The first hour or so is an interesting ethnographic study of Midwestern small town white suburbia during the end of the 1970s. We skip through town, observing its movers and shakers which mainly consist of farmers and lawyers and the elderly. Louis Malle makes for such an amiable presence for most of the film (barring a certain scene or two) which allows his subjects to lower their guard and present him with their brand of Americana. Malle finds farmers discussing their industry, servicemen reminiscing on their service and the recent wounds of the Vietnam War, and community members engaging in what Malle describes as strange rituals like lawn mowing. It's a great look into the daily life of the past, which is always an interesting subject to me, with a casualness and an intimacy that's reminiscent of home movies at times. What really makes this film great is the last half hour where we skip forward to the middle of the Reagan Revolution and find our subjects disheveled by farming developments and a mood of quiet discontent. The second part of this film really allows for a fascinating before and after of this community as time moves forward but they seem to stand still. There's interesting moments in Malle's interviews where he questions townspeople about race, sexuality, and political conflicts (the section about the Minnesota 8 was especially interesting as was Jean's entire presence) but that's not really what Malle is focused on much of the time. He presents himself and this film as a document from an outside observer of American traditions and of a microcosm of Republican suburbia before and during a national shift in what constitutes the "American dream". It's really interesting stuff though that lack of interest in interrogating the town makes much of the rest of the film essentially a montage of home movies that wears out its novelty quickly. Still, I found it something worth watching and thinking about.
The first hour or so is an interesting ethnographic study of Midwestern small town white suburbia during the end of the 1970s. We skip through town, observing its movers and shakers which mainly consist of farmers and lawyers and the elderly. Louis Malle makes for such an amiable presence for most of the film (barring a certain scene or two) which allows his subjects to lower their guard and present him with their brand of Americana. Malle finds farmers discussing their industry, servicemen reminiscing on their service and the recent wounds of the Vietnam War, and community members engaging in what Malle describes as strange rituals like lawn mowing. It's a great look into the daily life of the past, which is always an interesting subject to me, with a casualness and an intimacy that's reminiscent of home movies at times. What really makes this film great is the last half hour where we skip forward to the middle of the Reagan Revolution and find our subjects disheveled by farming developments and a mood of quiet discontent. The second part of this film really allows for a fascinating before and after of this community as time moves forward but they seem to stand still. There's interesting moments in Malle's interviews where he questions townspeople about race, sexuality, and political conflicts (the section about the Minnesota 8 was especially interesting as was Jean's entire presence) but that's not really what Malle is focused on much of the time. He presents himself and this film as a document from an outside observer of American traditions and of a microcosm of Republican suburbia before and during a national shift in what constitutes the "American dream". It's really interesting stuff though that lack of interest in interrogating the town makes much of the rest of the film essentially a montage of home movies that wears out its novelty quickly. Still, I found it something worth watching and thinking about.
