REVIEWS

*Reviewer: G.M. Zoom (Arizona)

Visual Literature- To begin with, consider it to be a piece of literature that found its way to a DVD. Or if preferred, think of it as a treatise about "Man's inhumanity to Man" that has been presented in a digital format rather than textual format. The title: "USA The Movie" is a deliberate provocation that up front spells out the irony which permeates this visual literature.

The Poem, "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen (a quintessential war poet and WWI soldier killed in battle) accompanied by imagery of clouds and a half moon is the prologue. It sums up the film's intention and message. The final lines of the poem quoted here: "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest, To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori".

To translate: "It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country" The poem details the brutal, gory death of one soldier dying in a gas attack. Owen calls the much spoken phrase : "Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori" a lie because he has seen the true meaning of war.

"USA The Movie" picks up this theme and plays it out over 90 minutes orchestrating a non-linear experience, which increases in intensity, sometimes discordant, sometimes synchronized, finally potent.

 

*Reviewer: Gene Free (MO USA)

GREAT AND POETIC - See it and take your time. Then watch it again and again. This is a great piece of work that every American needs to see.

From "Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" Don't be fooled by the news. Fox is known for exaggerating lies and turning them into "reality". It is not only Fox, it is every mainstream media outlet that pretends to bring you real journalism. This DVD is insightful and well done. I also purchased USA The Movie along with it and I loved it too. I recommend it with Outfoxed. Of course, they are different in the way they are done but they are both a "must see". USA The Movie is as epic as it gets and equally real. It is a beautiful piece of work that is filled with depth.

 

*Reviewer: Cameron Thayer (Vancouver, B.C.)

Crazy Beautiful - USA The Movie is like this: You take a nap on a long hot Sunday afternoon. It feels great to close your eyes and let your worries drift away. Soon you're lost in one of those intense lucid dreams where you know you're dreaming but you still can't wake up--not that you want to. You go with the flow, and soon you're in a kind of weird Alice in Wonderland story complete with characters you didn't think you could dream up. They're telling you all kinds of crazy stuff about war and peace while taking you through a trip into the past and even the future.

The dream starts to get heavier and you feel like it's going down a path you can't control. Maybe you want to wake up so you try to open your eyes but you can''t . Now there's destruction and sadness and confusion and scary voices telling you what could be truth or could be lies. You're seeing images that flicker and change and then get clear, but do you even want to see what you're brain is creating for you?

Finally you're lost in a myth world and you realize the end has come. The end of the world and the end of the dream. It's over. What do you wake up to? What do you do next?

Maybe you'll write down that dream because you know dreams like that don't happen too often--and when they do you better pay attention.

Or maybe you'll crack a beer and forget the whole thing. Bad idea. Don't forget.

 

*Reviewer: Leonore Montaine (Attleboro, MA)

Will we never forget? - It's funny because I read all the reviews on this page after getting this movie and it's either a love it or hate it reaction. You'll probably either love it or hate it too. I think the best films are the ones that divide people because obviously they have some kind of impact. I'm in the five star camp because this film did a real number on me and made me want to go back and find out more about Afghanistan and Iraq. I have to admit that I was pretty tuned out when all that was taking place. Especially Afghanistan and I feel guilty about that. The music through the movie was beautiful. I kept getting lost in it especially during some of the historical flashbacks. Personally, I thought the audio was great. It seemed to me that the soundtrack with speeches, music and the radio was put together so that you feel like you're in the RV with Jim, the main character, or in his head. Everything not on the radio was very clear and everything on the radio sounded like it was really on the radio. Anyway, this is a very amazing DVD which made me cry.

 

*Reviewer: James Wartofsky (Oakland, CA)

I'm using it to teach students - I heard about USA the Movie through Democratic Underground while I was searching for media materials to use for my Non-Violent action curriculum. I wanted to utilize a broad spectrum of video and text resources to engage the students in my course. This film is a great example of a visceral and idiosyncratic way to present historical issues. I am using it along with some of the more clear-cut documentary style video pieces that are available to give the students a taste of the wide variety of ways that they can learn and get involved. Projects like this film inspire young people to express themselves in their own voice without feeling intimidated by standard styles. There's nothing more important than making kids feel that they too have something to say and that they have the freedom to say it.

This movie definitely takes you on a trip. It's almost psychedelic in its approach and demands focus and attention (something that's important to teach young people these days in the post MTV hyper-stimulated world). It ends with an unrelenting list of grim statistics about war, violence and domination and Gandhi's plea to "live simply that others may simply live". Whatever the reaction may be from each student regarding the film I'm sure it will start a heated and fruitful discussion.

 

*Reviewer: samantha grayson (Missoula, Montana)

This film made me really think about why we are at war. Even though with the hand over of power (supposedly) we are not technically at war anymore, people continue to be killed for some vague reason. I think that there are too many films that try to distract us rather than to teach us. This film with its complex images and clear message says "Why do we kill each other?, why are we obsessed with war?" I felt really emotional after watching it, especially hearing the audio from 9/11 which was very odd and different.

 

*Reviewer: Kim Bordage (Montreal, Canada)

Wake up ! - This fictional drive through reality is really a wake up call to all of us who have decided, consciously or unconsiously, to ignore the seriousness of the state of our violent world - and how apathy has gotten us to this point.

USA The Movie formerly titled America Off Line, begs you to really look at yourself and asks you to do more than just feel. And this is what makes it such a unique experience. This is not your typical movie. They didn't even run credits at the end.

I watched the film many weeks ago but it's still with me all the time. The images and the speeches were that powerful. Some of the characters we meet made me so angry I wanted to scream and some really opened my eyes in a profound way.

One scene in particular brought me to tears because it was so real. I don't want to spoil it so I'll just mention that it includes a taxi driver with wisdom, heart and a message so simple everyone should hear it.

The main character is a strange but real man who seems lost like the rest of us after the horror of September 11. We are brought along as passengers on this journey as he travels through America, exchanging vehicles as he passes through different phases of awareness. On this journey, we can hear the car radio feed us speeches and poems and opinions from past and current political figures and from people like you and me. I found this to be a very effective technique because you have to pay such close attention to what is being said, as opposed to what is being shown. Very non-Hollywood. The protagonist goes from denial to disillusionment and most of this you can tell by looking into his eyes. Eventually he becomes as destructive to himself as the world is in general. This is the never ending cycle of violence.

Many of the scenes are shot in a way that feels and looks like a dream. At the same time you're struck with the harsh contrast of the reality of the subject matter. Which to me makes beautiful sense since many of us run around in a productive daze not unlike a dream, choosing to deny what is really going on, and what has been going on for a very long time now.

The point of this film comes across very clearly, very early on. It solidified my belief that each of us urgently needs to examine the amount of responsibility we have as individuals to each other. There are too many casualties of war and violence. So many babies that deserve to live die every day because the 'adults' in charge don't know how to properly communicate with eachother. It's heart-rending and I've always felt it but watching this film sort of woke me from my dream and now I'm doing more than just feeling.

 

*Reviewer: Jarman Augustus "Hawthorne" (Oregon)

The Man Who Is America- Jam-packed with imagery and audio, featuring a protagonist who is deliberately linked to many cultural icons, USA the Movie is a one of a kind cinematic tour-de-force.

You might get tricked here depending on what you're expecting. The DVD is linked at Amazon to fantastic muckrakers like "Outfoxed" and "Unprecedented" but to my mind, it's not in the same category. It's not political, which is strange to say considering the fact that its subjects might be seen as September 11th/Iraqi Invasion/Bush etc. but I would characterize it as "transpolitical": it has all of the above in it but it isn't about all of the above.

James Kirk is the captain of his own vehicle, but it's not a spaceship. He slumps at the helm of that classic piece of Americana: the R. V. Reminding us of an older balding version of the character "Billy" (Dennis Hopper) in Easy Rider, down to the gestures and speech patterns, Kirk, is certainly "riding easy" in his oversized mobile world. This time, when he sets out to "find America" this doughy, over-the hill "60's"throwback also finds tragedy at the end of the road.

When he's alone, Kirk is a lot like Chance the gardener in the classic" Being There": he's a cipher who seems to have no connection with anything but his radio. For Chance, it was the television, but the effect is the same: a numbed out blank slate. Zelig-like, Kirk swings both ways; Right Wing and Left Wing depending on who is in front of him. Hypnotized by a taxi driver spouting easy to digest Eastern philosophy, Kirk looks like he's ready to become a follower. Ground Zero brings a tear to his eye and anger to his lips. An enraged rant with pat phrases about the corporate takeover of Democracy is what he summons up in the face of destruction. Flags wave behind him and we're treated to a reverse "Patton" image. Now the flags are a backdrop for a speech not about War but about the evils of the Military Industrial Complex. He knows all the right things to say but he is like a wind-up doll mouthing sentiments he doesn't understand or feel. Van Gogh wanted to be a preacher but no one would listen to him. Thankfully he turned to art and from his madness he left us something of value. James Kirk also goes mad and even resembles a puffy, bloated Van Gogh; only his insanity leaves nothing behind. The struggles of James Kirk are paper thin. Voices that really do care call to him throughout (listen closely to Martin Luther King, Jr. here. This is NOT the I Have A Dream Speech. This is the speech that got him killed.) But in the end as he's buried in the sand, looking like both the Adam and the God of Michelangelo and with his end drawing near, James Kirk would rather go to sleep.

More than anything, this movie is a character study. A portrait of America as it is today. Read my summary again carefully and you'll see: James Kirk IS America.

 

*Reviewer: Music Maven (Pomona, CA)

The Best Present I got For The Holidays- Like many folks I was so hopeful before the election. I really believed that we, as a nation, would realize our folly and correct our mistake. It was obvious. It couldn't go any other way. Well, needless to say, King George W. has been crowned again and I don't know what the hell has happened to our country. Stolen election or not, this time in history has me confused and has me searching for answers.

I got this DVD for the holidays from a friend who is like-minded. He had been raving about it for months: talking about how it really manages to nail the feeling of our times and somehow manages to bring home this feeling of lostness that seems to have grabbed ahold of America. Not that America thinks that it's lost, no, the country is certain that it has all the answers. But from a different perspective there is more and more confusion and it is all tied up in a weird smugness with a topping of fear.

But USA The Movie is somehow is comforting because any piece of art (and this really is art) that makes you feel that you are not alone in your thoughts and views is comforting. The movie takes a piece of historical torment and rides it all the way to the end where nothing is left. Human error? Nuclear annihilation? Global warming? Is there any way out of this mess? The film ponders these questions. It reminded me all too clearly how we were lied to by our "leaders", how we swallowed that lie and didn't really blink an eye. How some of us did rise up for a short time to say NO! but that was that. Once the ball got rolling with war and the march of so-called "freedom", what happened to the outcry? I ask myself that question too. Why did I, and so many others just let it go?

On an interesting note. When my friend and I talked about the movie some of the things that we discussed made us think that maybe we were talking about two different movies. We almost had an argument about certain things that were and weren't in it. At one point I thought that maybe I was getting pre-Alzheimer's because I couldn't remember seeing a couple of scenes he mentioned. On the other hand, the film is so packed with ideas and thoughts that it isn't surprising that some things might stay in one person's mind and slip another. Finally, we got together and checked our copies. Sure enough, they are different. The version my friend got for me is a newer one. So we had a very interesting time comparing the two. All in all, an absolute must view, whatever version you might have.