Terminal Bar, on the surface of it, is a documentary of Sheldon Nadelman’s 10 year stint working behind a bar in a rough area of New York. The majority of the visual information comes from the black and white portraits that he took of his customers, spliced with video of Sheldon’s commentary. Adding narration taken from newspaper articles about the bar also disguises the true intent of the film, and it is only by the end of the film that the purpose – to draw awareness of the situation, and how many peoples lives were being compromised – becomes clear. By this point however we, the audience, have heard of the lives and struggles of the people that frequented the bar and it cements a strong feeling of empathy. The film ends poignantly with Nadelman returning and alluding that nothing has changed, that it may well have got worse.

The decision to use only still photographs was interesting, it creates an ‘in memoriam’ type effect to the piece, and there was even a section of film with no narrative and only kaleidoscope effect pictures, which served to emphasise how many people must have gone through the bar in just Nadelman’s time alone. This break came after many stories of different people, mixing together shots of the regulars over time and Nadelman’s commentary to emphasise the time factor, that he saw a lot of faces, and repeatedly, in decline. There was also a decision made to include the occasional shot of the surrounding area, still mostly of customers passed out on the street or lying in the gutter, which showed how the stories, Nadelman was telling us, had a wider impact on the surrounding area.