Documentary Review: ‘American: An Odyssey to 1947’

by | Sep 6, 2023 | Featured, Movie Reviews, Movies | 0 comments

Greetings again from the darkness. Let’s begin with this: Danny Wu’s documentary ties legendary filmmaker Orson Welles into one of the most tumultuous periods of history. This is done not so much in a FORREST GUMP or ZELIG style, but more like one of those push pin boards Claire Danes used in “Homeland” by looping red thread around all the key characters and events. Wu opens with Webster’s 1913 definition of an “American” – originally applied to the aboriginal inhabitants, now applied to descendants of Europeans born in America, and especially to the citizens of the United States.

For cinephiles, much of Welles’ personal and professional story is well-known. Born in 1915, his mother died when he was ten. His father shipped him off to a liberal boarding school where he was free to pursue his passion in the theater, and all things creative. Fellow actor Simon Callow spends a good amount of time on camera recounting Welles’ passion for the theater, and especially acting, and how playwright Thornton Wilder and another legend, John Houseman, were instrumental in assisting Welles with early career breaks.

It’s at this stage where Wu drops in some ‘strange bedfellow’ politics, showing media mogul William Randolph Hearst playing a key role in getting Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected President. As the film progresses, we learn how this relationship shifted 180 degrees, and also how Welles later bore the brunt of Hearst’s powerful reach. FDR pushes through the Federal Theater Project, which keeps Welles working, and it’s in 1938 when Welles’ infamous broadcast of H.G. Well’s “War of the Worlds” puts folks on edge, and it’s the year Howard Kakita is born. We only get bits and pieces of Kakita’s story, but he and his family are linked to the United States, Hiroshima, and the internment camps established by FDR during the war.

By this stage, we have a grasp on what Wu is doing with his film – a blend of historical and biographical material. As a 25-year-old wunderkind, Welles secured an unprecedented contract with RKO, giving him total control of his work. The rough draft of his initial project is co-written with Herman Mankiewicz and John Houseman, and is titled “American”. This work is fine-tuned and becomes the 1941 classic, CITIZEN KANE. It’s at this point that Welles experiences the power of William Randolph Hearst, who crushes the distribution and box office of the film. Of course, even more than 80 years later, it’s still considered a cinematic masterpiece.

What many may not know is how Welles used the theater for many projects promoting anti-racism, at a time when Jim Crow laws were booming. Wu uses the example of Isaac Woodard to bring home the often-disgusting nature of this era. Sgt Woodard was headed home after serving in the war, when he was severely beaten to the point of having his eyes gouged out by a small-town sheriff and deputy. The tragic story is told by Woodard’s nephew and author Laura Williams. The blinding of Isaac Woodard is described as igniting the Civil Rights Movement.

Mr. Kakita offers more details of his family revisiting Hiroshima after the bomb, and we learn how J Edgar Hoover started a file on Welles during the era of McCarthyism and blacklisting suspected communists. After RKO re-edited (butchered) Welles’ film, THE MAGNIFENT AMBERSONS, Welles felt rejected at most every turn and decided to move to Italy and live a quiet life focusing on the art of moviemaking. Described as transitioning from “Boy Wonder” to the “youngest has-been”, Welles did visit the U.S. periodically, and here his life has provided quite the perspective for Danny Wu’s innovative storytelling.

The film has a limited theatrical release on Sept 8, 2023 and digital release on Sept 12.

David Ferguson
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