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Sherman's March
A film by Ross McElwee 155 minutes, color, English, 1986
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| Synopsis
When First Run released Ross McElwee's Sundance Award winning Sherman's March in 1986, it went on to become one of the largest grossing documentaries ever. Audiences and critics alike fell in love with McElwee's "quirky, funny and fascinating" (Newsweek) first-person narratives that would help define a new era of personal documentaries. After his girlfriend leaves him, McElwee takes a voyage along the original route followed by General William Sherman - but rather than cutting a swath of destruction designed to force the Confederate South into submission, as Sherman did, McElwee searches for love, camera in hand, "training his lens with phallic resolve on every accessible woman he meets" (Chicago Readers Circle). In 2000, Sherman' March was chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress National Film Registry as a "historically significant American motion picture." It has won best documentary awards at numerous film festivals, been cited by the National Board of Film Critics as one of the five best films of its year, selected for a Cinéma du Réel retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and chosen as "One of the Top 20 Documentaries of All Time" by the International Documentary Association. Reviews "Magical... the funniest road film since Lost in America." -J. Hoberman, Village Voice "A wonderfully goofy movie... Mr. McElwee is a find. He is an exceptionally comic film-making personality!" -Vincent Canby, The New York Times "I can't think of another film in which erotic interest has been so finely
tempered with respect - not even Woody Allen appreciates and admires women as
much as McElwee." "Uproarious... It will put you in a pleased delirium and leave you with
a happy daze." "If Woody Allen made Gone With The Wind, it might resemble Sherman's March!" Recommended Reading Landscapes of the Self: The Cinema of Ross McElwee Enough About You: Notes Toward the New Autobiography Disc Features • Interview with the Director
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ed. Efren Cuevas and Alberto Garcia
by David Shields and Ross McElwee
