Photographic Memory

Now that McElwee's comic masterpiece, "Sherman's March," is available again on streaming Netflix, I'd definitely go for that one first if you haven't seen it. "Sherman" is a one-of-a-kind mockumentary (and not a documentary about Sherman or his march, btw, in the conventional, Ken Burns sense), and if it resonates with you at all, I suspect you'll be a fan for life. "Photographic Memory" is a watchable but distinctly lesser work—a modest, autumnal meditation on aging, parenting and memory. A brief prologue fills us in on McElwee's tense relationship with his talented but unfocused teenage son, Adrian, then, with the help of funding from a couple of regional film boards, McE returns to the little town in Brittany where, as a VW-bus-driving college dropout, he worked as an apprentice wedding photog in the early 70s. Suffice it to say that the trip is uneventful (Adrian refused to go along b/c it sounded too boring), and McElwee's deadpan patter isn't up to his usual standard. He does better in his native North Carolina, where he doesn't have to try to speak French. "Bright Leaves," a rambling but entertaining doc about the tobacco culture in NC, is also available on streaming.

I am a big fan of Ross McElwee's work - SHERMAN'S MARCH is brilliant and I've seen & enjoyed all of his other documentaries. While recently sick & laid up in bed, I was thrilled to discover this on Netflix. While I enjoyed it, the film is so slight, so scattered that in the long run one feels like "meh". I know his son is 21 and that is a tough age but Adrian comes off rather spoiled and in fact, I couldn't help but feel that the main reason Ross went back to France was to just get away from his surly,pampered texting son. There are nice moments about memory & youth & getting old but this is definitely the weakest entry in his body of work. (Just play Cat Stevens' Father & Son instead).....