Ryan McNeil
What Lindsay Said… I like people who are willing to go broke for their passion
We all need to have a dream, right? With so few of us doing what we truly love to do, it only makes sense to have a wish at the ready – something tangible that we think can allow us to leave our mark on the world. For some that might be playing a guitar in a coffee shop, for some it might be writing and managing a website, and for some it might be making a movie. The latter is certainly the case for Mark Borchardt in AMERICAN MOVIE, as he spends years trying to get his pet project film NORTHWESTERN off the ground. AMERICAN MOVIE is the documentary of his travails.
The doc becomes the log of a troubled film production. Picture HEARTS OF DARKNESS, but with less helicopters. It follows a midwestern man named Mark as he cobbles together his film. When we come in, he’s working on a project named NORTHWESTERN, but before long he changes his efforts to a different project named COVEN. We then come in and out over weeks and months as Marks keeps chipping away at the project over several years.
The fact that this film is on Lindsay’s shelf makes complete sense. Not only is it a story about passionate, creative misfits, but it’s a nonfiction account of their adventures. It was Lindsay who got me into documentaries in the first place, and spurred me to seek out more of them. Interestingly though, we seldom buy any, perhaps because the rewatch value doesn’t feel quite as high. However, if there are gateway drugs where documentaries are concerned, I’d definitely put AMERICAN MOVIE amongst them. The film feels like it was written by The Coen Brothers with its dry, absurd sense of humour. Furthermore, I put to you that Matt Weisman is the best character The Coens never wrote. He’s the sort of loveable doofus Lindsay loves, and I speak from a place of experience.
At first, AMERICAN MOVIE seems like the document of a train wreck. Mark doesn’t seem to really know what he’s doing, speaks in very grandiose terms, gets funding from some of the most auspicious sources, and works in the smallest of spurts over the longest stretch of time. However, as the story keep splaying out, I began to realize that Mark should be seen as a hero. He might be socially awkward, and trying to do something a little out of his reach, but he will not be deterred. He is not content to sit back and consume other people’s films, or dedicate his time discussing them; he wants to create a film. Quite simply, he wants to make a difference in the world by adding something to it.
As odd or overmatched as the story of AMERICAN MOVIE might seem, it is a testament to what more of us should be trying to do. We shouldn’t be content to feast on the art this world has to offer, we work towards bringing something to the feast. I can’t make any promises, but I hope I can keep this little lesson with me going forward.
And to think, I might never have learned this lesson had Lindsay never got me into documentaries in the first place.
I love this movie. One of my favorite documentary of all time. This is really about the American Dream. Mark Borchardt wants to be a filmmaker, and does every he can to achieve his dream. It’s funny, but also as moving as any movie I have seen.
Anyway, I will share my experience with this film. It was 1999, my first TIFF. I was in the single ticket buying lineup but didn’t know what films to choose. A person (I don’t remember who shamefully) suggested me to go see American movie, I believed he worked in the industry, and has seen the movie at Sundance. And thanks to him I have seen the movie and met Mark and Mike.
Anyway, the screening was at Uptown1, the movie played extremely well in front of the audience. And after the movie finished, Mark Borchardt asked us if we want to see his short film COVEN, and the audience was so in love with Mark, they immediately said yes. COVEN wasn’t the best movie I have seen, but it’s not too bad either. The audience loved it even though it’s not very good, and they loved the scenes with Uncle Bill.
Anyway, following the Q&A and COVEN, Mark, Mark’s Mom and Mike setup shop in front of Uptown to sell their tape of COVEN. Many people did buy it even though they have seen it already (I didn’t, cause I was a cheapskate and had little spending money at the time). Talking to Mark and Mike afterwards, they were having the time of their life. Apparently they came to Toronto before for TIFF, and loved the city and the people. It’s one of the best TIFF experience I had and it’s one of the reason I keep going back to TIFF.
That might be the greatest TIFF-going experience I’ve ever heard. It’s one thing to watch a real-life story play out on the big screen, it’s a whole other thing to then be taken by the hand and pulled right into that story and all its fascinating people.
I wasn’t going to TIFF yet by 1999,, but given how seminal a year that was for moviegoing, I’m even more envious now that I’ve heard that story.
Very nice review, man! 🙂
Thank you sir – now track down the doc and give it a look!