I had no idea what to watch today. Lately I have had a bit of a struggle finding things to watch, just not having the patience to search and not quite knowing what exactly it is I feel like watching in the first place. But today I remembered that for well over a year now, in fact, over several years, I have been needing to watch a documentary dedicated to the beautiful world of filmmaking. A documentary I didn't know much about, nor those it follows, by the name of American Movie. I had heard great things about American Movie over the years, but for some reason I just never got myself into the mood to check it out. I had a brief reminder a few months ago at the unfortunate news of the passing of Mike Schank, a popular character from the documentary. Though circumstances around the start of the year just had the documentary fall into the pile of things for me to watch at some point. Weirdly, documentaries haven't been something I've been watching for a few months now. I am usually a huge fan of documentaries, and even more so ones around the world of filmmaking.
Filmmaking documentaries tend to be a tricky thing. Many of them end up being nothing more than promotional material for whatever the production is, being quite unnatural and of course very optimistic regarding the final outcome. These documentaries tend to be paid for by the studio and used as extras sooner or later just to reel people in. As a result, there's not much information on the production. We don't see what's being made by who and how unless it's a setup interview segment, to which it's all very scripted. So, an independent filmmaking documentary is a rarity, giving us a glimpse at the struggles and characters that dedicate their time and money into creating stories for the world to enjoy. These documentaries display the passion, the pain, and the sheer fun of creating a film. Really bridging the gap between filmmaker and audience in sharing the whole process that goes behind the decisions made that result in that final film reel, edited and spliced together for the projector.
Any person that is a fan of independent films is likely to know that making a film is not an easy task at all. We hear of the millions of dollars that go to a title's budget, admittedly much of it wasted on advertising rather than principle photography, but we never really see how that money is spent. Beyond directors and producers and actors, much of the world is void of awareness of what people actually do on a film set. The many members of lighting, sound, camera, and costume and makeup. These titles and names are often ignored, despite being some of the hardest working members of crew that help the production go from script to two-hour experience. For the indie filmmaker, creating something is a life consuming experience, something that consumes your time, emotion, money, and health over the production time. Endless phone calls to investors, endless scouting for actors and potential crew. Though much of the time these productions are made alongside friends. People they know and trust and have experience working with. For many in the independent scene, making a film is a make-or-break scenario. Their life either continues, or they have to pack it up and get a job. Something no filmmaker wants.
American Movie
For a lot of independent filmmakers, the endless struggles of funding and creating short films is how you slowly make your way into the feature length films. The idea that you climb the ranks and get a bit of a name for yourself before you take a shot at the more serious side of handling money and storytelling. American Movie shows the struggles of Mark Borchardt, a wannabe filmmaker from Wisconsin, his main goal to create a horror film called Northwestern. We did into the growing pains of this project as Mark struggles to get things afloat. Going through all the preparation to shoot, but lacking the finances and the crew to really get it out of the preparation stage and into an actual production phase. These growing pains last literal years. The film introduces us to Mark's friends, family, and random hires that help him create his films. A fully independent filmmaker, to the point in which he uses his mother to help him create and shoot scenes at home. This is the idea of filmmaking at its core: low budget, with friends and family and whatever gear you can grab ahold of to make things work.
We see the sheer chaos of Mark's finance problems to fund these films that he chooses to shoot instead of Northwestern, in hopes that he can raise money through those to in order to actually shoot the film he considers is the one he needs to make. In American Movie, the characters that appear in this documentary is absolutely what makes it. Elderly uncles with money that seem completely done with life, constantly knocking Mark down and thinking he's wasting his time. Mark constantly checking up on him and trying to convince him to give him more money. But there's a beautiful relationship between the two, we see how Mark really cares and looks after those around him. He's a good person at heart and but also insanely motivated to see success come from his creations. Mark's friends are also interesting characters, his best friend Mike being the epitome of metal fan in the 80s and 90s. Clueless, relaxed, and going with the flow. Mike is an insanely good friend, always willing to help out Mike with his films, from acting to quite literally marking reels of film in post production. But we move back to Mark: the real filmmaker here. He's handling everything, he has the drive. The passion to tell stories, and he refuses to accept failure. We see how Mark wants this more than anything, feeling that his existence is to make films and nothing else. Being in his early 30s but refusing to have a normal life, looking down on the idea of getting a boring factory job, to which he just cannot see himself ever doing. Instead, he sticks to delivering papers as he always had. Not quite growing up, but motivated beyond belief to create. Mark's passion for filmmaking is highly evident, and I couldn't help but love this so much. The documentary follows him around throughout these processes, from everyday life to production struggles.
As mentioned, though, we get the perspectives of those around Mark. It's interesting to see what people had to. say about him and his ambitions while he wasn't present. Seeing how people had seen Mark's ambition to create but also didn't quite believe in his ability to take it beyond an idea and into something that could see some sort of success. For Mark, success was selling up to $40,000 worth of copies. This was enough to push forward, despite being in multiple debts and owing a ton of people money. These problems only contributed to the idea that Mark was setting himself up for failure, having delusional dreams that just were not feasible. Of course, to those that are not necessarily filmmakers, it's easy to believe this and assume the worst. For a filmmaker, this is only more motivation to get things finished and prove to the world that you have something to say. For filmmakers, much of the drive is finding a way to leave a mark in life. A want to leave something behind that could show you existed but also inspired others. I had this feeling listening to Mark speak about his love for films, especially horror films. There's a degree of ignorance to him, but it's a good type of ignorance. One that refuses to listen to others in regards to their assumptions that he may fail. The misunderstanding between personalities as Mark knows he needs to do this, and others don't quite understand it.
Though within this documentary is an endless amount of comedy. The pains of being an independent filmmaker and doing much of the work yourself. Thirty takes trying to get one line from someone, the patience in Mark as the takes pile up and nothing seems remotely working. Having his mother try to use a film camera rigged up on the floor of the kitchen while he tries to act in a scene. Even just Mark's endless use of the word "man" in every sentence just adds to the comedy and character. Each person in this documentary offers something so vastly unique to it that it almost seems like a film itself. That it couldn't possibly be fiction because of how perfectly written Mark's life and surroundings seem to be. The depressed old man, the loving parents that provide endless support to chaotic ideas, the chilled-out friend that loves music and soda drinks, and the elements of fatherhood in the estranged aspiring filmmaker of Mark that provides balance to his love for fiction while also wanting to be a good father. I just could not stop watching American Movie. And why is it called this? Well, Mark believes that his films are the definition of what it means to be American. The hopes and dreams. The arts. The locations of middle America with regular aspiring actors and friends. The coming together of community to create. For Mark, he wouldn't have it any other way.
This is by far one of the best documentaries on filmmaking I've ever seen. If not the best. It's so raw, so authentic to what creating films is. Especially for a man living in such a rural location, inspired to pick up a camera. It handles the stress and the passion perfectly. The drive to create and the refusal to accept defeat. It captures the process of independent filmmaking in a manner that you can't help but love, and even feel inspired by yourself. But most importantly, it displays how filmmaking brings people together. How so many passionate creatives come together to tell stories and produce something. To pour hours of their time and all their emotion into it. To believe in something greater than themselves, and pursue something more. That chaotic, painful burn of what it means to be a filmmaker. To get home exhausted at night after shooting all day, only to have zero regrets and do it all again the next day. American Movie is shot with such truth to it, I loved it all so much.
