It solves nothing. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. "But really what struck me was his personality, that was what You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Its fair to say that Stanley Pleskun and his girlfriend, Barbara, have a strange relationship. Starring: Stanley Pleskun Directed By: Zachary Levy Produced By: Zachary Levy Running Time: 113 minutes Website: strongmanfilm.com Genre: Documentary Release Date: January 25, 2011 Zachary Levy's debut documentary Strongman centers on Stanley Pleskun, a middle-aged scrap metal hauler from New Jersey who is strong enough to leg WebHis wife Barbara appears to be shell-shocked by decades of enveloping chaos. Zachary Levy makes "Strongman" (opened March 25 at Reading Gaslamp Stadium Theaters) an old school documentary that puts his subject front and center. He can lift over 600 pounds with one finger, break chains, drive nails, lever sledge hammers and, incredibly, bend a penny with his bare hands. Anyone can read what you share. At Laemmles Music Hall, Beverly Hills; Laemmles Monica 4-Plex, Santa Monica. guy?' Stanless Steel can lift anything in "Strongman. He lifts trucks with his legs. "Strongman," the documentary about Pleskun - a flawed man with "I knew nothing about him, actually," Levy said by phone last Strongman Stanley Pleskun and his girlfriend, Barbara, in the apartment they share in New Jersey with Barbaras sister. We witness him abandon his New Agey mantras of positive thinking and healthy living in favor of smoking and drinking. Stanless moves in with her. Not rated (some language and drug use). A hundred years ago professional strongman Stanley Pleskun would He plays in the minor leagues -- children's birthday parties and trade shows -- where audiences are not what you would call rapt. A brother with alcohol and drug issues joins in this carnage, in addition to dad, mom and a severely handicapped grandma. An aging former aspiring model who has put on a few pounds and chain smokes, is the second major character in this sad and compelling documentary. Childlike one minute and cunning the next, Mr. Pleskun demands that Barbara, as well as his scrappy family (whose support is diluted by illness, alcohol and hard drugs), share his musclebound dreams. Rosow is to bring the man, about whom he is initially told nothing, to New York. He can be praised from recording everything and not wanting to censor anything out. But "Anvil" was able to let us feel the passion of its down on their luck band members and find something endearing about their persistence in the face of so many obstacles. He bends pennies and steel rods and horseshoes. 
I am interested in going behind the scenes to explore the creative process; seeing how pop culture reflects social issues; and providing a context for art and entertainment. She is a good-looking woman about the same age as Stanless. Starring: Stanley Pleskun Directed By: Zachary Levy Produced By: Zachary Levy Running Time: 113 minutes Website: strongmanfilm.com Genre: Documentary Release Date: January 25, 2011 Zachary Levy's debut documentary Strongman centers on Stanley Pleskun, a middle-aged scrap metal hauler from New Jersey who is strong enough to leg In the meantime, Steel continues to hone his feats of strength. Opens today at Starz FilmCenter. Forced to move in with Michael, he shouts: "How can you expect the Strongest Man in the World to live in a space 10 by 12 feet?" You're not sure what he thinks about these people. He bends pennies and steel rods and horseshoes. In this case, her name is Barbara, an aging beauty who abandoned her own dreams of Hollywood stardom a long time ago. This film is not rated. A couple of culture-clashing meetings between Hirohito and an arrogant Gen. Douglas MacArthur (Robert Dawson) to discuss the American occupation of Japan also have touches of great theater. So when he lifts the truck it's just for a split second and only high enough for his assistant to pull a sheet of paper out from under the tire. Director Zachary Levy will be at todays 7 p.m. DocNight screening of Strongman for a Q&A at the Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Ninth Street and Auraria Parkway; 303-820-FILM or denver film.org. Keep reading with a digital access subscription. Stanless moves in with her. Maybe that's because at fortysomething he seems a bit past his prime and because his feats, like his tagline, require some kind of modifier. She has a beauty. Ive been interested in strength ever since I was a kid, says Steel, a beefy-looking guy who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 285 pounds. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Stanley Stanless Steel Pleskun from South Brunswick, New Jersey has been quietly performing some pretty amazing feats of strength for many years. Strongman: Directed by Zachary Levy. 1 hour, 53 minutes. In time-honored fashion, Rosow encounters an array of people who are inevitably either comical, ironic or sarcastic -- or all three. . Starring: Stanley Pleskun Directed By: Zachary Levy Produced By: Zachary Levy Running Time: 113 minutes Website: strongmanfilm.com Genre: Documentary Release Date: January 25, 2011 Zachary Levys debut documentary Strongman centers on Stanley Pleskun, a middle-aged scrap metal hauler from New Jersey who is strong enough to leg-press pickup trucks and bend pennies with his fingers. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Running Time: 113 minutes And yet Levy is determined to see her and Stan through to some kind of normalcy. WebStrongman is a 2009 documentary about strongman Stanley Pleskun, and his relationships with his girlfriend and his family. Strongman catches them in an emotionally codependent tangle. "I had been working as a freelance In the films most wrenching scene, Barbara is wedged between Mr. Pleskun and his brother while they sing along to a truck radio. But Levy can't quite find the tone to make us feel completely comfortable with Pleskun. When: 7:40 p.m. Friday and 9:20 p.m. Saturday. For additional information about the schedule, venue locations, pricing, and scheduled events, visit milwaukee-film.org. more layers there than just the physical stunts.". But Pleskun isnt close. I used to ask my dad, Can you bend a quarter? Follow Boston.com on Instagram (Opens in a New Tab), Follow Boston.com on Twitter (Opens in a New Tab), Like Boston.com on Facebook (Opens in a New Tab), These 10 people from Mass. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. As the camera finds her eyes, darting like those of a trapped animal, its clear that she knows there are better songs to sing. Writer-director Noah Buschels ambitious, stylish neo-noir The Missing Person starts so self-consciously that it verges on parody but impressively gathers steam, gaining depth and breadth as it evokes 9/11 post-traumatic stress. We see him heaving heavy loads into the bed of his truck. said, 'Zach, you've understood my life in a way that no one else WebHis companion Barbara is a complete mystery to me. Presenting Staaaaaanless Steeeel! Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). He attributes his strength, in part, to his vegetarian diet. Her skin remains unlined. He works as a freelancer in the scrap metal industry, collecting scrap and hauling it to a yard. Steel, 52, whose real name is Stanley Pleskun, first realized his prodigious power about twenty years ago when he ripped a racquetball apart with his bare hands. Its fair to say that Stanley Pleskun and his girlfriend, Barbara, have a strange relationship. Old photos show her with the facial structure of a model. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You worry Levy might veer toward exploitation when Pleskun visits his family he has a drunken, drug-addicted brother and an ancient, palsied grandmother, whos wheeled out for one scene. Hes also boorish, sexist, childish and inarticulate; often pathetic, but never empathetic. His act may not be flashy but Pleskun is persistent. During the good times, they seem well matched and in love. He calls himself "Stanless Steel" and promotes himself as "the strongest man in the world at bending steel." His relationship with Barbara seems centred on his Strongman status, and she rehearses to introduce his act: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! "Strongman" is a tantalizing example of the kind of documentary I find engrossing: A film about an unusual person that invites us into the mystery of a human life. Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes. 62 Media Group, a division of New Jersey Monthly, creates custom print and digital publications that help build customer relationships and drive more sales. In "Strongman," the documentary playing this weekend at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, director Zach Levy zooms in for an extra close glimpse of the New Jersey-based Stan, whose day job is hauling scrap metal. You cant bend people, this gentle giant acknowledges in a rare flash of insight, but that doesnt keep him from trying. As soon as we started talking to each other I felt Stanley "Stanless Steel" Pleskun likes to lift, pound and bend. Unfortunately, the beefy Stan has all the charisma of one of the horseshoes he struggles to bend. He lifts trucks with his legs. "When I showed it to him, he turned to me and Stanless moves in with her. All of his contradictions and personal sideshows are laid bare. The agent tells him his act lacks a "hook." That's the existential drama.". Keep up with all the latest news, arts and culture, and TV highlights from KPBS. He pounds nails with his hands. Get our L.A. Don't try this at home, kids, but once, on a British TV show called "Don't Try This at Home," Stan lifted three people with . Top Docs Just as the viewer is about to give up on the possibility that anyone will ever give Rosow anything resembling an ordinary, normal response, the film adroitly shifts gears; we gradually realize that Rosow and his target have had their lives transformed by 9/11. Are San Diego theaters meeting the call for greater diversity? By the end, you dont entirely understand either of these people, but you come to understand why they need each other. WebHis companion Barbara is a complete mystery to me. And in Mr. Pleskuns relentless efforts to shape his longtime girlfriend, Barbara, into a combination of showbiz partner and carnival barker, Strongman locates the kind of organic hook that all documentaries need but few are blessed with. Subscribe to our Newsletter, Restaurant Listings back, so it was dramatic. Stanless' family life is the stuff of Diane Arbus. Tickets can be purchased either at the theater box office, online or by phone. Old photos show her with the facial structure of a model. WebA look at the life of the great strongman Stanless Steel aka Stanley Pleskun, on the TV Show "Out of this world". He pounds nails with his hands. unexpected emotional vulnerabilities - might be one of the best . The timid Barbara has continued to support Stanley even as it appears that he might be better off accepting his fate. (and his equally eccentric girlfriend) over a period of three The film ends with a flashback to a historic moment: The first meeting between Stanless and Barbara. Ive been interested in strength ever since I was a kid, says Steel, a beefy-looking guy who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 285 pounds. two Cessna airplanes with a rope tied to each arm. Her skin remains unlined. The parents and grandparents somehow cling to life in confusing ways. "There's showmanship once you understand what the show is," said He meets with an agent who has "represented all the top strong men." instantly get the insertion of his name into the phrase "stainless The relationship between Pleskun and Barbara becomes the real story in the documentary. Shot over the course of nearly a decade on shaky, consumer-grade video, the film benefits from an unprecedented level of intimacy with its subjects. Steel, 52, whose real name is Stanley Pleskun, first realized his prodigious power about twenty years ago when he ripped a racquetball apart with his bare hands. Though filming his hulking hero off and on for nine long years, he has created a work that feels remarkably out of time, a snapshot of a man and a relationship running in circles. Theyve been sharing a small, cheap New Jersey apartment with her sister for the last couple of years, and Pleskun has almost had enough. 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