5-10-06, 9:19 am

As a New Yorker who lived eight tough years during under Giuliani I wondered how could Kevin Keating and his documentary team capture what it meant to live in New York then and make it credible without going over the top with rage and anger? Could he utilize the facts in a way that wasn’t a litany that, after a short while, would just become a boring documentary? Could Keating make a documentary that as a film would be entertaining in the best sense of that word? On all counts he succeeded.

Keating chose to limit his work to the full eight years of Giuliani’s two, four-year terms. This proved to be important given the attempt by the mass media, sections of the Republican Party and corporate America to turn Giuliani into an icon of security and well-being very similar to corporate media creation of George W. Bush. The truth is that if they could make Bush into a credible candidate and then president, Giuliani is possible.

And, that process is ongoing. Recent publicity out of the Giuliani camp and sections of the Republican Party and their corporate supporters clearly see him as contender in the 2008 elections. So the question is what to do? Keating has given the reason why that something must be done.

Lies and Hypocrisy

The film’s relentless pursuit of the lies and hypocrisies that underscored Giuliani’s time in City Hall is impressive. While Wayne Barrett, Village Voice reporter and writer, certainly is critical to much of the factual information, Keating’s presentation and the editing by Peter Tooke, again, made the film a real documentary event.

Lying about your own family is probably the central feature of Giuliani’s life. Why? Because thrown into the mix is his mob father and the crime-busting life of the ex-mayor. Denying on television and in interviews that he knew anything about his father’s mob life is beyond credible belief. This is especially true since, as Keating makes clear, Giuliani was a stickler for details when he was a US prosecutor.

The other hypocrisy pointed to in the film is Giuliani taking moral offense at the Brooklyn Museum for an exhibit that offended both him and a Catholic trade association. Being offended is certainly his right and the right of any religious group. But, then when Giuliani violated all Catholic religious precepts by publicly ditching his loyal wife, Donna Hanover, the silence from the same Catholic organization was deafening. The workfare fiasco attack on poor working-class people is just another example of this hypocrisy. Could this move been motivated by his trips to the White House, George Bush and his principle creator, Karl Rove, and the religious right? One thing that characterizes Rove and Giuliani, they have no shame about violating their own ethics.

The Manhattan Institute

Probably the most lasting and important aspect of Giuliani Time was the exposé of the Manhattan Institute. This institute is a shadow government that significantly influences anyone who gets into City Hall. The institute spokesman, behind his white hair and beard, is the ruthless face of Wall Street in determining the direction of City Hall. The film is replete comments from the Manhattan Institute spokesperson that expose their right-wing, anti-working class and racist ideology and programmatic demands.

Academics and other researchers interested in the ideology and administrative direction of city governments should follow Keating’s lead and study and analyze the papers and conferences held by this heavily financed Wall Street group.

All in all, Giuliani Time is a very welcome film at a time that desperately needs highly documented commentary on what the potential presidential candidate represents. People across the country will now know the truth about a mayor who presided over a period of police abuse. They will also see how a police union learned that promises from their mayor were as valid as the hyped-up publicity that Giuliani’s public relations firm generates.

The next film must show that while Giuliani did stand before the cameras following the September 11 attacks and, for a brief time, did instill hope for New Yorkers, in reality, he used this good will to feather his own corporate nest and bank accounts. The lies and hypocrisy uncovered in Giuliani’s time in City Hall might pale in the light of what he has attempted to do since.

Giuliani Time opens in New York on May 12. Check your local listings.