Sherman's March
dir. Ross McElwee · 1986
Plot
Documentarian Ross McElwee originally set out to make a travelogue of sorts tracing General William T. Sherman's infamous scorched-earth march through the Confederacy in the latter stages of the Civil War. Instead, haunted by a recent breakup with a girlfriend, McElwee ends up documenting his progress -- or lack thereof -- in starting a new relationship. His journey then becomes one of self-reflection and self-discovery rather than a historical/sociological exploration.
Why watch
A filmmaker sets out to trace the path of General Sherman’s march through the South, but instead finds himself navigating the complexities of his own heart after a recent breakup. Watching it feels like wandering through a Southern landscape filled with both historical echoes and personal revelations, where each encounter reveals more about the filmmaker's inner life than the history he initially sought to document.