FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

FIlm by Jaime Frederick American Movie directed by Chris Smith Opens Friday, February 18 Grand delusions have fuelled some of the greatest cinematic efforts (both masterpieces and debacles) of the last century. Tales of megalomaniacal excess abound in the movies, from the birth of the notion in the early days of D.W. Griffith, through Francis Ford Coppola’s journey into the jungle in Apocalypse Now, to the contemporary grandiloquence of James Cameron’s digitally enhanced shipwreck, Titanic. Yes, filmmakers, half-mad with the fervour of artistic creation, have time and again pillaged the far-flung corners of human experience for a subject worthy of their mania. Chris Smith, on the other hand, perhaps looking for a little perspective, stares into the heart of darkness right in his own Middle American backyard. Smith’s second feature, American Movie, documents the erratic fortunes of Mark Borchardt, an unknown filmmaker from the Milwaukee area (Menomenee Falls, to be precise), as Borchardt struggles to realize his celluloid dreams despite perpetual poverty, a steady diet of Milwaukee’s Best, and a gaggle of family and friends who remain mostly nonplussed about his prospects for success even while they lend a hand to help him out. Given Borchardt’s essential boorishness and almost pathological willingness display even the least flattering aspects of his personality, Smith is able to present an engaging and funny documentary that proves truth is still more ludicrous than fiction. "To us, the main story was more of a portrait of this guy, Mark, and his family and friends, and the community they’re a part of," says Smith over the phone from his home in Milwaukee. "It’s more about friendship and loyalty than it is about filmmaking. We were more excited about the human element and the themes that were running throughout the film. It just seemed like filmmaking was the backdrop for that story. It’s more a story about Mark’s persistence and his dreams, and this quest for the American Dream that a lot of people have." Ah, yes, the American Dream, that carrot of success that dangles in front of so many work-a-day minimum wage slaves, and remains unattainable for so many of them. Surely, nobody still has hopes that the American Dream is anything other than a cruel fantasy that keeps the marks coming back to their daily sideshows. Does Borchardt really believe in the American Dream? "Oh, yeah!" exclaims Smith. "More firmly than anybody I’ve ever met. He lives and breathes it. He really believes that if you work hard and are determined, you will become successful, and the only thing holding you back is yourself. If you look at Mark, it’s an example of something that did work out. He was working hard on his films, and it’s kind of a twisted way that it ended up happening, but he did get recognition for what he was doing…" Indeed, due largely to his participation in American Movie, Borchardt has achieved some level of celebrity, even becoming a fave guest of Dave’s on The Late Show with David Letterman. Not that Borchardt really thinks about it much. Because although American Movie documents the making of Coven, Borchardt’s no-budget black-and-white horror film about the sinister side of support groups, it is clear that his true desire is to make Northwestern, a much more personal film about life in the American Midwest. One need only look at the "Coven-meter" on the American Movie Web site (www.americanmovie.com) to realize that sales of Coven have skyrocketed since the release of American Movie, getting Borchardt that much closer to beginning production on Northwestern. "Coven was made, it took three years to make, using Pabst Blue Ribbon," says Borchardt from his office in Menomenee Falls. "I was broke, asking my mom, ‘C’mon, man, borrow me two, three bucks for gas,’ all that kinda stuff. Coven was made to make money to make Northwestern. "Northwestern, man, is going to be, to me, a piece of artwork, like a poem, man. And Coven was more of a commercial entity to be able to finance this, this poem." Yet, at the same time, there are limits to the lengths he will go to make his movies. As we see in American Movie, he refuses to be swayed by economic considerations when it comes to his creativity. He’s already turned down big money from numerous Hollywood production companies in order to be able to make Northwestern the right way, which is, of course, his way. "You’ve gotta understand, man, I’m not into movies," he says. "I don’t sit around and set up a four-week shoot. I’ll wait for months, man, to get the beautiful grey sky, the right chick, all that stuff. It’s a poem, man, that’s what it is. They want to shoot it in a month, month and a half, rent the equipment. I buy the equipment and go into the world of my film for two, three years. You tell that to Hollywood, on the other end of the phone line, and they’re going to have a heart attack, man!" As Borchardt seems relatively unperturbed by his newfound notoriety, so, too, does Smith seem more interested in talking about zerotv.com, his next project with American Movie producer Sarah Price. Smith is excited about the prospects of this alternative online television station that will provide a forum for short films and videos. He’s optimistic about the prospects of working in a somewhat different medium for a while. "If you make a good movie, you’re going to have an audience, and that’s the bottom line," says Smith. "I don’t think it matters if it’s an independent film, or a Hollywood film, or a movie that’s put up on the Internet.... I think that with the Internet, you have this medium where you can click onto something and watch something for five minutes while you’re at work, and it’s enjoyable, and then you go back to what you’re doing." Smith’s first feature, the deadpan comedy American Job, detailed the desperation of an American youth faced with limited prospects and a future with even fewer opportunities, and he continues to be fascinated with the fact that many people continue to have faith in the American Dream. "A lot of people I know are working these crummy minimum-wage jobs like you saw in American Job. I think that is a reality for most people, but I think it’s just like when you buy a lottery ticket. In the back of your head, you’re thinking, ‘I could win.’ I think somebody is going to win, but the odds are very slim. I do think it is a possibility. I believe in that." He pauses a minute before he finishes. "Not so much with the lottery as with the American Dream." Chris Smith, Mark Borchardt, and Sarah Price will be in attendance at the opening of American Movie this Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Theatre, as part of a fund-raiser for the first Calgary International Film Festival.

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |