hollow

    On Sunday, April 9 Rory Kennedy's most recent documentary, American Hollow, was shown at the National Gallery of Art. The film gave the story of Iree Bowling and her family, who have lived in Mudlick Hollow, a Appalachian area of eastern Kentucky, for seven generations. Iree has 13 children, all of whom live within a one hour drive of their home. By coincidence, the nearest town to her home is also a one hour drive away. Although they often "leave" the Hollow, the all have always come back.
     The film made great efforts to show how the families live. They exist in what society would unquestionably consider to be poverty. They depend on state welfare. They do not deny this. They get the money for their survival from the federal government. There are no jobs to be had in that area of the country. They make extra cash by gathering moss, ginseng, and blood root in the forest around their homes. They are hillbillies, and proud of it. The social stigmas and prejudices against this type of life sometimes bordered on absurd. A close up of 68 year old Iree's wrinkled, toothless face brought an uncomfortable laughter from the crowd. And, the hilarity that resulted from hearing her fat, bearded son laugh at his own bad jokes was reminiscent of scenes from Cabin Boy. But, when one remembers that this is a documentary, there is a sobering feel.
     The cinematography of this film was remarkable, especially considering it was a documentary. There is one scene that sticks out in my mind. It is a conversation between one of Iree's daughter-in-laws and one of her grandchildren(mother and son). The grandson, Clint, is somewhere in the process of being engaged to, breaking up with, and getting back together with his girlfriend. His mother is talking to him about it, trying to keep him from getting hurt. At no point in the scene do you ever see either character. They are in a room, perhaps a bedroom, and the only light is a small nightlight in the shape of a house. Everything else is darkness. For a long time the camera shows a wide long take with the nightlight around the bottom center of the screen. A clock can be seen on the table next to the light, but the numbers are not quite discernible. Through this time the viewer can tell from audio that the speakers might be on opposite sides of the light. When the camera begins to move it plays with the framing, putting the light in different corners of the screen, zooming in to close up, going in and out of focus. The scene was long - perhaps two minutes or more. We never see anything but this light and glimpses of a faceless clock. We never see the characters, know where they are, in relation to the screen or what part of the house. Essentially, everything is off screen space. It was a very emotional conversation, and it was somehow captured in this incredible film making.
     Most of the film appeared to be shot with hand held cameras, often moving sporadically, sometimes as the camera operator walked along trying to follow the action. The was very few cuts. The director, Rory Kennedy, was there to speak after the screening. She told about how she and her crew lived with the families, sleeping in the same houses and eating the same food, for an extend time in order to make the film. They had shot over 100 hours of footage. The film was 90 minutes long.
     She had done the film to make a statement. She was afraid that the government was going to cut the welfare that helped the families in the Hollow get by. But, the film never actually said that the welfare should be continued. The characters spoke about how important it was to them, and said the government couldn't just turn its back on them. But, only their voice was heard, never the director's. The narrative also showed the faults and abuses of the welfare system as we saw characters who refuse to try to find work and others who made money that was not reported.
     One thing I took out of this movie was a new appreciation for the poverty that exists in our country. The plight of urban welfare families would appear to be quite lush to the Bowlings who have no running water, and grow most of what they eat. Yet, the image that these people projected was overwhelmingly one of happiness and contentedness. Theirs was not like the stereotypical midwestern family, whose young ones yearn to leave their small towns so badly. The few who leave the hollow come back even after having experienced the rest of society. As I left the Gallery an obviously wealthy elderly couple walked out beside me. When the man mumbled some comment about the movie the woman responded, "Democratic propaganda!" She's not wrong, but if that's all she got out of it she missed a very good film.

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