits his father in prison on a 30 year stretch, and the way the conversation goes- the way his father talks strong but lovingly- brought me to tears.
Its a very direct portrait, and it doesn't judge them like "these kids are bad because...", because there's too much to already crush the audience to get into preachiness. It is what it is, and it has many unforgettable moments, even just a bit with an old bum playing the song 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' or a "playboy" watching Star Wars while trying to fit in with drying died black hair. It's so moving that I can only really point out one minor liability- ironic since it's the reason I sought out the movie in the first place- which is a lack of Tom Waits music; one might think he scores the entire movie, but only two songs are in the film. And yet when they come up, they're approximately heartbreaking and somber in that way Waits can only do. It's a small underground classic.
Its structure of moving around loosely between several people isn't anything new (I'm reminded of the loose form of Vernon, Florida only with more purpose), and there's a slight sense now in 2008 of it being like an extended episode of MTV's True Life. But it's also like the best episode of the show never made, filmed in large part in a style that can only be compared to the Maysles, who don't even seem to be in the room or setting for most of the time getting these people as they are. And when there are certain moments or scenes that feel 'staged', it's only insomuch as the kids knew they were in a movie or the director may have asked them to say what happened here or there. Not a moment feels inauthentic, not once.
And in this unsentimental but sympathetic portrait of these kids- some prostitutes like 14 year old Tiny or hard-bitten fighters Lulu or just without any home or drunk or absent or dead parents- interweaves actual stories with these kids as simple events, conversations, a dramatic bits like 'this is how we eat and shower' or 'I'm checking to see if I have an STD or am pregnant'. All of this is presented frankly enough, but it's when things are stripped away to stark truths that it becomes harrowing: 16 year-old Dewayne, who has tonsillitis and wants to go in the navy someday, visits his father in prison on a 30 year stretch, and the way the conversation goes- the way his father talks strong but lovingly- brought me to tears.
Its a very direct portrait, and it doesn't judge them like "these kids are bad because...", because there's too much to already crush the audience to get into preachiness. It is what it is, and it has many unforgettable moments, even just a bit with an old bum playing the song 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' or a "playboy" watching Star Wars while trying to fit in with drying died black hair. It's so moving that I can only really point out one minor liability- ironic since it's the reason I sought out the movie in the first place- which is a lack of Tom Waits music; one might think he scores the entire movie, but only two songs are in the film. And yet when they come up, they're approximately heartbreaking and somber in that way Waits can only do. It's a small underground classic.
survive how you can
lee_eisenberg25 January 2018
Martin Bell's "Streetwise" looks at children living on the streets of Seattle. I understand that his wife Mary Ellen Mark's goal was to show that, even in the city ranked the most livable in the US, there was still homelessness. Are there any major cities in the US that don't have homelessness?*
I'd say that the best thing about the documentary is that it humanizes these children, reminding us that street people aren't something to be feared. Everyone should see the documentary.
I noticed that Baby Gramps did a song in the documentary. He performed once in my middle school.
*By contrast, my parents didn't see any homeless people when they went to Japan.
I'd say that the best thing about the documentary is that it humanizes these children, reminding us that street people aren't something to be feared. Everyone should see the documentary.
I noticed that Baby Gramps did a song in the documentary. He performed once in my middle school.
*By contrast, my parents didn't see any homeless people when they went to Japan.
A landmark documentary
runamokprods3 January 2012
The filmmakers spending months with runaway teens on the streets of Seattle, to gain their trust and allow them to be filmed.
There is something oddly 'stagy' about some of the behavior. The kids are clearly aware of the camera. Yet, as one writer pointed out, that's also part of the power of the film, since adolescence has so much posturing and acting out anyway.
The film tries to stay un-judgemental and avoids commentating in obvious ways, sometimes at the expense of seeming disconnected or uncomfortable voyeuristic.
Yet there are moments of tremendous power here, both in seeing these kids cling to what bits of joy they can find, and to each other, and in seeing the grim realities of both their street and home lives, in hard-to-believe detail. A variable film, but a special, important one.
There is something oddly 'stagy' about some of the behavior. The kids are clearly aware of the camera. Yet, as one writer pointed out, that's also part of the power of the film, since adolescence has so much posturing and acting out anyway.
The film tries to stay un-judgemental and avoids commentating in obvious ways, sometimes at the expense of seeming disconnected or uncomfortable voyeuristic.
Yet there are moments of tremendous power here, both in seeing these kids cling to what bits of joy they can find, and to each other, and in seeing the grim realities of both their street and home lives, in hard-to-believe detail. A variable film, but a special, important one.
A phony documentary
traveller0047 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This movie was (unfortunately) mired in a scandal in that it was completely scripted. There were no genuine scenes. Anyone who would dare challenge this known fact needs to view the piece and note that several of the scenes involve as many as 5 to 7 camera angles. There are several other points that scream a totally fabricated piece of work. It should have been reclassified as a work of fiction or standard movie fare since it is no legitimate documentary.
Though the movie was well intentioned and the people in it are truly genuine the crew who filmed it broke every convention of true documentary film making. This is a sad fact since it was nominated for an award at the time it was released but failed to receive that award when the truth came out.
Though the movie was well intentioned and the people in it are truly genuine the crew who filmed it broke every convention of true documentary film making. This is a sad fact since it was nominated for an award at the time it was released but failed to receive that award when the truth came out.
This movie was not scripted...
finallyhomerescue15 September 2012
If any one watched the movie & actually understood it they might understand the absurdity of that statement. When these weird people showed up & started following us around most just wanted to jump them & take their cameras & other stuff but none of us knew anyone who would buy something like that. We were on the streets for a reason & most of us had not had very good luck with adults so it was not really in our best interest to deal with them, but these folks were smart, somehow they got in good with Lulu one day Lulu told us hands off the old people, don't mess with them. So that was the way it was, after them being around for a while some of us kind of talked to them, most of us just wanted them to go away, they were strange, they didn't want sex, they weren't trying to hit or hurt us & most of us just got used to them. A lot of the others that were in the movie were trying to stay alive in some small way, the green river killer was working the crowd & that movie might be the only proof we were ever even here. Some of the kids were just trying to prove that they were making it & doing fine without their parents. D's dad was a dipstick & that is always how he talked to him. Somewhere it says that Lulu's last words were to tell these people that she was dead, that is BS, she was NOT attacked by other streetkids for no reason, she was defending her girlfriend from a drunk insane man, that is the way it was, that is the way she was. None of us got paid for this, as a matter of fact I don't even think any of us could con those folks into buying us a burger & fries at the Unique. For all of the armchair critics here who didn't have to live like this, or wasn't there, you might want to get out more. For any of those reading who may be still alive from there this is Breezy RIP Patti, Lulu, Dewaynne, John, & Bert...
Streetwise' remains a ferociously powerful polemic that unfortunately has lost none of its sting or social relevance today.
Weirdling_Wolf4 April 2021
Inspired by a hard-hitting article in Life magazine, Martin Bell's bleak documentary maintains our attention on the desperately penurious, risk-laden and altogether dangerous, day-to-day existence of homeless teenagers. With remarkable candour, Bell documents their Promethean struggles to make frugal ends meet 'living' among the desperate squalor and arbitrary violence of downtown 80s Seattle. While 'Streetwise' is never less than absorbing, Martin Bell's laudably raw documentary also makes for frequently distressing, far from genteel viewing.
An uncomfortably weary-looking, alcoholic mother, working as a waitress serves her equally wan, undernourished daughter (Erin) who then casually remarks that Erin grew up all too rapidly on the streets. '14 going on 21!', the mother says dispiritedly, and this almost battle-hardened cynicism Erin manifests could readily be applied to all the disenfranchised, emotionally damaged teenagers in this unfiltered documentary. All too many of these woefully mistreated children had been neglected until finally being rejected wholesale by their families, thereby effectively damning them all to this truly nightmarish, cruelly unsheltered half-life on the pitiless streets of a city apparently oblivious to their awful privations.
One of the more distasteful aspects of this soul-wrenching expose are the nauseating realities of blithely predatory adults all too blithely picking up these underage 13/14-year-old girls and boys. The egregious recollections of the terrible abuse these grossly mistreated children endure is truly heartbreaking to behold. It is certainly not hard to empathize with the terrible plight of these woefully downtrodden teens, especially upsetting is the plaintive sight of the very young and palpably frail looking Erin (Tiny) who blithely recalls the myriad unsavoury realities of her misbegotten 'Dates'. Almost too much to stomach, an innocent, fragile child who by all rights should be warmly cosseted by those who love and care for her is all too regularly caught in the malign, wholly immoral clutches of foul degenerates who so callously do her considerable physical and emotional harm in their debased trawl for illicit gratification. It actually proves quite enervating to coldly witness the seemingly limitless depths some debased individuals plummet in order to briefly satiate their profane appetites.
'Streetwise' remains a ferociously powerful polemic that unfortunately has lost none of its sting or social relevance today. This especially raw expose's continued perspicacity,is, perhaps, no less of a disturbing reality that many of the more vividly unfiltered scenes in, Martin Bell's darkly compelling documentary. Again, the unassailable fact that so very little has changed, with inner city poverty and homelessness on the increase is forcefully damning of capitalism's more insidiously tenacious and deleterious effects.
An uncomfortably weary-looking, alcoholic mother, working as a waitress serves her equally wan, undernourished daughter (Erin) who then casually remarks that Erin grew up all too rapidly on the streets. '14 going on 21!', the mother says dispiritedly, and this almost battle-hardened cynicism Erin manifests could readily be applied to all the disenfranchised, emotionally damaged teenagers in this unfiltered documentary. All too many of these woefully mistreated children had been neglected until finally being rejected wholesale by their families, thereby effectively damning them all to this truly nightmarish, cruelly unsheltered half-life on the pitiless streets of a city apparently oblivious to their awful privations.
One of the more distasteful aspects of this soul-wrenching expose are the nauseating realities of blithely predatory adults all too blithely picking up these underage 13/14-year-old girls and boys. The egregious recollections of the terrible abuse these grossly mistreated children endure is truly heartbreaking to behold. It is certainly not hard to empathize with the terrible plight of these woefully downtrodden teens, especially upsetting is the plaintive sight of the very young and palpably frail looking Erin (Tiny) who blithely recalls the myriad unsavoury realities of her misbegotten 'Dates'. Almost too much to stomach, an innocent, fragile child who by all rights should be warmly cosseted by those who love and care for her is all too regularly caught in the malign, wholly immoral clutches of foul degenerates who so callously do her considerable physical and emotional harm in their debased trawl for illicit gratification. It actually proves quite enervating to coldly witness the seemingly limitless depths some debased individuals plummet in order to briefly satiate their profane appetites.
'Streetwise' remains a ferociously powerful polemic that unfortunately has lost none of its sting or social relevance today. This especially raw expose's continued perspicacity,is, perhaps, no less of a disturbing reality that many of the more vividly unfiltered scenes in, Martin Bell's darkly compelling documentary. Again, the unassailable fact that so very little has changed, with inner city poverty and homelessness on the increase is forcefully damning of capitalism's more insidiously tenacious and deleterious effects.
Reagan Era and the Runaways of the 80's
StoneFox19816 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie defines what is now called "Reagan-Era". While most of America got rich off of Wall Street, children in Seattle and throughout the country were running away from home to a place called Pike Street. Mary Ellen Mark and Mark Bell's Streetwise tells the tale of Tiny (Erin), Rat, Kim and others with realism because these children tell the story. It is amazing that this movie is not more known. I saw it for the first time on Cinemax about 11 years ago. I read now that Tiny is a mother of 5 and married. Right after the filming she got pregnant, while Kim moved away, Rat leaves Seattle before the film's end. I hope that Mary and Mark can do an updating story on these "little big people" from 20 years ago. It would be interesting to see how that turned out.
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