‘American Movie’ not just
another sweet success tale
American Movie
Starring Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank and
Mark’s Uncle Bill. Directed by Chris Smith.
Sony Pictures Classics.
★★★★☆
By Sara Jarrett
Oregon Daily Emerald
Mark Borchardt has dreamt of
making movies all his life. Now, at
age 30, he is finally on his way.
“American Movie” is a hilarious
exploration of low-budget movie
makers and lower-class American
lifestyles. The film is about Bor
chardt’s perseverence through the
muck of life to fulfill his dream to
make films— drinking beer at 7
a.m. to tackle a long day of work
ahead and playing the lottery in
stead of doing drugs. As he likes to
point out, when you play the lot
tery, you have a fifty-fifty chance
of winning, whereas doing drugs
always makes you a loser.
The making of Borchardt’s life
and times comes alive thanks to
director Chris Smith’s vision in
“American Movie.”
In full documentary style,
“American Movie” seeks to find
out what makes Borchardt tick, by
interviewing his family and
friends. Through these people, it’s
revealed that since childhood his
favorite pastimes were anything
but conventional.
Borchardt is shown smashing
cars in the junkyard by the Mil
waukee trailer park he calls home,
skipping school to party and
watch his favorite movies, “Dawn
of the Dead,” “Night of the Living
Dead” and “Texas Chainsaw Mas
sacre,” in that order. These activi
ties consume his formative years.
While his family expresses con
cern that he will amount to noth
ing more than a truck driver or fac
tory worker, our hero decides to
prove them wrong by attaining the
“good life.” To Borchardt this
means money, sex, power and a
house that isn’t as obnoxious as
the ones in the suburban neighbor
hoods he drives around to drool at
when he’s depressed.
At age 14, he buys a video cam
era and makes the first of a series
of horror films called “The More
the Scarier.” Patterned after his fa
vorite flicks, he strives to make
these first films “real,” alarming
and grotesquely bloody.
Still, to earn money at film mak
ing,Borchardt realizes he can’t yet
give up his paper route and job
vacuuming the floors at the local
mausoleum. The cemetery, inci
dentally, is a source of inspiration
for him because he believes the
people there “netfer bitch at you or
talk back.” They have finally be
come decent human beings, he
muses.
Harnessing a business savvy
that surprises everyone he knows,
Borchardt manages to rope his
rich, senile uncle Bill into produc
ing his cinematic vision, “North
western.” Halfway through, how
ever, Borchardt discards that
project and returns to making
“Coven,” a 35 minute, black-and
white documentary he dropped
two years previous.
“Coven” is a look into the life of
a substance-abusing writer who
seeks help from a support group
that actually brings more evil into
his life than he could have ever
imagined.
Involving everyone he knows,
and drawing upon his doctrine
made up of “one part Satanism
and one part Christianity,” Bor
chardt finishes “Coven.” By the
end of that film, he also resumes
his “Northwestern” project with a
$50,000 inheritance he receives af
ter his uncle dies.
The film opens Friday at the Bi
jou Art Cinemas. For show times,
call 686-2458.
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aMB—MB
Photos Courtesy Sony Picture Classics
Filmmaker Mark Borchardt (upper photo, right) lounges with musician/childhood friend Mike Schank. ‘American Movie’ director
Chris Smith (center photo, right) with producer Sarah Price. The cast of Borchardt’s 35-minute short ‘Coven’ (bottom).
007653
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