In Ira Sachs film 'Little Men', a boy moves with his family to a gentrifying district of Brooklyn when he hinherits his father's property. He makes friends with the son of his dad's tennant; but the relationship is ruptured when he father attempts to up the rent. His friend's mother argues that the father had wanted her to stay there; but in the end, she has to move on. A problem with the story is that she is effectively arguing that her friendship with the deceased man should give her the right to stay in perpetuity; one can feel some sympathy for her, but her refusal to acknowlege how the world works is frustrating. It's hard to see anyone in the new landlord's position ultimately doing anything other than what he does. I also felt the film relies a little too much on its soundtrack to convey emotion; we don't actually see that much of the two boys' interaction, even as the music encourages us to believe that it is warm and deep. In the end, the middle class kid goes to art school, while his friend just disappears from the narrative. A better film about gentrifcation might have been less emotionally manipulative, but more centred on the practical hardship of having to move in the face of rising rents.
Review of Little Men
