Posted 21 May 2004 - 11:33 AM
I did. Glad you enjoyed it, Michael. I did too -- It's an enjoyable and interesting film of occasion, so to speak, "documentary" in form and character but not "a documentary" per se -- put together out of clips compiled by stock cinematographer Louis Schwartzberg over the course of a number of years of shooting stock footage all over America.
Naturally, the landscape (and cityscape) photography is stunning (why do I get the feeling that Schwartzberg's busy season is probably autumn?). But like the tagline says, it's not about the land, it's about the people. The film offers little glimpses into all kinds of lives and lifestyles, many which aren't the sort that usually wind up under the spotlight, creating in the process a composite portrait of an America far more diverse than what we typically see on the big or small screen.
It doesn't look hard at any one subject; it isn't interested in investigating, asking hard questions, or anything like that. Rather, it's a celebration of the incredible variety of ways that people find of expressing and enjoying freedom -- political freedom, freedom of spirit, even religious freedom (though unfortunately one might come away from the film thinking that [a] in America everyone who is actively religious is black, [b] they are all either Southern-Baptist Pentecostal types or else social-action Unitarian types, and [c] the other religious option in America is to have some sort of flaky reincarnation worldview or something).
Nearly all of the stories are interesting; some are funny, a few bizarre, and several inspirational and even inspiring, in the sense that I was truly gratified to see people living these sorts of lives and taking satisfaction and pleasure in doing so. One recurring theme is making music, and I was cheered to see people in all sorts of settings and environments making all kinds of music, and not merely listening to it on the radio.
The film is so positive and uplifting that some critics will instinctively regard it with a jaundiced eye as a political statement; terms like "jingoistic" are sure to be heard, and in this election year someone is sure to label it a reelection commercial for George Bush. But the truth is that the film is almost entirely apolitical. There is one unfortunate lapse into protectionist politics in a segment interviewing steel workers, but other than that I defy anyone to find any plausible basis for labeling this film Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, etc.
Other people will complain that Schwartzberg focuses exclusively on the inspirational, and that (with the exception of the protectionist steel segment mentioned above) he ignores less attractive aspects of the American experience, such as unemployment, divorce, families struggling on double minimum-wage incomes while their kids grow up in daycare, hospitals understaffed by overworked nurses and doctors, etc.
But that's unfair too -- this unassuming little project isn't about anything as lofty or all-encompassing as The American Experience. It might be said to be principally about the pursuit of happiness. What matters here is not all the ways in which people actually encounter unhappiness, but the ways in which they pursue happiness and fulfillment -- especially in connection with work, recreation, and/or community. (It occurs to me, looking back, that one obvious component of the pursuit of happiness for many people doesn't get much attention: marriage and family.)
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