American Movie

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This article is about the documentary featuring Mark Borchardt. If you were looking for a list of American movies, click here.

American Movie
American Movie poster
Directed by	Chris Smith
Produced by	Sarah Price Chris Smith
Starring	Mark Borchardt Tom Schimmels
Music by	Mike Schank
Cinematography	Chris Smith
Editing by	Jun Diaz Barry Poltermann Sarah Price Chris Smith Ray Chi Scott Reeder
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s)	November 5, 1999
Running time	107 min.
Country	USA
Language	English

American Movie is a 1999 documentary about the making of an independent film. Milwaukee filmmaker Mark Borchardt feverishly works to finish his independent horror film Coven, but with poor financing and lack of planning finds it nearly impossible to complete.^[1] The documentary follows Borchardt's filmmaking process from script to screen, and is interspersed with footage from both developing projects. American Movie was produced by Sarah Price, edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann and directed by Chris Smith.

The film is subtitled "The Making of Northwestern", but only the first fifteen minutes of the film are about the making of Northwestern; the rest of the film centers on the making of Coven.

Contents 1 Awards and reception 2 Synopsis 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Awards and reception

The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.^[2] In 2004, American Movie was named by the New York Times as one of the “1,000 Greatest Movies Ever Made”^[3] and the International Documentary Association named it as one of the top 20 documentaries of all time.^[4] In addition, the film was positively reviewed by various media outlets.^[1][2][5]

[edit] Synopsis

Mark Borchardt is a scruffy, eccentric, blue-collar, beer drinking movie-lover whose dream is to be a filmmaker. However, his life is beset with personal problems: he is a high school dropout who works odd-jobs delivering newspapers and cleaning the local cemetery, he has many debts, he has a strained relationship with an ex-girlfriend and three children by her, and he appears to have the beginnings of a drinking problem. In the film's voiceover opening, he explains that he was a failure and has dreams of accomplishing more with his life. In his own words: "It's not about making films or in the long-run getting some money...but to create and complete."

Mark writes and directs radio plays with a local group of amateur actors. Realizing how far short he has fallen of his filmmaking aspirations, he attempts to restart production on Northwestern, a feature film about "the great American story" that he has been dreaming of making his whole life. Initially he attracts interest, but soon the project falls apart and by the fourth meeting, almost no one shows up.

Mark decides to instead complete Coven, a thirty-five minute short film shot on 16mm he had started two years earlier. Mark's financier is his rich Uncle Bill who is eighty-two and seems confused about what is going on. Though hesitant, Bill invests in Coven with the goal of selling three thousand copies and make enough profit for Mark to make Northwestern.

Production continues but suffers through various unfortunate (and often humorous) mishaps. Mark is shown to be a hard-working, competent, and even knowledgeable filmmaker. However his bad-planning, lack of resources, lack of support, and inarticulate direction, as well as the incompetence of those around him, cause frequent problems. On one occasion, Mark must record audio of Uncle Bill delivering a line; after the non-actor spends thirty takes struggling to get the line right, he simply gives up. Mark's bizarre demeanor and strange vocabulary cause a lot of the film's humor; at one point he memorably claims to have gotten so drunk the previous night that he called Morocco. "Is that what you wanna do with your life? Suck down on peppermint Schnapps and call Morocco at 2AM? That's senseless, man. But that's what happens."

Mark's family is very skeptical of his aspirations. Mark's own mother, though often supportive, at one point voices little faith that the project will ever be completed. Mark's brother comments that he pities Mark and thinks he has little future. Mark also has a supportive girlfriend named Joan, a friend named Ken who spends time in jail, and a musician friend named Mike Schank who is a recovering junkie. Mike, who provided the musical score for the documentary, behaves in an extremely disoriented and bizarre way, and seems to have difficulty stringing a coherent thought together. Frequently throughout the movie, Mark attempts to have deep/philosophical conversations that Mike is unable to understand.

All the while, Mark continues to chase the American dream while living the typical mid-American life. Two notable American traditions, Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday, are shown; Mark proceeds to get drunk at both. Uncle Bill continues to doubt the project, but does genuinely care for Mark; Mark memorably bathes him on Thanksgiving. At another stage, Mark watches footage from an unfinished production of Northwestern shot six years earlier, and reflects again on his unfulfilled potential.

Finally, after three-years in production, Coven premieres in a local cinema. Mark's family and friends are happy that the project has finally been completed. In the final scene, Mark goes to visit Uncle Bill and talks about a possible future of living the good life. Bill reflects on the American Dream and gives the advice to make others happy.

An on-screen text informs us that Bill died a few months later. Home movie clips are shown of Mark, Ken, and Mike playing around as teenagers, drinking beer and dreaming the American dream, their whole lives ahead of them.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Site - includes a synopsis
• Entire American Movie video from Crackle
• American Movie at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by The Farm tied with Frat House

Sundance Grand Jury Prize: Documentary 1999

Succeeded by Long Night's Journey Into Day