Hoop Dreams Analysis

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Directed by: Steve James

This documentary is based on two African-American young boys who dream to play basketball professionally. This film gave me Boyhood vibes in a different setting, with the hustle added. In Boyhood, the worldview of the film is to be content with what you have - whereas this film follows people who are in the pursuit of excellence - although by the ending of the film, I think over a period of a few years one of them turns out to being content with what he is. He talks about how he has gotten to a place where he can imagine his life without basketball from a place where he couldn't. At the end of the day, it's a personal choice and a matter of our own resilience and there's nothing to feel guilty about accepting that you are getting burned out. I definitely think it is better to pursue things at a comfortable pace (even if it means less money and less opportunities) without getting burned out, like most of the filmmakers in the West do which is why they probably make films throughout their lives.

This film was shot intended as a 30-min short film and it ended up becoming a 170-min feature - I think there was a lot of story to be told here because when you capture life, I think the runtime helps for the audience to feel the passage of time. I think films made without any intention of making it big, and only with the intention to tell that story are the films that make it big - because then they don't worry about adhering to conventions and this film is a good example of that - although it didn't get its due right away - time is always kind to such films.