“It was truly the blueprint for every film moving forward”: as Takeout is re-released this month on Criterion Collection Blu-ray, the director delves into this early gem of his oeuvre 💎
– and has all the energy, spontaneity and empathy Baker is now feted for. “Looking back,was truly the blueprint for every film moving forward,” he says from his home in Los Angeles – behind him are a few of the many vintage film posters he’s been collecting since his teens. “We were sort of making it up, discovering this way of working just by doing it: let’s go introduce ourselves and try to entrench ourselves into this community enough to be able to do this in a respectful and responsible way.
He and Tsou were living above a bustling Chinese restaurant at the time; watching its delivery riders come and go, day and night, rain or shine, gave them the idea of crafting a snapshot of post-9/11 New York through the eyes of one of those workers as they delivered sweet-and-sour chicken to addresses that span from the projects to doorman-buildings on the Upper East Side. Tsou began talking to the restaurant’s staff, learning about their routines and struggles.
There was no budget to shut the restaurant down while they filmed, so they shot through its frenetic working days, filming real customers’ interactions and altercations, being careful to keep the faces of any undocumented staff out of the frame.
receiving a bag of takeout and bestowing a tip – most clients oblivious or indifferent to the reality of his gruelling existence. “We were going all over the Upper East and West Side, meeting people for the first time in their doorway. We’d have a brief conversation and gauge their persona and figure out what would work best – belligerent, sympathetic, aloof … ” Baker says.
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