2022 CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
In the city of Los Angeles, California all forms of fireworks are illegal. The Los Angeles Police Department even conducts raids in order to keep the streets safe from accidental damage and/or destruction. One day, however, after a massive bust, the LAPD detonated more than forty pounds of fireworks inside a device meant to make the procedure safe. The procedure did not go as planned, launching debris as far as a mile away, injuring more than a dozen individuals, and displacing numerous families. This neighborhood is shaken. So, what do you do When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood?
This short documentary uses shock and awe to reach its viewers. It surprises viewers with literal explosions when I’m not entirely sure that they expected things to be quite that active throughout the course of When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood. I expected a simple explanation of the things that occurred in Los Angeles, but never did I expect to see something so massive–and that instant “wow” is what drew me into the film and allowed me to enjoy it in its entirety.
As When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood transitions from something horrific in terms of chaos into something altogether more horrifying, it presents viewers with a different type of entertainment and education–something interestingly even more intriguing. Protests have ensued semi-regularly over the course of the past few years, and what viewers see throughout the course of this documentary is eerily similar. Viewers can feel the intensity of the situations depicted on screen, and as protests at public hearings occur, viewers fully understand all that this film attempts to express to the world. The things presented to viewers throughout When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood are familiar, and they mirror the things that the world (particularly the United States) has seen happening in their own backyard for far too long.
The accessibility works in favor of When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood. There’s no doubt in my mind that viewers will be able to understand the sentiments presented to them throughout the course of the film, and their being able to see something so horrifyingly familiar will allow them to feel connected to the short documentary. Director Nathan Truesdell understands how to play on emotion, how to play on shared experience, and how to ensure that his viewers can make a connection to all that they see throughout When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood. His prowess is an integral part of this film’s success.
When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood isn’t one of those short films in which so much manages to be crammed into one tiny space. Rather, there’s very little content present in the film, but it presents the content in such a radical way–fully engrossing viewers from beginning to end. Everything present in When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood reaches viewers appropriately, and it’s a well-constructed film. It serves its purpose: it educates and entertains–and you can’t ask for much more than that.
Directed by Nathan Truesdell.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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