I Like Killing Flies

Matt Mahurin's 2004 documentary is about Kenny Shopsin, who runs a small diner in Greenwich Village in New York. The menu carries hundreds of dishes, the room is cramped, and the owner's rules are set more by him than by the customers. What is interesting is that the way Shopsin talks is more interesting than the diner. While cooking he produces one thought after another about life, family and human nature; some of it is deep and some merely stubborn. The film coincides with the period when the place had to move, and that becomes its dramatic axis. Mahurin shot with a small crew in a tight space and low light; the form matches the room. Who it's for: those interested in character-portrait documentaries and New York's disappearing small businesses. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a documentary about cooking; the real subject is the man.