This 25-Year-Old Film Turned an Amateur Director Into a Cult Hero

Twenty-five years ago, Chris Smith directed the documentary American Movie, which, over the years, has turned the film’s subject, Wisconsin-based auteur Mark Borchardt, into a cult hero. While most documentaries focus on a niche subject matter, American Movie has a near-universal appeal that possesses the ability to entertain almost anyone. American Movie succeeds as a laugh-out-loud hysterical comedy that finds immense humor in both its eccentric cast of characters and the absurdist struggles of trying to produce a low-budget independent film. The movie also offers audiences a somber portrait of Midwestern working-class existential malaise and the desire to break free from this oppressive way of life by pursuing the American Dream. Lastly, American Movie is a beautiful tribute to aspiring filmmakers everywhere and is a required viewing experience for anyone interested in becoming a movie director.

An integral work within the 1990s American independent cinema renaissance, American Movie is one of many films from its era that used the Sundance Film Festival as its launching pad toward success. The Sundance Film Festival during the 1990s played a pivotal role in the reemergence of American independent cinema, with movies such as Poison, Paris Is Burning, Slacker, Reservoir Dogs, and Clerks, to name a few, using the festival as a showcase to reach wider audiences. At the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, American Movie won the Grand Jury Prize Documentary. American Movie also won the People’s Choice Award for Documentary Film at the Denver International Film Festival. Retrospectively, American Movie continues to receive praise as one of the best documentaries of all time. In 2004, The New York Times included American Movie on their list of the “1,000 Greatest Movies Ever Made.” In celebration of their 20th anniversary, the International Documentary Association released a list of the 20 best documentary films in history. American Movie placed 17th on the list.

American Movie Succeeds as a World-Class Comedy

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Shot over two years between 1995 and 1997, American Movie follows the life of Mark Borchardt, an amateur filmmaker from Wisconsin. Borchardt is a passionate lover of horror movies who has made his own films since his teenage years. American Movie commences with Borchardt restarting production on Northwestern, a feature film project he initially began working on several years prior. Borchardt abandoned Northwestern due to complications in his personal life that included living in debt, raising three young children, separating from his girlfriend, and dealing with alcoholism. Realizing he lacks the funds and resources to complete Northwestern, Borchardt begins working on another previously disregarded project, a short film titled Coven, with the hopes of making enough money for him to use toward finishing Northwestern. American Movie juxtaposes the difficulties surrounding Coven’s production with the circumstances of Borchardt’s personal life, exploring his troubled upbringing, his relationships with his friends, and the jobs he works to pay for Coven. A central topic within American Movie is the relationship between Borchardt and his elderly Uncle Bill, a man whom Borchardt borrows money from to help pay for Coven’s production costs.

One aspect that makes American Movie a truly unique documentary is just how raucously funny the film is from start to finish. One does not typically identify nonfiction documentaries as a whimsical genre. If anything, comedic documentaries usually fall into the mockumentary subgenre, which is a fictional parody of documentary structure and tropes. Ironically enough, many people initially confuse American Movie for a mockumentary, only learning after the fact that American Movie is actually a work of nonfiction. The hilarity that ensues in American Movie has way more in common with Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show than it does with the traditional documentary formula. American Movie is undoubtedly one of, if not the funniest documentaries ever made. This may seem like hyperbole, but American Movie offers more laughs than most comedy films.

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A significant portion of American Movie’s humor comes from the trials and tribulations of watching Borchardt’s attempts to make Northwestern and Coven. From the jump, audiences witness the gut-wrenchingly funny process of Borchardt trying to cast Northwestern with a bunch of non-professional actors. Borchardt himself provides for plenty of laughs, as when he learns he has been constantly mispronouncing the name of his own film, Coven. So much of American Movie’s comedy comes from the filmmaking process itself. Seeing Borchardt repeatedly slam actor Tom Schimmels’ head into a cabinet that refuses to break and viewing Borchardt’s mind-numbingly tedious endeavor to get his Uncle Bill to deliver a couple of lines are painstakingly hysterical. Equally as farcical is the scene in which Borchardt asks his Swedish immigrant mother to try and capture close-ups of him, but instead, he is always out of frame and she continually turns off the camera. Perhaps the most sidesplitting scene of all is the sequence when Borchardt records ADR of actors screaming at the top of their lungs, with Borchardt’s best friend Mike Schank going above and beyond the required level of commitment.

Watching American Movie twenty-five years later, a substantial chunk of the film’s comedy also carries heavy feelings of nostalgia for the filmmaking practices of the past. Today, most directors work digitally, a convenience that makes creating cinema both easier and more accessible. Working in the mid-1990s, Borchardt did not have the luxury of digital cameras or computer technology. Every mistake made cost Borchardt time and money. Each take that went awry meant more celluloid had to be purchased. In modern times, if a filmmaker needs special effects sounds, they can simply find them online. In American Movie, it is humorous and frustrating to see Borchardt go into nature to collect the sounds of birds, yet all he finds are no birds and the irritating noise of trucks driving on the highway. Arguably the greatest benefit to digital filmmaking is the editing process, which is now all executed with the assistance of computer technology. In American Movie, Borchardt had to go to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and use their editing room, sleeping there multiple nights to complete Coven. Watching Borchardt and his friends search for missing splices is comical for the audience yet thoroughly unpleasant for Borchardt.

The Existential Malaise of a Midwestern Working-Class Existence

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While certainly a work bound to make anyone laugh, American Movie is also a documentary guaranteed to inflict genuine feelings of sadness upon its audience. Layered between moments of sheer comedic bliss are thought-provoking meditations on the existential malaise of a Midwestern working-class existence. American Movie opens with Borchardt discussing how he feels like a failure. Life seems to be going nowhere for Borchardt, who finds himself in the same situation he was in 15 years prior. There has been no progression, no life improvements, just stagnation, stuck in the monotony of an unfulfilled existence. However, that is all about to change, as Borchardt is more determined than ever to become a successful filmmaker.

To finance his film projects, Borchardt worked menial jobs for minimal pay, echoing the lives of millions of working-class Americans. American Movie spends time with Borchardt as he delivers newspapers and takes a position cleaning a local cemetery. During these sequences, Borchardt laments how there has to be more to life and questions how people can become content with such a trivial existence. An unfortunate reality is that even though the United States promises each individual the American Dream, it is not attainable for everyone. Whether it is due to fears of taking a risk, financial constraints, racial inequality, or one’s own self-destructive behavior, an innumerable amount of people become trapped in living a life of unmanifested potential.

For the most part, American Movie paints a grim portrait of small-town life in the Midwestern United States. The isolation, the poverty, and the overall despondency towards existence cause many to seek drugs and alcohol as a means of solace. Borchardt’s dependency on alcohol serves as a coping mechanism for his current condition as well as his tumultuous upbringing. American Movie examines Borchardt’s childhood in which he dealt with the emotionally debilitating, persistent conflicts between his mother and father. According to his brothers, Borchardt did not handle his parents’ troublesome relationship well, distancing himself from the family. Knowing Borchardt’s past makes the parallels between his parents’ marriage and Borchardt’s damaged relationship with his ex-girlfriend all the more difficult to stomach. Borchardt is not the only person in American Movie dealing with substance abuse issues. Mike Schank is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic who nearly died from an acid overdose. Despite beating his drug and alcohol addictions, Schank develops a gambling problem in which he cannot stop buying lottery tickets.

Among the most heartbreaking, albeit at times also one of American Movie’s funniest characters, is Borchardt’s Uncle Bill. A man in his 80s, Uncle Bill was once a brilliant man with a wickedly sharp mind who now lingers through existence, awaiting what appears to be imminent death. Uncle Bill suffers from pretty obvious cognitive decline and needs assistance with a multitude of physical tasks. It is both amusing and touching to watch Borchardt help Uncle Bill take a bath. Ultimately, watching Uncle Bill, a man so close to death, forces audiences to begin contemplating their own lives. One cannot help but wonder when they reach Uncle Bill’s stage in life, will they look back and be proud of the existence they led? Through strong will and fierce determination, Borchardt, despite extensive complications, achieved his goal by completing Coven and screening the film at a sold-out theater in Milwaukee.

Borchardt Is a Cult Hero Who Embodies the Essence of the American Dream

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• In the closing credits, it is revealed that Uncle Bill passed away on September 13th, 1997. He left Borchardt $50,000 for the completion of Northwestern.

This embodiment of the American Dream, in the subsequent years following American Movie’s premiere, helped turn Borchardt into a cult hero for not only future filmmakers, but for anyone wishing to accomplish a supposedly unobtainable goal in life. American Movie’s themes of being a dreamer, fighting against adversity, and overcoming self-doubt are ubiquitous aspects of the human condition that every individual on the planet can relate to. Borchardt is a quintessential everyman. America has permeated a culture in which our heroes are the likes of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, fictional beings that share little in common with the plight of the human condition. Borchardt fits more in line with the type of hero humanity can directly relate to, one who is complex, flawed, and imperfect. Yet, it is exactly because of his natural human faults that the payoff of his accomplishments feels all the more rewarding in the end.

Although Borchardt never finished Northwestern, the success of American Movie provided him with many career opportunities. Borchardt’s newfound cult status led him to make five appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman. This included a position as a correspondent for Letterman during the 2000 presidential election. In 2006, Borchardt’s popularity led to him and Mike Schank having cameo appearances on the cartoon television series Family Guy. Throughout his career, Borchardt has amassed 47 acting credits between film and television. As a filmmaker, Borchardt directed several music videos, and, in 2017, he wrote and directed the documentary short The Dundee Project, which covers the UFO Daze festival in Dundee, Wisconsin. Sadly, Schank passed away in 2022 following a battle with cancer.

After a quarter of a century, American Movie remains one of American cinema’s most inspirational works. The advent of the Internet, social media, and the cost-effective nature of cell phones and digital cameras have made content creation easier than ever before. YouTube alone contains a vast array of amateur filmmakers waiting for their moment to make it big. American Movie is a must-watch for those looking for a career in the film industry. It is wholeheartedly inspiring to watch someone passionately pursue their dreams. However, American Movie is not just a work designed for filmmakers. The movie is an essential viewing experience for anyone with aspirations to improve their lives. Borchardt’s grappling with the American Dream, both psychically and spiritually, is a universal struggle of the human condition. For decades now, the American Dream has come under fire, with many critiquing it as an unfeasible fantasy. American Movie is proof the American Dream exists. For this reason, American Movie is long overdue to take its rightful place in the National Film Registry. American Movie displays the very best of what the American Dream has to offer.