Review by Jeff Swindoll, M & C
When the devil moves in next door, it’s bound to get hot. If the residents of Centralia, Pennsylvania would’ve known what burning their trash dump in 1962 would’ve led to they would’ve just let it fester. It would lead to the destruction of their town by a slow, hidden, smoldering death.
Centralia, Pennsylvania was once a thriving community. In 1962, a trash fire ignited a seam of anthracite coal that was beneath the city and that was the beginning of the end. Lack of funds and slow moving officials allowed the fire to burn beneath the town and in the 1980s a boy nearly fell to a fiery end when a sinkhole opened up.
The government was pressed into action and when the estimation for putting out the fire turned out to be higher than expected it was decided to pay the residents fair market value and allow them to move out of town and then they’d tear down their houses. Eventually the government would use eminent domain to take over what was left of Centralia.
At the time of the filming of this documentary, eleven diehard residents still called the town their home. The youngest of which is John Lokitis, who strongly disputes that Centralia is dead but is fighting a losing battle with a fire that rages beneath the surface.
In some ways you have to admire the perseverance of John Lokitis. Some may look upon it as folly to live atop a raging fire, but John has happier memories of the town and is steadfast in trying to keep what little remains there. It’s a melancholy portrait of a lone man trying to keep his hometown alive. It’s shocking to see the archival footage of what the town was and then to see what it has become.
Only a few houses remain as the rest have been razed. When the government threatened to close the town’s post office, effectively having Centralia cease to exist, Lokitis sprang into action and got enough media attention that the plan was scrapped. He opens the cemetery gates in the morning, puts up the town’s sparse Christmas decorations, and takes us on a tour of the town where you can still see the steam vents billowing as the coal burns underneath the ground.
It’s ironic that Centralia was built upon the digging of coal and coal would be its downfall. The basic idea of a mine fire was mined [insert rimshot here] effectively by Roger Avary for the film Silent Hill. His portrait of an abandoned town was eerie, but Centralia is just a sad, melancholy tale of those left behind and that nobody but them cares about what happens to the town that was.
Town that Was is presented in letterbox, but is not enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a 90 second interview with Pennsylvania state representative Robert Belafanti on a collapsed section of highway.
Next is a 10 minute extended interview with the grown up Todd Domboski, who fell into the hole in the 1980s. There are 7 minutes of home movies from Centralia’s Centennial celebration in 1966, a 3 minute real estate tour of Scranton, PA, a 3 minute music video by Story Of, the 2 minute trailer, a photo gallery, and previews of other coming attractions.
The story of Centralia is of one where no one but a few cares anymore. The remaining residents are elderly and dying out and John will one day pass and so will the town. It’s a tale of melancholy and woe, but an interesting one in this fine documentary
