I enjoy those dead mall videos on Youtube especially Dan Bell's, the documentary 'Jasper Mall' (which indecently has been endorsed by Dan Bell) can be considered kind of a longer version of one of those. Unlike the YouTube video's this movie seems to have been made over the course of at least one year and you get something you don't get from the internet video's, you get to know some of the regular patrons, tenants and employees of the mall over a decent period of time. It's kind of like a portrait of a small town. I'm sure that the film makers interviewed more people then appear in the final product but elected to present subjects of focus who had the best 'arc's.'
A 'dead mall' by the way is loosely defined as a mall on its downward slop in terms of business, I'd say any mall that has less then 50% occupancy of it's retail space can probably be referred to as a dead mall. The Jasper Mall is a one story 1980's vintage mall in the smallish town of Jasper, Alabama, the mall manager interestingly is an Australian former zoo keeper. Other recurring 'characters' in the film include a florist who is one of the malls longest surviving tenants, and a young interracial couple who we meet in their senior year of high school and follow through eventual amicable breakup as they both prepare to leave town. I found it a rather pleasant film but it is nitch, if you enjoy dead malls and slower paced character studies you'll probably like it. ***
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