American Psyche

Paul van den Boom's film, American Psyche, is playing in Montreal this Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 9 pm at the Cinema du Parc. Good for him. It's been shown at film festivals in Valladolid, Spain, Sao Paulo, Brazil, also Italy, and Istanbul, Turkey, but so far hasn't had a showing in Quebec. So this is effectively the Canadian premiere.

It's a serious piece of work. Back in 2004, when George W. Bush won his second term in office, van den Boom and co-creator François Le Goarant took off across the United States to interview all kinds of Americans, and see how they were feeling about the direction their country was taking. Now, in 2008, when the effects of Bush's rule have taken hold, what they had to say then takes on discomforting new meanings.

We get a full spectrum of voices: teenage girls in Ohio who are enthusiastic for Bush, wealthy artist/professors who are more guarded; a fundamentalist doctor, surrounded by his many daughters, warning that most of us are going to Hell. Also Native Americans and the homeless, all articulate, and eager to talk about America and leave a message on the record.

What's interesting about this film is that it comes from an outsider's point of view, almost without any preconceptions. His subjects are happy to explain themselves and their country to a stranger.

Filmgoers might want more context to go with the talk. The structure of interview after interview coming after various chapter headings makes the film a little slow going. Still, by the end it builds a fascinating cumulative picture of the American Psyche at a crucial point in time. Viewers will leave the theatre enlightened and moved, and maybe worried at what is ahead.