American Dharma

Saw this at IDFA 2018, the documentary festival in Amsterdam. Difficult film to watch and sit through, not for being a bad documentary but because some of the things said and shown on screen that nearly make me throw sharp kitchen tools towards the speaker. It displays a clear vision of what the current politically correct elite does wrong in the eyes of the "common" man, failing to solve any of the issues we have nowadays, merely make toothless compromises and never take a real stand against things that "everyone" sees going in the wrong direction. There is an urgent need for change, as Bannon repeatedly states. And getting Trump elected is a blunt instrument (his words) to get things changed. Any of the other Republican candidates would only prolong the status quo, so Trump was in fact the only way out.

My problem, on the other hand, is whether this new approach will work out very differently. It reverses things arranged in the past, just for the sake of doing it differently, without a clear vision about a new future. But I'm not really politically interested, so I'm wrong on all counts while having no clear position either, nor a better alternative, nor any urgency to change things.

I can appreciate that Bannon wanted to have this film made, thereby getting a platform to explain things that did not work out the way he probably wanted. If he did make an attempt to make his role bigger than it actually was, he did it subtly enough and I was not aware of it (if he did). At least he flatly denied having written Trumps acceptance speech, that was not so well received in other countries. Given that it was sheer luck to win the presidential election on a narrow margin, he cannot (and did not) say that the strategy was so brilliant that they impossibly could have lost.

All in all, if you are a bit masochistic and can stand the things brought to you via news fragments and other existing footage, this movie illustrates the "Trump era" very well, how it grew and how it will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. The movie fragments that are supposed to enlighten us about Barron's strategy, did not all work for me, albeit most were a very good attempt, like several clips from Twelve O'clock High (1949). Also, the pivotal scene with Henry V and Fallstaff, in Chimes at Midnight (1965), could explain Bannon being sent away by Trump as inevitable.

An exquisitely made documentary, in which Errol Morris gives Steve Bannon just enough rope to hang himself. No doubt many would prefer to see Bannon more thoroughly and decisively skewered (which wouldn't be hard), but Bannon is smart enough not to participate with any documentarian who would do that. Instead, Bannon engages with Morris and collaborates all-too-willingly with his conceit of drawing parallels between Bannon's political machinations and his favourite Hollywood classics. The approach neatly underscores Bannon's essential narcissism, while giving him a framework within which he can both expound his political views and reveal himself, both proudly and inadvertently. As the consequences of this current wave of populism - and, more specifically, Trumpism - continue to unfold and blight the world, American Dharma is likely to become an increasingly important document of one of the movement's most important architects. With Trump now defeated (at least electorally) Morris probably needs to re-visit Bannon for his more unvarnished views on the presidency he engineered. Maybe they could call it Dharma and Dumber.

Errol Morris is a weasel. He was face to face with Bannon for 17 hours, but waits until AFTER he gets bad reviews to badmouth him.

The movie centers around Bannon's favorite movies, including "Sergeant York" and others, and how they revolve around the Trump 2016 Campaign, but also how he got started, and why he thinks the way he does... Definitely worth the $3.99, and I'm cheap!

Errol Morris delivers it again. The principle is the same: a tet à tet. But the end result is always different. Always amazing out it develops. Dont let your political views stand in the way of watching this film. Just enjoy it. It's yet another powerfull movie. And a word to the music and sound effects, Morris knows how important they are adding drama.

Quite a good film and the cinematics make it more watchable than if it was just a standard interview type format. For such a vilified character he doesn't seem that bad and is at least open to debate. It's striking that much of Bannon's political ideology seems to come apart under the gentlest of questioning and he almost seems acutely aware of that. Can't help feeling as a result that there is something more going on and that his politics are perhaps more a surface manifestation of some deeper psychological aspect. The film leaves that aspect largely unexplored.