This time 100 years ago, the myth of the "Protestant work ethic" still diffused American society with respect for the "founding values" of industry"”blood, sweat, and prudent savings. At that same time, forces of technology were unleashed that led to the grossly consumptive society we have today, where, in the words of social historian Christopher Lasch, "Inflation erodes investments and savings. Advertising undermines the horror of indebtedness, exhorting the consumer to buy now and pay later. As the future becomes menacing and uncertain, only fools put off until tomorrow the fun they can have today." And for perhaps no group today do the times seem more menacing and uncertain than for college graduates.
The promises of our bureaucratic society that following the traditional path laid out for us by the college-industrial complex with help from Madison Avenue, the big industrial corporations, and the nanny state ring hollow to a generation that has gone from a little league team where everyone gets a trophy to a job market harrowed by the recession. How do we then live? With a spirit of "drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." Evidence abounds, from the front pages of collegiate-seducing websites such as Thought Catalog and Buzzfeed, to the endlessly discussed millennial angst-fest that is Girls. The disaffection of our time is so prevalent it's even made the pages of the New York Times style section.
Rays of light shine through the general malaise, however, in the form of entrepreneurs. And that's where Paladar, a new documentary by Gil Freston unveiled during the TriBeCa Film Festival comes in. Paladar is a well done documentary and fantastic story of college kids facing the challenges of their age head on and plowing right through them. The word "paladar" is Cuban for "family restaurant", which is what roommates and friends Bobby Konfli, Alex Chang, and D.J. Armitage decide to start in the confines of their off-campus apartment. Alex's love of cooking and Bobby's gregariousness and business savvy give them the chemistry to just go for it.
They go all out. They prepare a new gourmet menu every week, going through a local distributor to get industry-standard ingredients, and linking up with local wineries and homebrewers to add cocktails. They manage to do all this for the unbelievable price of $15 for a meal while juggling class and social lives. And they pull it off"”selling out nights, getting asked to do private parties, and making themselves hundreds of dollars a night in the process. The wave of energy is palpable through the film; it excites the audience. And of course, the other shoe drops"”they're technically outlaws, and crises arise with neighbors, sorority girls, and eventually policemen.
This is Freston's debut feature, and it's a success. The theme of entrepreneurship is doubly present as Bobby and Alex following through on their dream inspired Freston and producer Eric Fleischmann to follow theirs of making a feature film.
The team does a great job of capturing the energy of the roommates, and the dozens of funny little moments that make these kinds of partnerships a success, from trying to leverage the restaurant for hitting on women to befriending neighbors who barely speak English to trading drunken one-liners back and forth.
And the cinematography deserves particular recognition because whoever had that camera managed to film the whole interaction with the police that serves as the turning point of the movie. Well freaking done.
Of course, just as interesting as the things people build are the people who build them, and the well filmed relationship between Bobby and Alex is no exception. You could not have written better characters if you tried"”these guys are the archetypal duo. Bobby, the entrepreneur and front man, was born with the gift of the gab, and his nervous energy drives the film. The strong, quiet Alex is the perfect foil to him. They're just one more dynamic that makes the movie much more than just a story about a restaurant.
The only downside to Paladar is that it runs just a bit too long. The film was originally made as a short, and it shows. It could have been twenty minutes shorter, and I think would have packed more of a punch that way. But that's a small downside, especially to a first outing.
Every college student, every parent, and every professor should see Paladar. It's a good reminder that no matter how bleak the times the value of hard work is truly timeless.
