Marilyn Levine & Ross McElwee
United States, Germany | 1990 | 90 min
Language : English
Subtitle : French
While Sherman’s March was at Berlinale, McElwee and his soon to become wife pay the visit to the Berlin Wall and see the so-called symbol of Cold War first-hand. It is a few months prior to the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the construction. To make a film about this event is a way to comprehend how a wall makes part of the lives of millions.
While Sherman’s March is screened at the Berlin Film Festival, Ross McElwee and his former wife Marilyn Levine pay the inevitable visit to the Berlin Wall and see the so-called symbol of Cold War first-hand. It is a few months prior to the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the construction of the Wall, which was erected in 1961. McElwee puts together a small budget and goes back to Berlin, in association with Marilyn Levine. They choose Checkpoint Charlie as a vantage point, because it will help them with the language, and wait for the celebrations to take place. They go back home convinced that the Wall will last for another 25 years. After a while, Ross and Mary get married, they have their first child, and Gorbatchev begins to expose the first creaks in the Wall and the Soviet Empire. The film thus becomes the token of the presence of collective history in the lives of individuals while everything around them changes over and again.
Giona A. Nazzaro
