Amerikan Passport . Austin Chronicle . 03-29-99

Amerikan Passport

DIRECTED BY: Reed Paget

REVIEWED: 03-29-99

Imagine being invited over to look at vacation videos by a lanky neighbor. He's Reed Paget, just back from a tour of the Seven Wonders of the World, and he took his movie camera on the journey and titled his work Amerikan Passport. The trip started in China just before troops headed into Tiananmen Square, and the footage encompasses an around-the-world journey to some of the most dangerous war zones on earth. The driving techno drumbeat of the soundtrack, along with Paget's voiceover, tie together the images of chaos and terror. Paget's camerawork is significantly better than his interviewing technique and voiceover thoughts, which loosely relate his observations about the ground-zero cultural unities among international war machines. The weakness is minor, as the strengths of Amerikan Passport are in the images of conflict and moral ambiguity, as well as Paget's micro-budget ability to get almost anywhere. With witty and humorous (if slightly preachy) narration, the film is a worthy time capsule of the tumultuous times between 1989 and 1992.

--Matt Williams

Film Vault Suggested Links
Full Tilt Boogie
The Source
Public Housing

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.