American Dharma

American Dharma is a 2018 British-American documentary film directed by Errol Morris. The film follows the career of political strategist Steve Bannon. The film was released on November 1, 2019, by Utopia.

American Dharma
Theatrical release poster
Directed byErrol Morris
Produced byErrol Morris
Steven Hathaway
Marie Savare
P.J. van Sandwijk
Robert Fernandez
StarringSteve Bannon
Errol Morris
Music byPaul Leonard-Morgan
CinematographyIgor Martinovic
Edited bySteven Hathaway
Production
company
Fourth Floor Productions
Maje Productions
Storyteller Productions
Moxie Pictures
Distributed byUtopia
Release date
  • September 4, 2018 (2018-09-04) (Venice)[1][2]
  • November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
Running time
95 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$51,891[4][5]

Synopsis

American Dharma consists of a dialogue between documentary subject Steve Bannon and director Errol Morris focusing on Bannon's film-making, time as the executive chairman of Breitbart News, time as the chief executive of Donald Trump's 2016 United States Presidential campaign, time on the United States National Security Council for Trump's administration, and commentary on several films. The documentary is segmented into five sections: The Fog of #war, Honey Badgers, Angry Voices, What Have I Done?, and Go F#ck Yourself. Morris's documentary cuts together footage from Twelve O'Clock High, The Searchers, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Chimes at Midnight, The Candidate, In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed, Generation Zero, My Darling Clementine, Paths of Glory and audio from The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara as Bannon addresses these films’ effects on his perceptions and beliefs. The interview takes place on a set replicating the air-strip and Quonset hut from Twelve O'Clock High and they watch clips from these films on a projector out of frame. The documentary juxtaposes interview footage with related filmography, archival footage, and graphics displaying news headlines during the presidency and candidacy of Trump.

Production

Errol Morris cites his desire to understand the United States 2016 Presidential Election, "So that we can try to make sure it doesn't happen again",[2] as inspiration for the film.[2] The decision to interview Steve Bannon specifically was brought on by the filmmaker's reading of Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury.[2] In an interview with WBUR-FM, Morris says that Bannon "was flattered that I wanted to make a movie about him".[6] The films, including Twelve O'Clock High, The Searchers, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Chimes at Midnight, etc., served as a way for Morris to avoid Bannon's normal talking points.[6] Morris first heard about Bannon's love of Twelve O'Clock High in Joshua Green's Devil's Bargain.[7]

Morris interviewed Bannon for five days between February and April in Boston.[2] 15 to 16 hours of footage was recorded during the interviews.[2] Cut footage from the film made use of Morris's interrotron device, which allows for both first person perspective and eye contact between the interviewer and the subject.[8] Morris decided not to use the interrotron, "very late in the game".[8] During the Lawfare Podcast, Morris cites his fatigue with the use of the interrotron and desire to do something different and more adversarial as reasons for the change.[8] The Quonset hut used as a set for the interview was constructed for American Dharma as a replica of the set in Twelve O'Clock High.[6] The set was constructed on top of an abandoned airfield.[9] According to the director, "He [Bannon] loved walking through the set."[9] The film's penultimate shot, wherein the Quonset hut has burned to the ground, was captured using a drone.[10] Bannon was not dressed by the crew; it was his choice to wear three shirts on set.[8] During the filming, Bannon was reading a book on the Great Wall of China.[11] In post-production, Morris showed Bannon 20 minute cuts of the film, but retained decision making on the final cut.[9][2] The film was nearly titled "American Carnage" after Donald Trump's inaugural address.[12]

Soundtrack

Paul Leonard-Morgan's soundtrack includes tracks with titles in line with key notes from American Dharma. "Charlottesville" is named after the city in Virginia where the Unite the Right rally occurred in 2017.[13] "American Carnage" is named in reference to Trump's 2016 inauguration speech, wherein the phrase "American Carnage" was employed to describe the United States in an apocalyptic frame.[14] Tracks such as "Andrew Breitbart", "Comey", and "Mueller" denote Andrew Breitbart, James Comey, and Robert Mueller respectively as figures that, while not interviewed by Errol Morris, appear prominently in archival footage. Tracks "Falstaff", "Paradise Lost", and "The Bridge" recall Chimes at Midnight, Paradise Lost, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Each aforementioned media form appears prominently within the documentary as Steve Bannon discusses his interpretations of these works.

Track listing

American Dharma (2018) by Errol Morris[15]

All music is composed by Paul Leonard-Morgan.

No.TitleLength
1."American Dharma"5:05
2."Fear of the Unknown"4:12
3."Globalism"1:52
4."Revolution"1:02
5."Charlottesville"4:38
6."The Freak Show"2:27
7."Political Power"3:48
8."American Carnage"2:43
9."Angry Voices"3:06
10."Andrew Breitbart"2:39
11."A Revolution Is Coming"4:56
12."Billy Bush"4:35
13."Apocalypse"2:50
14."Executive Orders"2:33
15."Corrupt"1:22
16."American Horror"1:28
17."Comey"3:18
18."Falstaff"4:08
19."Paradise Lost"0:34
20."Mueller"1:39
21."The Bridge"2:48
22."In the Face of Evil"1:22
23."The Accusers"3:56
24."Go F**k Yourself"2:42
25."Trust No One"4:11
Total length:73:54

Release

American Dharma premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2018 in the "out of competition" category.[2][16] Steve Bannon was not present at the premier event in Venice.[17] The film premiered in Canada at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 9.[18] The United States premiere occurred on September 29, 2018 at the New York Film Festival (NYFF).[19] American Dharma was subsequently screened alongside a talk given by Errol Morris at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on November 18.[20]

In August 2019, the film was purchased by the distribution company Utopia and slated for a theatrical release on November 1, 2018 at the Film Forum in New York City.[21] The trailer for theatrical release was premiered with outlet IndieWire on September 19.[22] The Film Forum release weekend resulted in a reported $7,522 in revenue.[23] After 10 weeks of release, American Dharma had a box-office revenue of $50,250, and ended the run with a total revenue of $51,891.[24][25] On January 31, 2019, the film was made available for streaming on Kanopy.[26] Since then, American Dharma has been made available on other streaming and VOD services.[27]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 62%, based on 50 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "American Dharma offers a fascinating glimpse of a political influencer's public persona - and a frustrating missed opportunity to interrogate his actions and stated beliefs."[28] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[29]

Accolades
Year Group Award Result
2018 Chicago International Film Festival Best Documentary Nominated[30]

See also

References
  1. "In 'American Dharma,' the fog of Steve Bannon". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  2. "Errol Morris Tackles Steve Bannon in New Doc: "It's Kind of a Horror Movie"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  3. "'American Dharma' Review". The Hollywood Reporter. September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  4. "American Dharma". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  5. "American Dharma". The Numbers. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  6. "In 'American Dharma,' Filmmaker Errol Morris Sits Down With Steve Bannon". www.wbur.org. January 7, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  7. Wilkinson, Alissa (November 5, 2019). "Errol Morris thinks he may have "assumed too much" with his Steve Bannon documentary". Vox. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  8. "The Lawfare Podcast: Errol Morris on Documenting Bannon". Lawfare. June 22, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  9. Gross, Daniel A. ""The World Is, of Course, Insane": An Interview with Errol Morris". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  10. Wilhelm, Jackie (November 1, 2019). "Ep. 91: A Must-Listen Interview With Filmmaker Errol Morris". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  11. "Oscar-Winner Errol Morris on American Dharma, Steve Bannon, and Cancel Culture". Reason.com. November 13, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  12. "Errol Morris Tells Us Why He Titled His Steve Bannon Documentary 'American Dharma'". UPROXX. November 15, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  13. "How a rally of white nationalists and supremacists at the University of Virginia turned into a "tragic, tragic weekend."". Washington Post. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  14. "Donald Trump's full inauguration speech and transcript". Global News. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  15. "American Dharma Soundtrack (2019)". www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  16. "'American Dharma': Film Review | Venice 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  17. Goldmann, A. J. (September 5, 2018). "Steve Bannon Documentary Debuts. Controversy Naturally Follows". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  18. Ritchie, Kevin (August 29, 2018). "Eight films about old white men playing at TIFF 2018". NOW Magazine. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  19. "Spotlight on Documentary | New York Film Festival". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  20. "IDFA Program Guide 2018". Issuu. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  21. "Utopia nabs distribution rights for Errol Morris' "American Dharma"". Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  22. Kohn, Eric (September 19, 2019). "'American Dharma' Trailer: Steve Bannon Spars With Errol Morris in Riveting Showdown — Exclusive". IndieWire. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  23. Rubin, Rebecca (November 3, 2019). "Box Office: 'Terminator: Dark Fate' Fizzles With $29 Million Debut". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  24. "Weekend Box Office Key Insights: Rise of Skywalker Threepeats as 2020 Beats 2019's First Frame". Boxoffice. January 6, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  25. "American Dharma (2019) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  26. ghermanns (February 11, 2020). "New to Stream: Kanopy's Valentine's Day Recommendations!". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  27. American Dharma | Utopia, retrieved 2020-05-02
  28. "American Dharma (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  29. "American Dharma Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  30. "Festival Schedule" (PDF). WTTW.com. Cinema/Chicago. October 21, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
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