Sherman's March

I love this film. I remember seeing it years ago on a NYC PBS station on a rainy night and I was immediately drawn into it. A southern documentary filmmaker starts to make his film about Civil War General Sherman but he breaks up with his girlfriend and goes back home down south and starts filming everyone in his life (his parents, his siblings, his friends) and they are all giving him advice on his struggling film career and his love life and they all try and fix him up with all these "southern belles" and he just films it all. It is fascinating and funny and real. Well, as real as life can be when you know someone has a film camera on their shoulder and they are filming you. I also highly recommend the two follow-ups to this "Time Indefinite" and "The Six O'Clock News". Ross McElwee is an incredibly talented filmmaker and a sweet, neurotic human being who has no trouble baring his soul on film. Check this film out.

McElwee has done many other similar works, some more deeply moving -- the one about his father the doctor, for instance. But this gives a great introduction to his "style" -- the guy who takes the camera everywhere and films his life, and not just in trivial ways -- ala web cams today. A tribute to women -- and women rate it much higher than men, as the imDb voting demographics show. This pre-dated the well-known and wildly successful "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" -- some would call it an outright steal or rip-off of "Sherman's March." As far as I know, McElwee had nothing to do with and is not credited in "Sex, Lies, and Videotape. "Sherman's March" clearly influenced "SL & V," to put things more mildly. SL&V has marketing written all over it, from the title to the stars (admittedly not as famous during the time of the shoot as now), and in its focus on sex and masturbation, particularly. "Sherman's March" has indie-film written all over it; it's not about stars, only indirectly about sex, and everyone plays themselves: it's a documentary. I liked all of that and it was a fresh approach when it first came out. Most such films are not done skillfully, thoughtfully, or edited well enough to make for excellent viewing. You may or may not like McElwee personally; he's a bit of an odd-ball, but a kindly one. His women friends are the focus here, however, and he wisely gets out of the way most of the time. Well worth your time.

After seeing this documentary "Sherman's March" by Ross McElwee in 1986, I was so confused and had no idea what the main point of this "documentary" is. My first impression was that why the title of this film is called Sherman's March? There are only a few parts about Sherman's history and background. I have no idea why he wanted to name this long film "Sherman's March"? Besides, the major part of this documentary / biography is about the women he met and his inner fantasy for nuclear war. If the director could change the title, and remove General Sherman part, this documentary could be a nice piece about man, woman, and love. In my personal opinion, McElwee's inner mind could be dark and invisible - it reflects on his insomnia and bad dreams. However, these women having different background could be lighthouses for him to guide him to a new peaceful world. Then I think in the process of seeking love, and he could realize what he really wants by meeting different women around him. He used his own voice to narrate what he is thinking and what is in his mind when he saw different people and experience different things. I think it is quite unique - the camera becomes his eyes and audiences see what he saw through the frames and the movie not only recorded all these people he met, but also became a tool for the director to analyze himself. Even though I think this is not Sherman's March - instead, it is Women's March! I still think the content itself is quite interesting and funny. The director's unrestrained and vigorous thought and humorous conversation actually made the "path way" to "true love" more interesting.

First off, I'm not sure what this movie has in common with "The Road Warrior," which is one of the movies recommended on the IMD "if you enjoyed this movie." This movie cannot be compared with most other films because it is a documentary about the search for one man's inner happiness. Ross McElwee is a filmmaker commissioned to make a movie about the Civil War. Right before he begins his odyssey, his girlfriend leaves him. He's stuck with a camera and no inspiration to follow Sherman's trail through the south. His new odyssey is quite different than any historical documentary, and thank God for it. It is so wonderfully entertaining and funny because McElwee is a well-spoken, charming and insightful filmmaker. And a natural comedian to boot! His struggle to find true love in the modern south plays like a country fried steak version of Woody Allen. And the women he encounters are nearly as unforgettable and entertaining. This film and his follow-up, Time Indefinite, seem to serve as his personal catharsis. Normally I would cringe at the thought of watching someone make a movie just to better him or herself. But I have yet to see a more personal and entertaining documentary than Sherman's March.

"Sherman's March" has some outstanding moments that capture the difficulties of relationships, but the lengthiness and lack of focus make it difficult to praise. The overall structure of the film is a clever look at the unpredictability of an artist's focus, in that filmmaker Ross McElwee set out to make a documentary about the Savannah Campaign and ended up making a film about his failed relationships. But McElwee's free-form approach to storytelling is the sole cause of the films only major flaw; at a whopping 157 minutes, it's padded with excessively long shots and pointless detours, including several attempts to find Burt Reynolds. It's impossible to become fully absorbed in the story when the subject repeatedly shifts from history lesson to love triangle to stalking celebrities. Ultimately, this film is worth viewing for its glimpses into the human condition and the interesting characters that enrich McElwee's travels (I especially like Charleen). However, much like the filmmaker, you may need to distract yourself periodically to make it to the end of this exhausting reflexive journey.