Anyone within earshot of yours truly over the years knows I am a big fan of documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee. The first-person cinema verite-style documentary was made that much better when McElwee put out Sherman's March in 1986. In that film--full title: Sherman's March: A Mediation to the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation--McElwee set out to make a documentary following the path of Sherman's March in the Civil War. He has been dumped by his girlfriend, however, which weighs on his mind. He is set up on a series of blind dates by his old teacher and friend, Charlotte. Many decisive moments ensue. All the while, McElwee keeps his camera on his shoulder--never taking it off, we sense from the editing. Combined with McElwee's laconic voice-over narration--like Robert Creeley with a North Carolina accent--the effect is an intensely personal film. And funny. Even 2003's Bright Leaves seems completely fresh and new. The way he puts together his films--intensely personal, self-questioning--matches to my mind what a truly essaysistic essay should be.

The availability of his films has always depended on how close one lives to a good video store, but now we finally have all of his films, plus extra goodies, in one box set. Get thee to your Netflix queue and update it! Here's an interview on Indiewire.

Another recent pleasure: Country Boys, by the same filmmaker of The Farmer's Wife.

Labels: Riffs