One of the best documentaries of the year
Reviews
A man who wants to make people happy.
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com
Don’t you dare miss it!
Capone, Ain’t It Cool News
“A lovely film.â€
– Robert Butler, Kansas City Star
“Extraordinary, entertaining and moving.â€
– Omar P.L. Moore, Popcorn Reel.com
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Synopses
Tag Line
The Man. The Myth. The Wardrobe.
Log Line
Legally blind and abandoned at birth, Vincent uses his unique sense of style to find the love and attention he so deeply desires.
Short
Vincent P. Falk is Fashion Man. Clad in brightly colored suits; Vincent twirls on Chicago’s many bridges, performing fashion shows for passing tour boats. As he spins his way through the city, tourists and locals alike are left to wonder just who this strange man could be. Over the course of one boat season, we follow Vincent and begin to unravel the mystery that surrounds him. We discover that the man behind the fashion, having come through the travails of life, has decided to do what makes him happy. And so, he spins on.
Medium
Vincent P. Falk is Fashion Man. Clad in brightly colored suits; Vincent twirls on Chicago’s many bridges, performing fashion shows for the passing tour boats. As he spins his way through the city, tourists and locals alike are left to wonder just who this strange man could be. Over the course of one boat season, the film follows Vincent and begins to unravel the mystery that surrounds him.
Vincent’s seemingly vacant eyes, for example, speak not to his mental acuity, as some have suggested, but to his life-long struggle with glaucoma, which has left him legally blind. But Vincent has never allowed his disability to define him. Whether joining the diving team in high school; spinning records as a disco deejay in the seventies; or working as a computer programmer for the past twenty years, Vincent has followed his passions rather than the perceived limits of his disability.
Vincent’s strong need to be noticed was formed early on when he was abandoned by his birth mother and spent the first eight years of his life in an orphanage. It was there that Vincent learned not only the importance of standing out, but also the danger of getting too close.
Today Vincent dresses in flamboyant suits, twirls on bridges and speaks in almost non-stop puns. He gets the attention he so desperately craves, while simultaneously keeping the world at arm’s length. It is a delicate balancing act he has been perfecting his entire life. As Chicago watches and wonders, Vincent spins on.
Long
Vincent P. Falk is Fashion Man. Clad in brightly colored suits; Vincent twirls on Chicago’s many bridges, performing fashion shows for the passing tour boats. As he spins his way through the city, tourists and locals alike are left to wonder just who this strange man could be. It’s not long before the media takes notice and, over the course of one boat season, we follow Vincent as he soaks in his newfound fame and reveal the true man behind the legend.
Theories abound on the man behind the fashion: some say Vincent is crazy, others suggest he may be mentally challenged; some think Vincent is homeless, while others claim he is a “trust-fund lunatic”. But the truth is never quite as simple as these labels would suggest. Vincent’s seemingly vacant eyes, for example, speak not to his mental acuity, as some have suggested, but to his life-long struggle with glaucoma, which has left him legally blind.
Vincent never allowed his disability to define him. Whether joining the diving team in high school; spinning records as a disco deejay in the seventies; or working as a computer programmer for the past twenty years, Vincent has followed his passions rather than the perceived limits of his disability.
The one constant in Vincent’s life has been his ability to defy expectations. Abandoned by his birth mother, Vincent arrived at St. Joseph’s Home for the Friendless as a child destined for life in an institution. Eventually, the sisters realized that Vincent was able to learn and found him a home with Clarence and Mary Falk. It was in his eight years of orphanage life that Vincent learned the importance of standing out and the danger of getting too close.
It is a lesson that Vincent has carried through his life. In high school, when he was the kid that everyone picked on, Vincent began to pepper his speech with well-placed puns. As he grew older, Vincent came to rely on these puns more and more to get him out of uncomfortable situations.
It was in college, away from his protective parents, that Vincent began to reshape his image. Having always hated being known as the blind kid, Vincent stopped carrying the white cane his parents had insisted on and began wearing colorful clothes.
Today Vincent dresses in flamboyant suits, twirls on bridges and speaks in almost non-stop puns. He is no longer the blind kid; he is Fashion Man. But everything Vincent does to draw attention to him, he also uses to keep people at a distance. It is a delicate balancing act he has been perfecting throughout his life. And although Vincent has struggled to allow genuine intimacy into his life, he has learned to follow his bliss alone; regardless of how kooky that bliss might be. And so, he spins on.
Director’s Statement
I had seen Vincent around for years. There was a time when I viewed him with some trepidation, not knowing quite what to make of the guy in the funny suits. After he began performing his fashion shows, spinning for the tour boats, my trepidation gave way to curiosity and anticipation. I found myself looking for Vincent and wondering what the next suit would be. Then one day, as I stood at the window watching his 1:00 show on State Street Bridge, I was struck by the look of sheer joy I saw on his face. I thought to myself, whatever else you have to say about this guy, he has figured out what makes him happy and he does it, regardless of what anyone else thinks. The rest of us should be so lucky. But how had he come to this point in his life? Vincent had become a beloved fixture in downtown Chicago, delighting and confusing tourists and locals alike, but no one really knew anything about him. I decided it was time to shed some light on the mysterious Vincent P. Falk.
Bios
Jennifer Burns is the founder of Zweeble Films, with “Vincent: A Life in Color” marking her debut as Director/Producer. Prior to moving behind the camera, Jennifer had been working as an actor in Chicago in both theater and film and is an original member of the critically acclaimed improv company, pH Productions. Jennifer had been looking for the right project to kick start her production company and found it right outside her window: a spinning, jacket-twirling vision in fuchsia.
Originally from the “Rubber City” Akron, Ohio, Christine Gilliland Wolf moved to Chicago to study at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1997. She fell in love with filmmaking her second semester of school and soon after found her niche as an editor. After graduating in 2001 she pursued her dreams of being a rock star and played guitar in an all female punk band called The Manhandlers. Now she works at The White House as an assistant editor and aspires to be a “rock star/editor”.
Patrick Russo loves using images to create compelling stories that can’t be expressed in words. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago, he has applied his skills in formats ranging from 35mm to DV on many short films, music videos, documentaries, and commercials. Several of these projects have been selected for film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Chicago International, and Michigan Independent. Pat has served as a Camera Operator on specs, a FOX TV show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and has crewed on dozens of features and shorts. He is a recent graduate of the Cinematography Program at the American Film Institute.
