My 150 Favorite Movies - #138

Sherman's March (1985)

The subtitle of this film is A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation. Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee originally intended to make a film documenting General William Tecumseh Sherman's march through the south during the Civil War. Somewhere along the way, attention got diverted and he ended up making a movie about himself and all of the women in his life. This is the movie that turned me on to documentaries, and the possibilities of all they could accomplish. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Sherman's March has clearly been an influence on Michael Moore, among others. In 2000, it was selected for preservation into the U.S. National Film Registry.