Cheap Time Indefinite (Video) Price

Ross McElwee's heartwarming autobiographical documentary Time Indefinite picks up a few years after his fabulously funny (and successful) Sherman's March left off. While the earlier film billed itself as a search for romantic love in the postnuclear age, this one deals with the weightier subjects that come after you've found that romantic love: marriage, birth, family, and death. For the first 20 minutes you might have the creepy feeling that you're watching someone else's rather well-made home movie (or as one of McElwee's subjects blurts: "Turn off that camera--this isn't art, this is life!"). But abruptly this intimate chronicle turns into an intensely meaningful meditation on the continuity of family, on perseverance in the face of loss... and on McElwee's pathological need to get it all on film. With his gentle Southern wit, McElwee manages to do all this without ever lapsing into bleakness or depression; more than a few moments are laugh-out-loud funny. Even more remarkable is McElwee's talent in organizing the random moments of everyday life--gospel-singing gynecologists, flashbacks to childhood fishing lessons, his family housekeeper's 50th wedding anniversary, fish dinners with philandering friends, the discovery of 8mm footage of his parents' marriage--into something intricately profound and beautiful. This might not be the best introduction to McElwee's movies (or to his family, which is pretty much the same thing). But if you enjoyed following Sherman's March, you'll love where this film takes you. --Grant Balfour

CATEGORY:	Video
THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE:	1993
MANUFACTURER:	First Run Features
MPAA RATING:	NR (Not Rated)
FEATURES:	Color, NTSC
TYPE:	Comedy Video, Documentary, Drama, Feature Film-comedy, Movie
MEDIA:	VHS Tape
# OF MEDIA:	1
UPC:	720229907545