''Man in Red Bandana'' is a 2017

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

documentary feature about Welles Remy Crowther, an

equities trader A stock trader or equity trader or share trader, also called a stock investor, is a person or company involved in trading equity securities and attempting to profit from the purchase and sale of those securities. Stock traders may be an invest ...

known for saving as many as eighteen lives from the upper floors of the South Tower during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, during which he lost his own life.

Synopsis

Gwyneth Paltrow narrates the story of

Welles Crowther Welles Remy Crowther (May 17, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was an American equities trader and volunteer firefighter known for saving as many as 18 lives during the September 11 attacks in New York City, during which he lost his own life. Ear ...

, an

known for saving at least ten lives during the

, during which he lost his own life. It includes interviews with Welles' parents and sisters, and many of the survivors whom Welles saved including Ling Young, Ed Nicholls, Donovan Cowan, Ron DiFrancesco, Richard Fern, Donna Spera and Kelly Reyher. It also includes interviews with former

Fire Department of New York The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

Commissioner Salvatore Cassano and architect

Robert Siegel Robert Charles Siegel (born June 26, 1947) is an American retired radio journalist. He was one of the co-hosts of the National Public Radio evening news broadcast ''All Things Considered'' from 1987 until his retirement in January 2018. Early ...

. Archival footage includes President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

at the

World Trade Center Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...

's opening ceremony, honoring Crowther and introducing his mother to speak. Lyle Lovett arranged and recorded the film's original song "One Red Bandana", written by Stive Linek.

Production

Production began on April 11, 2011 and was finished May 2017. It was written and directed by Matthew J. Weiss, produced by Weiss, Chad A. Verdi, and

Joshua Sason Joshua Sason is an American entrepreneur, investor, and entertainment producer. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Magna, a global investment firm based in New York City. Overview Sason founded Magna, a New York-based investment f ...

, edited by Doug Forbes and Sam Eilertsen, and distributed by Verdi Productions. Its original score was composed by

Mark Degli Antoni Mark degli Antoni (sometimes credited as Mark De Gli Antoni) is an American composer, known for his work as co-founder and keyboard sampler for the band Soul Coughing from 1992 to 2000.Huey, Steve.Soul Coughing - Biography, AllMusic.com. Since le ...

and David Bateman. On April 30, 2015, Gwyneth Paltrow recorded narration for the film in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

. She learned afterward that her parents, writer-producer

Bruce Paltrow Bruce Weigert Paltrow (November 26, 1943 – October 3, 2002) was an American television and film director and producer. He was the husband of actress Blythe Danner, and the father of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and screenwriter/director Jake Paltro ...

and actress Blythe Danner, were friends with the Crowther family.

Release

The film had its world premiere on September 6, 2017, at the Lafayette Theater in

Suffern, New York Suffern is a village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Suffern is located 31 miles northwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 census, Suffern's population was 10,723.Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 63% based on reviews from 8 critics, with an average of 6.12/10. Gary Goldstein of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called the film "a powerful and inspiring experience". Nick Schager of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that, "Despite its frustratingly crude formal construction,

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

proves an equally sorrowful and stirring portrait of selflessness in the face of tragedy". Frank Lovece of ''

Film Journal International ''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of ''Adweek'', ''Billboard'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodicals. H ...

'' felt the "emotionally devastating documentary ... falls apart toward the end when it loses all objectivity and descends into hagiography."

Accolades

The film won the Grand Prize in the Humanitarian Category at the 2017

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...

and the People's Choice Award at the 2018 Niagara Falls International Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 4687392 2010s English-language films