Where Are We

Rating:
Summary: American Splendor
Review: An admirable attempt to paint an anthropological portrait of American "daily life" in the early 90's by San Francisco-based documentarian team Friedman and Epstein. Although billed ostensibly as "Our Trip Through America", the directors display an obvious fixation on the deep South. At first, it appears that Friedman and Epstein are shooting fish in a barrel- a pregnant 15-year-old and her mullet-haired husband recieve a pitch from a smarmy mobile home salesman; a middle aged black woman confides that she is making $3.25 an hour after working almost 20 years in the same resturant; a couple proudly conduct a tour of the scale-model of Graceland they have built in thier back yard, etc. But as the movie progresses and moves away from easy targets, the parade of humanity eventually sneaks up behind you and becomes quite affecting. Some scenes, like an interview with an AIDS patient who is filmed in half-sunlight, observing the world outside his window while ruminating about life, resonates with a Zen-like simplicity and beauty( I was even reminded of "Wings Of Desire" at times). It's not all about lives of quiet desperation; a segment profiling an "almost famous" aging stripper is quite amusing, as is a moment where Friedman and Epstein ask a couple of beer-drinking NASCAR fans (with a straight face) about thier impression of San Francisco (one of the good ol' boys uses the word "faggish" as a qualifier; you can picture the filmmakers enjoying thier private joke). By turns enlightening, wistful and dreamlike. A unique documentary well worth your while.