American Psyche (2007)

American Psyche seeks to find the every-day American perspective on social and political life in America following the events of 9/11. Traveling from New York City to Los Angeles, two ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul van den Boom

Writers:

Paul van den Boom (creator), François Le Goarant de Tromelin (creator)

Stars:

Katherine J. Eakin, Mahnaz M. Shabbir, Rene Doria

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Katherine J. Eakin	...	Herself
Mahnaz M. Shabbir	...	Herself
Rene Doria	...	Himself
Peter Koper	...	Himself
Bonnie Witzel	...	Herself
James McCormick	...	Himself
Ray Hudson	...	Himself
Edna Phillips	...	Herself
Allison Bechtel	...	Herself
Wally Brown	...	Himself
Clare Martin	...	Himself
Rick Thompson	...	Himself
Billy Gale	...	Himself
Robert S. Gratz	...	Himself
Jeffrey R. Babb	...	Himself

Storyline

American Psyche seeks to find the every-day American perspective on social and political life in America following the events of 9/11. Traveling from New York City to Los Angeles, two European filmmakers conduct a series of interviews with Americans of diverse race, gender, religion, and socio-economic standing. As they travel across America, listening to the voices of every-day people, they explore the current climate of social and political life in the United States. American Psyche opens a dialogue on the shared concerns, interests and hopes for the future that Americans have for their society, moving beyond the black and white political portraits of mass media.

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Plot Keywords:

media | future | religion | injustice | ignorance | 

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Taglines:

United States of America, Divided States of Mind

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 May 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amerikan ruhu

Filming Locations:

Akron, Ohio, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boom Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Won the Audience Award at the 2008 Kimera Film Festival in Campobasso, Italy.

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Quotes

Peter Koper: You have that phrase what the President will say at the end of a speech ''And God bless America''. There's another sentence that belongs at the end of that phrase. In ''God bless America'' is hidden the thought ''God bless America, Fuck everybody else''.

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Soundtracks

"The Upwards March"
Written and Performed by Bell Orchestre
Published by Bell Orchestre
Courtesy of Bell Orchestre Music

User Reviews

Multiple perspectives and opinions

I saw this movie at the Vallodolid Film Festival in Spain, and was surprised by the alternative and somewhat refreshing angle the director took on trying to represent the social climate in America after 9/11. I expected to see a narrative of either very pro, or anti-bush sentiment... a documentary with a single mandate or message in mind that conclusively summed up an 'American' way of thinking. Instead I heard multiple perspectives and opinions in the film, that as a whole managed to ask very insightful and serious questions about America, and future of the country. The editing pattern, which divides the film into themes and overriding questions, collages together multiple interviews conducted with 'regular people' the filmmakers met while taking a road trip across the United States.

I felt like I had access to the ground level sentiments and concerns of a wide range of people, not just the news cycle headlines. Opinions and perspectives on the various topics were collaged together, juxtaposed and overlapped, so that over-reaching concerns of the people could be foregrounded regardless of their background and political affiliations.

One weakness the film has however, is that it sets out to do too much, covering everything from 9/11 to capitalism to Iraq and (former) President George Bush. While the number of topics discussed were each very fascinating, it could have been stronger if 3 or 4 topics had been more tightly addressed rather then the 7 or 8 topics the film tries to carry. However, by not parcelling a declarative message or conclusive stance on such topics, the film maintained an openness to all kinds of thoughts and opinions. Sometimes this means the film leaves a weaker impression on the audience, but is nice to have such an experience contrasted with the highly pre-digested messages of other documentaries.