Click here for the film’s trailer:
http://www.fandor.com/films/my_america
Director: Hal Hartley
Writers: Greg Allen, Neil LaBute, Anna Deavere Smith and more!
Cast: L. Scott Caldwell, Andrew Pang, Kelly McCreary, Jay O. Sanders, Tracie Thoms and more!
Studio: Fandor
“My America” is a collection of monologues and speeches about the American condition. Pulling from everyone including Neil LaBute to most of Chicago’s new theater scene, Hartley swings for the fences. Baltimore’s Center Stage Theater is the set for most of the shorts, as playwrights get a few minutes to present their take on American life. A lot of these takes feel glib and a little too much like spoiled citizens whining about First World Problems. Others feel sincere.
Hal Hartley has a very dedicated fanbase, but he’s not for everyone. Honestly, his style makes a lot of the monologues feel like they were shot as student films. If it wasn’t for Roosevelt Island, I’d call the whole project a misfire. But, there’s something about his abandoning theatrical staging and getting back to filmed truth that allows the material to develop. Maybe it’s easier to follow something that tries to replicate a reality that seems like the America that the majority of an audience understands. There’s something about the theatrical staging that allows for Brechtian disconnect.
The film is exclusively available to stream at Fandor. While I know that a ton of our readers will skip it to go see other projects, I recommend checking it out at least once. American theater, even when it’s filmed…is a dying form among the gentry. Americans need to reconnect to stage drama, as a way to rediscover out roots. Too often, we forgo the subtle complexity of quality acting for the latest technical spectacle that a super computer can produce. Broaden your horizons and head over to Fandor to check it out. Then, seek out other work from Hal Hartley and his collaborators.
RELEASE DATE: 07/04/2014