51 Birch Street
Encyclopedia
51 Birch Street is a 2005 documentary film
about the universal themes of love
, marriage
, fidelity
, and the mystery of a suburban family
, directed by Doug Block
.
, Doug Block's 83-year old father, Mike, calls him to announce that he’s moving to Florida
to live with "Kitty", his secretary from 40 years before. Always close to his mother and equally distant from his father, Doug and his two older sisters were shocked and suspicious. How long had Kitty been an intimate part of their father’s life, they wondered.
When Mike and Kitty marry and sell the longtime family home, Doug returns to suburban Long Island
with camera in hand for one last visit. Among the lifetime of memories being packed away forever, Doug discovers three large boxes filled with his mother's daily diaries going back 35 years, in which she recorded her unhappiness, her rage against her husband, her sexual fantasies about her therapist, a brief affair with an unnamed friend of her husband — and her suspicions about Kitty. The marriage, Mike told Doug on film, "was not loving, it was a functioning association". Realizing he has only a few short weeks before the movers come and his father will be gone for good, Doug is determined to explore the mystery of his parents' marriage.
Through conversations with family members and friends, and surprising diary revelations, Doug finally comes to peace with his parents who are more complex and troubled than he ever imagined. However, unlike other notable documentaries on family from the years around 2000, such as Capturing the Friedmans
and Tarnation
, 51 Birch Street doesn't reveal terrible secrets or extreme dysfunction of an ordinary family. Instead, the documentary explores more subtle forms of repression, secrecy and denial within a family, and confirms the complexity of marriage.
film critic, A.O. Scott, and Jim Emerson of the Chicago Sun-Times
named 51 Birch Street one of their top ten films of 2006.
By December 10, 2006, the low budget film grossed $ 84,689.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the universal themes of love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, fidelity
Fidelity
"Fidelity" is the quality of being faithful or loyal. Its original meaning regarded duty to a lord or a king, in a broader sense than the related concept of fealty. Both derive from the Latin word fidēlis, meaning "faithful or loyal"....
, and the mystery of a suburban family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
, directed by Doug Block
Doug Block
Doug Block is an American independent director, cameraman and producer.Doug Block's documentary credits include:*The Kids Grow Up...
.
The characters
- Mike Block, a mechanical engineer by trade, was born in Brooklyn, New York. He returned home from service in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and married Mina Vogel in 1947. In 1951, they bought a house and moved to Port Washington, New YorkPort Washington, New YorkPort Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the community population was 15,846....
, where they raised their three children. Mike worked as Chief Engineer, VPVice presidentA vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
and Plant Manager for a number of different manufacturing companies in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and on Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. He eventually became a partner in a machine shop, then sold the business and retired in 1990. After Mina’s death in 2002, Mike re-connected with a former secretary, Carol "Kitty" Duffy, and they married in 2003. They sold the home in Port Washington and moved to Kitty’s house in Key LargoKey LargoKey Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1...
, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. In 2005, they bought a house in Sun City Center, Florida, where they currently (2007) reside.
- Mina Block was born in 1923, and grew up in the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn CollegeBrooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
in 1945, and married Mike Block in 1947, a year after he returned from service in the army. Their first daughter, Ellen, was born in 1949, and Karen was born a year later. In 1951, the family moved to Port Washington, New York, where their third child, Doug, was born in 1953. From 1962 to 1964, Mina worked full time as a marketing researcher, and took occasional part-time jobs over the years as the kids grew older. Mina's real passion was writing. She wrote prose and poetry, and periodically contributed freelance articles to local newspapers. In addition, she was a longtime peace activist, and was an active board member of the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful AlternativesLong Island Alliance for Peaceful AlternativesLong Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives is a Non-profit organization founded in 1985 to provide educational programs on peace and national security issues and to promote dialogue on the role and responsibility of citizens in determining national priorities and policies. The organization is...
for many years.
- Carol "Kitty" Block was born Carol Duffy in Brooklyn, New York in 1935, and moved to Glen CoveGlen Cove, New YorkGlen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964....
, Long Island in 1949. In 1956, she began work as a secretary for a manufacturing plant. She married in 1958, and had 2 children. When she returned from her second maternity leaveParental leaveParental leave is an employee benefit that provides paid or unpaid time off work to care for a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare. Often, the term parental leave includes maternity, paternity, and adoption leave...
, her new boss was Mike Block. Kitty eventually divorced her husband, remarried in 1968, had a third child, and moved to Key LargoKey LargoKey Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1...
, Florida. Her husband had a fatal heart attackMyocardial infarctionMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1988. She owned and directed the Key Largo Bridge Club for 28 years. She has also worked as a bookkeeper, home nurse and driver.
Plot
51 Birch Street is the first-person account of a family's unpredictable journey through dramatic life-changing events. Having observed most of his parents' 54-year marriage, Doug Block believed it to be quite a good one. A few months after his mother's sudden death from pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, Doug Block's 83-year old father, Mike, calls him to announce that he’s moving to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
to live with "Kitty", his secretary from 40 years before. Always close to his mother and equally distant from his father, Doug and his two older sisters were shocked and suspicious. How long had Kitty been an intimate part of their father’s life, they wondered.
When Mike and Kitty marry and sell the longtime family home, Doug returns to suburban Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
with camera in hand for one last visit. Among the lifetime of memories being packed away forever, Doug discovers three large boxes filled with his mother's daily diaries going back 35 years, in which she recorded her unhappiness, her rage against her husband, her sexual fantasies about her therapist, a brief affair with an unnamed friend of her husband — and her suspicions about Kitty. The marriage, Mike told Doug on film, "was not loving, it was a functioning association". Realizing he has only a few short weeks before the movers come and his father will be gone for good, Doug is determined to explore the mystery of his parents' marriage.
Through conversations with family members and friends, and surprising diary revelations, Doug finally comes to peace with his parents who are more complex and troubled than he ever imagined. However, unlike other notable documentaries on family from the years around 2000, such as Capturing the Friedmans
Capturing the Friedmans
Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary film directed by Andrew Jarecki. It focuses on the 1980s investigation of Arnold and Jesse Friedman for child molestation...
and Tarnation
Tarnation
Tarnation is a 2003 documentary film by Jonathan Caouette.The film was created by Caouette from over 20 years of hundreds of hours of old Super 8 footage, VHS videotape, photographs, and answering machine messages to tell the story of his life and his relationship with his mentally ill mother Renee...
, 51 Birch Street doesn't reveal terrible secrets or extreme dysfunction of an ordinary family. Instead, the documentary explores more subtle forms of repression, secrecy and denial within a family, and confirms the complexity of marriage.
Response
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic, A.O. Scott, and Jim Emerson of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
named 51 Birch Street one of their top ten films of 2006.
By December 10, 2006, the low budget film grossed $ 84,689.