Righting wrongs of the present often means examining the past for answers. That is the philosophy of The Last Philadelphia, a passion project that oozes honesty and nostalgia. It’s a recollection as well as a call to action, bringing African-American struggles in the booming 60s to the forefront. There’s a rich history backing the city of Philly even before the Civil Rights movement aimed at total inclusivity, but perhaps the times have made residents forget about such strides. Through candid interviews, the documentary aims to explore how locals see the city today and, in contrast, its future.
There are a myriad of fascinating perspectives that The Last Philadelphia covers through its interviews. Less formal and more geared towards testimonials, they are genuine experiences that are guaranteed to resonate. From a personal side of things, the film is terrific across the board. Some people are cautious, others optimistic; some were once blissful, and only later did they come around to be more realistic about their surroundings. What the filmmakers make evidently clear is that history leaves deep marks and that conflict within the city from the 20th century still has some skeptical about where it might go in the future. Nothing appears rehearsed or sensationalized, and for that, the film earns its stamp of authenticity.
Writer, director, and producer John Carstarphen openly states that his AI is used to enhance both voiceover and visuals in his film, a creative choice that sometimes both detracts from and enhances the viewing experience. Even the most recognizable voices in narration-driven filmmaking have an emotional tone to their voice, something sorely lacking in The Last Philadelphia. Moreover, while a lot of the animations succeed in adding movement to the story, their consistency is broken up by differently styled AI artworks throughout—a decision that creates some tonal dissonance.
The second and perhaps most obvious issue is its runtime. Documentaries frequently come under scrutiny for their extended runtimes; even Netflix gets hammered for its docu-series format on occasion—but in The Last Philadelphia, there’s a lot of narrative and visual bloat, where a more experienced editing team could have easily downsized the runtime by about half an hour. The sound design is also flawed, voiceover aside, which comes through clear. It’s in the interviews where the audio quality often comes undone and succumbs to a lack of clarity.
Though audiences might have to reckon with uneven technical details and an overlong run time, they are exactly where Carstarphen wants them. The Last Philadelphia is a documentary that shines through with earnest filmmaking and a stellar selection of interview subjects.
