1999 documentary directed by Chris Smith
American Movie
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/aa/Americanmovie.jpg/220px-Americanmovie.jpg) Promotional release poster
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Directed by
| Chris Smith
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Produced by
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Starring
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Cinematography
| Chris Smith
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Edited by
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Music by
| Mike Schank
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Production
companies
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- C-Hundred Film Corporation
- Civilian Pictures
- Bluemark Productions
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Distributed by
| Sony Pictures Classics
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Release date
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Running time
| 107 minutes
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Country
| United States
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Language
| English
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Box office
| $1.2 million
[1]
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American Movie
[a]
is a 1999 American
documentary film
directed by
Chris Smith
, produced by Smith and
Sarah Price
, and edited by Jun Diaz and
Barry Poltermann
.
American Movie
received generally positive reviews, and won the
Grand Jury Prize for Documentary
at the 1999
Sundance Film Festival
. It has since been considered a
cult film
.
[2]
Background
[
edit
]
Filmed between September 1995 and August 1997,
[3]
American Movie
documents the making of
Coven
, an
independent
short horror film directed by Wisconsin-based filmmaker
Mark Borchardt
. Produced for the purpose of raising capital for
Northwestern
, a feature film Borchardt intends to make,
Coven
suffers from numerous setbacks, including poor financing, a lack of planning, Borchardt's burgeoning alcoholism, and the ineptitude of the friends and family he enlists as his production team.
[4]
The documentary follows Borchardt's filmmaking process from script to screen, and is interspersed with footage from both of Borchardt's developing projects.
Synopsis
[
edit
]
In 1996 in
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
,
Mark Borchardt
dreams of being a filmmaker. Currently however, he delivers papers for a living, is deeply indebted, still lives with his parents, is a borderline alcoholic, and is estranged from his ex-girlfriend, who is threatening to move out of state with their three children. He acknowledges his various failures, but aspires to one day make more of his life.
Hoping to jump-start his amateur filmmaking career, Mark restarts production on
Northwestern
, a feature-length film he has been planning for most of his adult life. Initially, the project attracts some interest from the group of amateur actors with whom Mark has produced some radio plays, but by the fourth production meeting almost no one shows up and Mark is forced to acknowledge that he currently lacks the resources to move
Northwestern
past the pre-production phase.
To drum up the attention and financial resources needed to film
Northwestern
, Mark decides to finally complete
Coven
(which Borchardt mispronounces with a long 'o'), a horror short that he began shooting on
16 mm film
in 1994, but ultimately abandoned. He receives financing from his Uncle Bill, a wise, but increasingly senile, eighty-two-year-old retiree who lives in a dilapidated trailer despite having $280,000 in his bank account. Bill hesitantly agrees to invest in
Coven
, with the goal of selling three thousand
VHS
copies of the movie, which Mark says will raise enough capital to finance
Northwestern
.
Mark restarts production on
Coven
, but suffers numerous mishaps. Although he is hard-working and knowledgeable about film making, he is also poor at planning ahead and inarticulate as a director. Additionally, he builds his production crew out of friends and neighbors, many of whom are incompetent at the tasks to which he assigns them. Particular attention is given to his best friend, guitarist
Mike Schank
, an amiable recovering alcoholic and drug addict with
reduced affect
who is one of the most reliable members of the crew (and also recorded the music for the soundtrack of the documentary). In their adolescence, Mark and Mike bonded over their shared love of
vodka
, but Mike is now sober and has joined
Alcoholics Anonymous
, though he has become a
compulsive gambler
, buying
scratch-off
lottery tickets from the gas station, sometimes accompanied by his AA sponsor, who then drives them both to Gamblers' Anonymous meetings; Mike reasons that, while you sometimes win and sometimes lose the lottery, you always lose with drugs and alcohol.
As the work on
Coven
moves forward, Mark faces the skepticism of his family and his own burgeoning alcoholism, though he does eventually wrap principal photography. At Thanksgiving dinner and, later, a family party to watch
Super Bowl XXXI
, he gets drunk and becomes alternately agitated, cheery, and despondent. At one point, he wistfully watches footage he shot for
Northwestern
back in 1990 and contemplates whether or not he is a failure.
After an extended post-production process during which Mark, and sometimes Mike and Mark's children, occasionally sleep in an editing room at
University of Wisconsin?Milwaukee
, Mark finally finishes work on
Coven
minutes before its premiere at a local theater in
Milwaukee
in summer of 1997. The screening sells out, and 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 discusses the prospect of future fame and wealth and realizing the
American Dream
. Bill's response is a combination of rambling, cryptic, and poetic, but he seems to be advising Mark to focus on spiritual matters and bringing happiness into other people's lives. The closing text reveals that Bill died on September 13, 1997, and left Mark $50,000 in his will for the completion of
Northwestern
.
[b]
Reception and legacy
[
edit
]
On the
review aggregation
website
Rotten Tomatoes
, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 49 reviews, with a
weighted average
of 8.28/10; the site's consensus reads: "Well worth watching for film buffs and anyone who believes in following your dreams,
American Movie
is a warm, funny, and engrossing ode to creative passion".
[5]
Janet Maslin
of
The New York Times
wrote that the film conveys Borchardt's passion "Insightfully and stirringly, not to mention hilariously", and that "For anyone wondering where the spirit of maverick independent filmmaking has its source, you need look no further".
[6]
Roger Ebert
gave the film four out of four possible stars, calling it "a very funny, sometimes very sad documentary".
[7]
Amy Goodman of
IndieWire
called the film "An inspiration for filmmakers everywhere",
[8]
and
Kevin Thomas
of the
Los Angeles Times
wrote that it "is sure to draw lots of laughs".
[9]
Glenn Lovell of
Variety
called the film an "ambitious, wildly funny chronicle" and a "madcap tribute to a beer-guzzling Midwestern filmmaker".
[10]
Awards
[
edit
]
The film was awarded the
Grand Jury Prize for Documentary
at the 1999
Sundance Film Festival
.
[9]
In 2004, it was named by
The New York Times
as one of the "1,000 Greatest Movies Ever Made",
[11]
and the
International Documentary Association
named it as one of the top 20 documentaries of all time.
[12]
Home media
[
edit
]
The film was released on
VHS
on January 16, 2001.
[13]
It was released on
DVD
by
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
on May 23, 2000, as a "Special Edition", which includes a commentary by Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Mark Borchardt, and Mike Schank, as well as the short film
Coven
and 22 deleted scenes.
[14]
[15]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
It appears as
American Movie: The Making of Northwestern
on the title screen, though the movie focuses on the production of
Coven
.
- ^
Decades later,
Northwestern
remains uncompleted.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"American Movie (1999)"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved
October 15,
2014
.
- ^
The Criterion Channel’s December 2022 Lineup|Current|The Criterion Collection
- ^
"Texas Documentary Tour, Chris Smith and American Movie"
. Oct 15, 1999
. Retrieved
2010-10-10
.
- ^
"Salon Arts & Entertainment "American Movie"
"
.
Salon.com
. Nov 8, 1999
. Retrieved
2009-09-15
.
- ^
"American Movie (1999)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
July 3,
2019
.
- ^
Janet Maslin
(November 5, 1999).
"FILM REVIEW; Seat-of-the Pants Director: Lights! Camera! Gumption!"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
June 20,
2017
.
- ^
Roger Ebert
(January 21, 2000).
"American Movie Movie Review & Film Summary (2000)"
.
RogerEbert.com
. Retrieved
June 20,
2017
.
- ^
Goodman, Amy (November 3, 1999).
"INTERVIEW: "American Movie"'s Mark Borchardt, An Inspiration for Filmmakers Everywhere"
.
IndieWire
. Retrieved
June 20,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Thomas, Kevin (Nov 12, 1999).
"Movie Review; 'American Movie' Turns Camera on Indie Filmmaker"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
2009-09-15
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Lovell, Glenn (January 28, 1999).
"Review: 'American Movie'
"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
June 20,
2017
.
- ^
"1,000 Greatest Movies Ever Made"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on 29 October 2009
. Retrieved
2009-09-15
.
- ^
"
"Bowling for Columbine Tops Best Documentary List", 12-12-2002"
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-08-30
. Retrieved
2009-06-05
.
- ^
American Movie [VHS]
.
ISBN
0767839145
.
- ^
American Movie
.
ISBN
0767846869
.
- ^
Aaron Beierle (June 3, 2000).
"American Movie: Special Edition"
.
DVD Talk
. Retrieved
June 20,
2017
.
External links
[
edit
]
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20th century
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21st century
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