Street Thief Preview: Interview with Director Malik Bader
By Norm Schrager at June 20, 2007 | 10:33 pm | Print
When does a documentary go too far? When it chronicles a crime? How about the planning of a crime?
Filmmaker Malik Bader forces these questions with the controversial Street Thief, a gritty film that follows the life of a Chicago felon practicing his craft. After successful festival screenings — most notably at Tribeca in ’06 — the movie hits A&E Thursday night at 10pm et.
TRAILER
So does the crime occur because of the crew’s presence? Or are they just tracking events that would happen anyway? With Street Thief, Bader questions the concept of reality… so on the eve of his TV premiere, we questioned him:
The Lobby: How did you decide on this subject matter?
Malik Bader: I wanted to capture a truly honest sense of what a successful criminal’s life is like. I realized after talking to a few burglars–some very accomplished–that it wasn’t the crimes that fascinated me. It was the characters behind them. In Kaspar Carr (the film’s subject), I found the prime example. He was sitting and observing society from the outside, never actually taking part. How do you live in a big city and not have any meaningful relationships, all for the sake of your profession?
The Lobby: You guys shot the film on the streets of Chicago — were there any times you felt you or the crew were in danger?
Bader: There were times when we actually were in danger. While filming in the South Water Market, two men attempted to steal our equipment truck — when they were approached, one of them took out a gun as they ran off. And the opening scene was shot in Chicago’s little village, a pretty crazy area where drive-by shootings are commonplace. At one point, a block from where we were filming on 26th, two cars loaded with rival gang members started flashing gang signs at each other. Then, suddenly, gunshots started ringing out.
The Lobby: The film successfully blurs the line between real life and reel life. Are there verite films or filmmakers you’d name as an influence?
Bader: For documentaries, The Maysles Brothers’ The Salesman, Martin Bell’s Streetwise and Man Bites Dog. Other film influences include early Scorsese, Michael Mann, Stanley Kubrick, Friedkin’s The French Connection, Jules Dassin’s Rififi and many others.
The Lobby: I would think the movie is unique enough — and certainly voyeuristic enough — to get theatrical distribution. After a string of film festival success, how did you end up with A&E?
Bader: I would have loved a theatrical run, but more and more, you see independent films getting lost in the shuffle. A&E Indiefilms approached us just after Tribeca. They have a great philosophy and they really champion the films that they acquire. Ultimately we knew with A&E we could reach that large audience.
The Lobby: How difficult is it to discuss the film without revealing more than you’d like?
Bader: It’s not difficult. I want people to experience the film fresh so they can judge what they are viewing on their own as it happens. It makes for much better discussion afterwards, as we learned at film festival Q&As.
The Lobby: Did you feel that spending so much time with a real thief would have an effect on you and the crew? Did it change the way you look at crime?
Bader: Yes it has affected me quite profoundly. If I need money to fund my next film, I could always turn to cracking a few safes…
My filmcritic.com colleagues said the following about Street Thief:
Director Malik Bader (an obvious fan of Mann’s Chicago-set Thief) brings an impressively fluid technique to their tale, filming from a distance as Carr smashes into supermarkets, nightclubs, and in one shocking profitable take, a suburban multiplex. An intense, dark-eyed, monomaniacal sort who imagines himself a steel-hearted professional with no particular love of crime per se (“If I wanted to be a plumber tomorrow, I’d be a plumber.”), Carr seems to love the set-up more than the actual job, casing places for months prior to a job … the film is astoundingly entertaining.
See for yourself Thursday night.
QUESTION: When does a film like Street Thief go too far? TELL US
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43 Comments
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If National Geographic told the lions they were filming, would the lions still kill that zebra?
I wish this film used hidden cameras set up by police and not a regular film crew acquiring the images and interacting with the criminals. That would make this movie feel more real. OR, have the criminals film/video themselves and then submit the tapes for editing/titles.
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Hey Nathan-
I like your second idea — have the theives shoot themselves. Talk about a real point-of-view. Although after seeing the movie, I get the feeling they have enough to plan and work out.
And, by the way, if National Geographic told the tree in the forest it would fall and no one would be around to hear it, would it fall anyway? Huh? What?
-Norm S.
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Sir Malik ive watched the documentary it is fenomenal ive fallen in love with the character and all that is showen i belive it is a great film.althought im left empty in the end .what really happens to kasper is their any news of him is he alive .
im sorry let me tell you about me .i am a 21 year old california girl
that has traveled around the world i am a beautifull girl .i am into writing,
art,poetry,and
the documentaries .Nothing
seems to amaze me .but this ,it defently crawled under my skin .and so im defently intersted in knowing more about this case and the conclusion of this documentary .it was hard to reach you and so i belive it will be much harder
to get
a response from you but i will be looking forward to it .
Thank You for your time in reading my lovely letter .
you have a great day >Sincerly
Yessenia Lizette Iiribe
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Hi Yessenia-
We only conducted an interview with Malik, but I’ll be sure to forward your comment over to him via email. Thanks!
-Norm S.
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i saw that movie it was great but at the end i was confused about wthat happend to casper karr did everything happen or it was everything not real
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Hey T-
A great question that Malik and the filmmakers love to hear. I don’t want to spoil this for anyone that may not have seen the movie, so if you want details, go here: http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/More-New-York-Stories-The-2006-Tribeca-Film-Festival and scroll down to the Street Thief review (it’s the first one with a photo).
-Norm S.
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Great movie! Er, documentary. I thought it was real, until I used google just a while ago.
I figured Kaspar faked his own death and had moved on to another city. The blood pattern in the car and no body led me to speculate further.
BTW, I think I’ll let my Brother-I-L believe it’s real, and watch how far he spreads the word, snicker, snicker…
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Hey Terry-
I guess part of the fun can be seeing how people react — although anyone that reads your post will know what’s going on…
Oddly enough, the on-screen summary for Comcast Cable gave it away. I urged my wife to exit the summary quickly so it wouldn’t spoil the movie for her. But, no matter what you know, it’s still an intriguing movie, in my opinion.
Thanks for joining us.
-Norm S.
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Malik Bader and “Street Thief” are incredible. I suspected it wasn’t real, BUT how do you know. It captivated me from start to finish and caused me to discuss and think about it later, the true sign of a worthy film. I hope to see more work along this line.
Carter
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Hi Carter-
This film has stirred up lots of “real or fake?” discussion, of course. But I’m most interested in the gray area — if there’s an actor involved, is he still commiting a crime somewhere along the line? We interviewed Malik, sure, but I won’t give away whatever we may know…
Thanks for visiting.
-Norm S.
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I loved the film, I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I had alot of unanswered questions in the end, hence my morning Google searches on this film. Now that i know what I know, I wish I wouldn’t have peaked. I fell in love with Kasper and was very sad for him and part of me wanted to save him. But yet I was cheering for him to get away with it. Truly loved the film!
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Malik is a punk trying to make a buck.
A “Documentary”??? What a laugh.
If it’s a documentary Malik should be arrested for the breakins.
A documentary is a REAL story, not one made up. -
– Amy — Glad we could help with your search. You were cheering for Kaspar? Hmm…
— Drew — I think your last comment is up for grabs. Many, if not all, documentaries have some level of artifical control to them. So how much is okay? I’m not defending or judging, just throwing it out there.
Thanks for joining us, guys.
-Norm S.
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In regards to the comment about the hidden cameras–I highly disagree. The film was genius just the way it was filmed. It was raw and real. Uniquely keen! Hidden cameras would of been more like “cops” or something…I like that the show was not about catching burglers or what have you.–It was a REAL in DEPTH expirience of a person’s life and choices. It was interesting to look into another human beings world and their views on life and waht they do. I like when he diesn’t talk about what he’d be doing if he wasn’t a burgler…that was my favorite scene!
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AS A FORMER MULTI-MEDIA STUDENT, I KNOW FIRST HAND THAT THERE IS A LOT A REPORTER CAN GET AWAY WITH FOR THE SAKE OF ARCHIVING. I DON’T THINK IT WAS FAKE–I THINK IT WAS JUST TOO REAL FOR SOME PEOPLE!
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– DAWA — Some could say the feel of “hidden” cameras could add to the tension and reality of watching the crimes. Look at it this way: the only way we see “real” crimes on TV or in the news is via single surveillance cameras. Perhaps a “hidden” camera would have provided that feeling.
And a lot of people love the scene where he talks about what he would or could be doing. A plumber?! Yeah, probably not.
Thanks for your feedback. See you again.
-Norm S.
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This was a very interesting documentary. Once I started to watch it, I was unable to take my eyes off of it. Throughout the film you grow to feel for Casper. It’s almost as if you sympathize with him, I have never watched something and felt an attachment to a character. As for it being real or fake, I would be disappointed if it wasn’t true. Yet, either was it was still amazing.
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- Nicole –
A lot of people have been commenting that they sympathize with Kaspar, and are actually rooting for him to succeed. As for the “real or fake” question, we’re not telling…Hope you’ll join us again soon.
-Norm S.
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I met someone from Chicago, and they say that he is well known in Chicago. And he has appeared on the WGN News… so there is some possibility this is all real.
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- Nicole – Unless the news report was fake?…
-Norm S.
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Excellent movie! I saw it like two months and here I just started to search to find out what happened to Kasper. Although it did cross my mind that this cat staged his own death. He showed in the movie how prepared he was for every concievable turn of events. I mean the guy even wore two sets of underwear just in case he got caught in the act. So him faking his own death could have been part of his get away plan. Kudos, to the man, he didn’t hurt a soul, he worked his ass off for every dime! Kind of reminds me of the Bank robbery in Forteleza, Brazil they deserve the CASH!
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very clever.
my drama teacher once told me – if you get a positive or negative reaction with your body of work – you have succeeded.
I think the time put into creating this movie and the reality feel left me wondering
i RARELY go onto the net after watching a movie prising for more information
congratulations malik – good effort by you and your team
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This so-called “documentary” is fake. A movie filmed in a documentary style. I’m not trying to devalue this movie because it was actually interesting, but it was pretty fake in my opinion. First of all no burgular in their right mind would allow someone to build up evidence against them for a stupid documentary. This guy pre-cleaned his tools for finger prints to be extra safe so he wouldnt jeopordize his criminal career so than ask yourself why would he allow someone to video tape his burglaries? Knowing it was going to be shown to other people. I smell bullshit.
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- James –
I agree. When it comes to film, any reaction, be it positive or negative, means something.And since you rarely go online after watching a movie, we’re honored you’d choose us. Thanks for visiting.
– iKnow –
As you can see from our comment list, we’ve been getting feedback as to whether the film is “fake” since it first aired this summer. For some people, it matters very much — others only judge the content of the movie.Thanks for joining in.
-Norm S.
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As a reporter and an ex-soldier, I am here to tell you that this movie could be all to real. A lot of people say its “fake” and that the director is an ass hole trying to get a quick buck. Even more people try to point out the fact that the people who filmed this documentary would face criminal charges. Well, what about the reporters that interviewed one of the most wanted men on earth (osama bin laden) and faced no criminal charge. Yet another case would be the reporters who documented the iraqi insurgents killing/attempting to kill american soldiers. as the constitution states, people have the freedom of press, and that is all this is… Just a part of the press, that nobody want’s to accept.
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this documentary is very real. yea it may not seem realistic to people that live in small towns but in the busy city of chicago theres a lot of crime activity that goes on that people never hear abt untill something tragic happens. i know many people such as mr. car. did he fake his death? who knows? did he commit the crimes and does shit like this always happen? ur damn skippy it does
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I thought this was a very very interesting documentary. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen on television.
Many people seem to think that it was fake. I can tell you this.. I am a veteran city firefighter who has seem many accidents which people sustained catastrophic head injury (unfortunately) . The splatter on the passanger window was identical to brain matter in appearance. The “splatter” pattern looked to be authentic , also. The blood inside the car was around where a body would have been sitting, but not under it. I think he was shot slightly from the back and behing his left ear, area.
Additionally, the police cars and officers would have been difficult to fake. And why would Kasper abandon a $65,000 car just to fake his own death?
I’m not saying that I know 100% as fact, but, the inside of that car was too realistic to be faked, in my opinion. I think Kasper ripped off the wrong guy…. The only people who don’t report a major theft are those who are going to resolve the issue themselves. My humble opinion.. Firefighter302 -
1). Why would a successful burglar allow a slow and sloppy film crew to video his work? (Film = incriminating evidence).
2). What did he expect?
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just watched the documentary and loved it. i looked it up online to see how in the world the film crew managed to not be an accessory to the crimes since they entered the buildings unlawfully LOL….had no idea it was scripted! lol Bader did a great job of capturing the essence of a criminal-detached, slightly bi-polar, smart but with confusing rationale, surprisingly aware and angry with a singe of vulnerability. please forward my feedback because i know its hard to not have your work go as far as you would like it to, especially when its really good.
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IS IT REAL OR FAKE???
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Malik Bader emailme i dot a good doc 4 you ..
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Malik Bader emailme i got a good 1 for you.
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stlrapper and Caligula have it right. If this was real, Kaspar and the crew would all be in jail since they filmed their own incriminating evidence. You cannot make a “real” documentary about a crime as it is happening, please don’t try. The cops will not only arrest you, but laugh at you because you made their job so easy. The film is a really innovative way of doing a character study about a burglar’s state of mind.
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IM DOING ONE FOR Malik Bader IN N.J NOW.GOT GOOD FOOTAGE
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i loved this piece… it had my total attention from the start… how cool is he to sound like a spanish hic one day and a hindi indian the next? i would break bread with him any day… real or not.
you won’t get a sob story from me…
love him. -
didnt anyone notice that the benz he was driving had black interior and when they showed the car with blood it had white interior? I say this was a fake
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Great Movie!!! Quite genius, who’s the real thief? Lol.
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Ok, guys. I just viewed ‘Street Theif’, last night. (almost passed it up browsing NetFlix doc’s) Most documentaries make me cringe due their content and near-death or caught on screen death footages, and this one about Kaspar Carr is right up there with the best of doc’s. I was just so wrapped up in what actually happened to Carr, knowing in my gut that it had something to do with Slicks’ strip club owner. I came away thinking that the film crew and Kaspar Carr’s sudden greed got him killed, especially if this really happen. Then that friend that interviewed towards the end of the doc used a past tense verb indicating that Carr was dead and that he definately knew of it but wanted no part of saying he knew of it, because They would come for him, too. What else stood out to me……? Oh, yeah! When Kaspar was robbing Slicks’ and all of a sudden he gets extremely upset. I think to myself, ‘You big dummy: strip clubs are notorious for taking The Law into their own hands. And robbing them, on camera, with a crew, and showing your face….well, blood in the car and no body. The body was probably dismembered and toss into the bay area or incenerated. Who would look for Kaspar? vs Whom would love to see Carr pay for his crime(s)? I mean, it’s Chicago, of all cities: high crime and even higher deaths. If any of this really happen, it was truly scarey. for the simple fact that Kaspar lived alone, could trust nobody but all of a sudden a film crew is trusted meant only one thing: he had began to lose it. I mean, living in solitary confinement can really harm the body and make a person do crazy things, like go blind physically or mentally or both. Ok, I’m starting to rambling and get caught up in my own pontificating. Great movie.
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you are simply exceptional.
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you are simply exceptional.
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Malik, this was incredible. I know the real story about it but still can’t resist watching it multiple times and recommending it to all of my friends. GREAT JOB, I’d love to see another similar “mockumentary” from Mr. Bader.
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