Urbania

In the strange world of Urbania, life can change totally in just one second. In this case, Urbania is New York, where Charlie (a subtle role by Dan Futterman) roams overnight. After a relationship, he is single again, but he is unable to cope with the loss of his boyfriend. On his pub crawls in the dark streets of downtown Manhattan, he exchanges glances with an attractive and burly boy. That is the beginning of a ‘journey to the end of the night’. With increasing obsession, Charlie tries to find the mysterious stranger again. On his quest, he meets old friends and new acquaintances, including a teetotal tramp and a horny soap actor, who all have a tall story to tell: urban legends about poodles in the microwave or stolen kidneys. These stories all come to life in the head of Charlie, who has become traumatised during his wanderings and seems to have lost his identity. As Charlie gets closer to the target of his quest, he thinks that he can turn back the clock and regain his life.In his début film, Shear has succeeded in drawing the maximum effect from the complicated narrative structure of the story. With a control startling for a novice, he manages to lead the viewer into the obsessed and traumatised world of Charlie. The result is a moving narrative about loss and love.