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Alexander Horwath’s documentary, “Henry Fonda For President,” is not your typical biographical piece. Think of it as a deep, almost forensic, dive into the cinematic soul of Henry Fonda, yes, but through him, an exploration of America itself.

This Austrian film historian crafts an expansive, truly meticulous argument proposing that Fonda’s on-screen presence became indivisible from America’s vision of its own character and history. It’s a considerable undertaking, drawing from a treasure trove of archival material and piecing it together with a very particular, almost academic, rhythm.

Many of us picture Fonda as the definitive American – upright, honest, steady. Horwath’s film, however, invites us to look closer, at the more complex, sometimes shadowy, spaces between the man on screen and the nation he came to symbolize.

The Celluloid Everyman and a Nation’s Soul

The core of Horwath’s film is this potent idea: Henry Fonda,...

Henry Fonda for President. From Fail Safe.“What America needs is a kind of self-demystification,” muses Alexander Horwath in his new documentary, Henry Fonda for President (2024). Horwath, an Austrian film historian and curator, believes this can be accomplished through the medium of Henry Fonda. He sees Fonda, in a decidedly concrete and nonmystical way, as America itself. To prove that thesis, Horwath has filmed an essay, not a biography, and his approach is deliberately eccentric. His own feelings about the US—what its history, principles, and delusions look like to an outsider’s eyes—are at least as much a part of this three-hour film as Fonda is.Horwath, though a deep admirer of Fonda, is not a conventional “fan.” He has no use for “TCM Remembers”–type tropes, even the ones audiences most expect, such as identifying costars; either you recognize John Carradine, Vera Miles, or young Anthony Quinn,...

Alexander Horwath’s Henry Fonda for President stands among the most notable releases of a still-young year, is certainly the most lauded essay film in recent memory, and was of personal interest once my friend Zach Lewis offered his approval. As adventurous and open-minded a cinephile as any I know, Zach has equal-parts interest in both the films of Henry Fonda, film essays and, landscape-centered cinema––some Thom Anderson or Harun Farocki come to mind for one, James Benning another––in which Horwath is trading here. I couldn’t have been happier to connect with him to discuss the film, and hope our chat is fruitful for you in turn.

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Music courtesy of Lex Walton: “Love Theme From an Unreleased Film” from the album Giving It Up.

The post Emulsion Episode Four: Zach Lewis on Henry Fonda for President first appeared on The Film Stage.

"I'm more of a radical, and a rebel, most of the time politically." The Film Desk has revealed the trailer for an essay documentary called Henry Fonda for President, from an Austrian filmmaker named Alexander Horwath. This premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival last year and opens in the US at the Anthology FIlm Archives starting in April if anyone is interested in watching. Horwath is a film scholar, historian, and curator from Austria directing his first film. Henry Fonda for President is a 3-hour-long unconventional doc about the famous actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982). Fonda's life, roles, and last 1981 interview voice narrate a journey across America's history from 1651 to the 1980s presidency era (a great deal of time to cover), personifying the nation's complexities through a road trip from Fonda, NY right to the Pacific. They add: "Equally adept at cultural criticism, historical accounting, and political analysis, Henry Fonda for...