Bright Leaves

Bright Leaves is a 2003 United States/United Kingdom documentary film by independent filmmaker Ross McElwee about the association his family had with the tobacco industry.[1][2] Bright Leaves had its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.[3]

Bright Leaves
McElwee shooting a scene from Bright Leaves
Directed byRoss McElwee
Written byRoss McElwee
Produced byRoss McElwee
CinematographyRoss McElwee
Edited by
  • Ross McElwee
  • Mark Meatto
Production
companies
  • Channel 4 Television Corporation
  • Homemade Movies
  • WGBH
Distributed by
  • First Run Features (USA)
  • Rézo Films (France)
Release date
Running time
107 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Film

Bright Leaf is the name of a strain of tobacco.[1] It was also the name of a 1949 novel and 1950 feature film about a struggle between two tobacco barons.

The struggle depicted in the feature film, according to McElwee family tradition, parallels one between McElwee's great-grandfather and the patriarch of the Duke family, for whom Duke University is named.[1][4][5]

Cast

Interviewed as part of this film include Allan Gurganus, Ross McElwee, Tom McElwee, Vlada Petrić, Paula Larke, Marilyn Levine, Emily Madison, Adrian McElwee, Charleen Swansea, and Patricia Neal, the leading lady of the 1950 feature film.

Reception

The documentary follows McElwee's usual style, where he gives voiceovers to apparently spontaneous footage, making the story more personal.[5] According to Roger Ebert:

Bright Leaves is not a documentary about anything in particular. That is its charm. It's a meandering visit by a curious man with a quiet sense of humor, who pokes here and there in his family history and the history of tobacco.[5]

Marian Keane, in her essay "Reflections on Bright Leaves", collected in "Three Documentary Filmmakers", asserts that Bright Leaves displays McElwee's extraordinary ability to present "people in their uniqueness", contrasting this with other documentaries where people often "seem to exist in the world of film as if suspended from their relation to their actual lives."[1]

Awards and nominations

References
  1. William Rothman (2009). Three Documentary Filmmakers: Errol Morris, Ross McElwee, Jean Rouch. SUNY Press. pp. 2, 6, 64, 68, 69. 70, 72, 73–82, 97, 103–121. ISBN 9781438425160. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  2. Kathy McDonald (September 2004). "McElwee's 'Bright Leaves' Gives Viewers Something to Chew On". International Documentary Association. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  3. "Bright Leaves". DOXA Documentary Film Festival. 2012-05-10. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  4. Leiter, Andrew B. (28 July 2011). Southerners on Film: Essays on Hollywood Portrayals Since the 1970s. McFarland. pp. 142–144. ISBN 978-0-7864-8702-8. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  5. Roger Ebert (2013). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9780740792199. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  6. McNary, Dave (15 February 2005). "WGA serves up 1st doc kudo to 'Super'". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
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