Anthem

It’s not easy to focus on ‘Anthem’

KRISTEN HAHN (left) and Shainee Gabel in "Anthem."

Viper for Feb. 12, 2010

Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn have made names for themselves in movie production, but back in 1997, before they knew what they were doing, they quit their day jobs, said goodbye to their boyfriends and hit the cinematic road.

They bought a laptop and a couple of video cameras and took off across the country, ready to talk to people and get the pulse of the country.

Unfortunately, the two were technically inept and lacked basic journalistic skills.

They used what appears to be consumer-grade 1997 video equipment, probably VHS or 8 mm video. They didn’t know you shouldn’t place a person in front of the sun and shoot, because if you do, you end up with a silhouette.

Even though they used two cameras, it was choppy, difficult to see and murky.

In fact, after spending more than two hours with these 26-year-olds, I would be hard-pressed to pick their faces out of a lineup.

They are in the film a lot, ordering endless amount of cheap fast food or lounging in their motel rooms.

It’s just the perpetually unlit, gloomy video made it difficult to see much of anything.

They decide to determine the real America by talking to celebrities, who certainly know more about the world than anyone else, right?

Still, the celebrity interviews are pretty intriguing, although there is no particular structure. The girls seem so happy to get time with Robert Redford or Studs Terkel or Hunter S. Thompson, they just turn the camera on and let the celebs ramble.

But despite the ineptness, the girls do get results and their subjects do offer some insight.

First off, the girls find themselves in the Clinton White House over a weekend, when the first family wasn’t supposed to be there.

They sit down to talk to a bearded George Stephanopoulos, then the White House chief of staff. We see them rambling about the White House, crashing into furniture, expressing their “oh gees” because they made it there.

But as old George starts to tell about how presidents before Clinton withstood criticism, he gets a phone call. It is none other than the president, summoning him. Guess he didn’t go away, after all? End of interview. End of visit to the White House.

The pair is constantly on the phone, setting up interviews.

They record part of a Willie Nelson concert, showing us the faces of upscale middle-aged women as they listen to Willie croon.

Back in his ratty trailer, Nelson rambles on about the country and how much more honest politicians used to be. He noted the term “Honest Abe.”

Later, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson calls Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt demigods.

Robert Redford is interviewed at Sundance. It’s not always easy to understand what he is saying because apparently a wedding was going on at an adjoining property.

Redford talks about growing up before television, when entertainment was primarily movies and radio. He said he was a big reader, especially fantasy stuff. Today, people’s lives are filled with TV, video games and the Internet.

Interesting, but like other interviews, it has little to do with what other interviewees are saying.

Michael Stipe of REM had to postpone his interview because of hernia surgery. He gets almost pornographic as he pulls down his pants to show the scar.

Stipe talks about being picked on as a youngster and wonders why people ask him about worldly things (as he comments on worldly things) because after all, he’s only a rock star.

The girls spend a week riding around with Thompson, but he grimaces when they try to bring the camera out.

The girls also speak with retired Sen. George McGovern, director John Waters and author Studs Terkel. Terkel asks them after the interview if they will drop him off in downtown Chicago. Terkel has never driven, but admires people who can.

The film is too long. It is technically poor. But those girls proved persistent, even though they didn’t appear to know what to do once they got the celebrities.

The celebrities were so interesting, so human, it was worth watching if only to see them as real human beings.

(McGovern wants to talk politics but only after calling his wife.)

Maybe you have to be in the right mood, but I found “Anthem” intriguing and fun. It also gives you a glimpse of America a decade ago. We see gasoline stations with fuel prices at $118.9 per gallon.

Maybe this film will spark future filmmakers to buy today’s cheaper, better and smaller cameras and find out what celebrities think today.

How would Miley Cyrus educate us on life today?

ANTHEM

• Directed and written by Shainee Gabel and Kristin Han

• Runtime: 124 minutes

• Not rated. OK for kids, but they won’t want to see it

• 3 stars out of 5