STORYLINE: Ross McElwee explores time and memory through footage of his son Adrian, weaving their shared filmmaking past with an unfinished Hollywood remake of Sherman’s March, creating a meditation on loss and documentation. (IMDb)

   In 2019, Three Identical Strangers, documented the strange case of three brothers.  The Wolfpack, a documentary from 2018, was a heartbreaking tale about children, and their relationship with their father.  Sarah Polley documented her family in the 2012 feature Stories We Tell.  Now comes the new documentary, Remake, a father and son motion picture. 

    Families, and their dynamics, are a complicated topic. Some dynamics are are good, while others are the polar opposite. Sometimes, certain folks are not there as others assemble for occasions, like the holidays, as if they are The Avengers.  Perception is also a unique, complicating factor, but that’s for another time.  Remake, starts out as a professional journey for the filmmaker, but by the end is an odyssey, of sorts, about the relationship he has with his son.

   There is a fantastic documentary, from 1986, titled Sherman’s March, directed by Ross McElwee (Remake).  This is the movie that kick starts the events of Remake.  While documenting the process, of what will be a failed Hollywood style remake, of that film, the documentarian revisits footage, he has throughout his career, focusing on his son.  This becomes the primary focus of the film, putting the attempt to mount a remake of Sherman’s March, as the secondary story. 

    Quick side note. Sherman’s March is a fantastic motion picture. Its a bit strange, and has a lot of fantastic people, in there. It is more of a romcom than a historical documentary, and as well worth the watch.

    Remake is a very personal motion picture to watch.  Primarily because of the father and son relationship that is unfolding before the viewer. A distant second, because the audience gets to know the director on a professional level, as well.

     This movie felt like emotional ambush. It wasn’t because the music overwhelmed a specific moment, telling me how to feel, it was because there was not enough balance.   

    The relationship sequences, which dominate the movie, ping-pong between the  innocents of youth, and the struggles the son had with addiction in young adulthood.  Mixed in, is the emotional toll of the father.  The creative process of filmmaking, is edited in, to provide moments of relief from this ping-pong of emotions. Then it’s back to pulling in the heart strings. 

   After recently watching Sherman’s March, and really enjoying it, I wanted a more balanced film, then one that sabotage my emotions.

   Remake is a father looking back on his relationship with his son, as Hollywood, attempts to fictionalize, a much better documentary he made, 40 years prior to this one. 

   Until next time, I will see you at the movies!