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 ark Borchardt, the 30-year old Midwesterner/aspiring
filmmaker at the heart of the documentary "American Movie," is what
they call dedicated. By all accounts (and this is substantiated after
viewing his short film "Coven", which he spent 3 years making) the man
has little to no talent for the craft. Is it stupidity, insanity, or just balls
that makes him so dedicated? Whatever the answer, Borchardt is the human tornado
that drives "American Movie," a frank and sometimes heartbreaking look
at a man who insists on fulfilling his dreams come hell or high water.
Chris Smith's camera follows Borchardt through 2 years and
never blinks once as the Wisconsin native quests to make his first feature film,
a movie to be called "Northwestern." But there's a problem: Borchardt
doesn't have enough money to make the film, and must finish his short film
"Coven" first in hopes of earning enough profits to add to his
"Northwestern" budget. What follows is two years in Borchardt's life
as he struggles through every adversity imaginable to finish "Coven."
Through it all, we wonder how long it will take for him to break, or for those
around him to break him.
Tom Schimmels, a local actor and one of Borchardt's
regulars, says it best when he calls Borchardt "indomitable." The man
is that, through and through. Thirty years old, unmarried, and with 3 kids who
he owes child support to, Borchardt is determine to go down in ruins instead of
compromising. In an effort to finish "Coven," Borchardt practically
strongarms his ailing Uncle Bill into "investing" $3,000 into the
production. Later, Borchardt emotionally blackmails his mother to trek into the
wilderness in freezing weather to be one of his extras.
Chris Smith, the filmmaker behind "American
Movie," makes a very good choice early on not to insinuate himself into the
documentary, although this becomes impossible after a while. Even though Smith,
who also works the camera, sometimes breaks his silence by asking questions, the
film is for the most part a straight look at Borchardt's life and the lives (and
trials and tribulations) of those around him. (Although it might have been
better if Smith had edited out his own voice.)
The people around Borchardt, including his separated
parents, doubting siblings, and best friends Ken Keen and Mike Schank, are just
as colorful as Borchardt himself. And yes, these are real people, not
actors. Borchardt's parents don't get along and live in separate homes; his
brothers don't understand why he doesn't get a regular job like a normal person;
and Mike Schank, an aspiring musician, seems eternally stoned. Besides that,
Borchardt is living with a woman older than him, his wife is trying to get his
kids, and the telephone company is ready to cancel his phone!
The proof that Smith is capturing the real-life Borchardt
as he fast-talks his way through one unflattering season after another is when,
during Thanksgiving, a plainly drunk Borchardt (he drinks like a fish) confronts
Smith in the basement. At that moment, we realize that Borchardt knows his life
is pathetic; that he knows intimately (although he will never say it out loud)
that he's chasing a hopeless dream. That one scene, with Borchardt clutching a
turkey leg and staring into the camera with a knowing look, makes "American
Movie" great.
Besides the obvious lessons would-be filmmakers can learn
from Borchardt's filmmaking mistakes (and oh God are there a lot!), the
film is very accessible to John Q. At its heart, "American Movie" is
more than a movie about a filmmaker trying to make it, it's about a man trying,
against all hope, to realize a dream that is so beyond his reach he has no hopes
of ever obtaining it -- ever. Even if Borchardt finally realizes the reality of
making his movie "Northwestern," there is absolutely no chance that he
will ever be recognized as a good filmmaker. The truth is, Borchardt is not very
good, and deep down, as he struggles to make "Coven" within the
documentary, I believe he knows it.
But hope springs eternal, they say. Borchardt's mind is
full of hope, and no one is going to take that away from him. Not even the
creditors gathering at his doorsteps...
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