A husband and wife live in an impoverished neighborhood in north Philadelphia while they raise their daughter and run a recording studio in their basement.
Things happen - some severe, some less so - and life goes on. And always there is Olshefski, a one-man film crew who captures it all and distills it for our narrative pleasure.
Olshefski captures the frustration, resignation and determination that leaves you struck by this family -- average in their concerns but extraordinary in their dedication to one another.
At a lean 90 minutes, Quest never drags, but it's also begging to be extended into that update of An American Family which, for some reason, has never materialized.
Ordinariness-and [Jonathan] Olshefski's ordinary, level-headed approach to documenting their life-is the keynote of this intensely moving and involving film.
There is no grand narrative or point to be hammered home; instead, Olshefski delivers a subtle, sincere and honest portrait of barely making ends meet in modern America.
