MovieChat Forums > American Movie (2000) Discussion > Why did his brother say awful things abo...

Why did his brother say awful things about him?


I didn't see the start of it. Something about his brother saying if he was surprised Mark wasn't a murderer or something and/ mental illnesses.

reply

Because Mark Borchardt is a drunk idiot.

"I've seen things that would make you want to write a book on how to puke."

reply

I was wondering how Mark would feel when he saw what his brother had said but then I get the feeling that they didn't get along anyway so it probably wouldn't have come as much of a surprise. The thing is, Mark achieved the film noteriety he always dreamed of and will leave his stamp on this world so maybe his brother should take back what he said at some stage if he has not done so already.

reply

The only stamp Mark Borchardt left on the film world was a documentary about how he can't make movies. He's certainly contributing nothing of artistic value or monetary value. I watched Coven and it sucked out loud.

"I've seen things that would make you want to write a book on how to puke."

reply

I disagree. It's a documentary about a small town loser who doesn't give up on his dream, even though most others would have by then. The worth of Mark Borchardt is not particularly in the film(s) he made but in the personality of Mark and his friends that American Movie captured. He never got rich and not particularly famous but in the end you can't take those things with you anyway but he can certainly take some satisfaction in the fact that he's given plenty of laughs and a bittersweet slice of life to the world.

reply

Well said. Mark never gave up on his dream and regardless of the quality of the film he achieved his goal and that's to be admired. Good on him. Watching this documentary I found Mark (and Mike) to be generally likeable guys despite their eccentricites.

reply

Since he was sucking a lot of money of his relatives, that is never an easy thing for a family to deal with (even if he would be a great artist). The other brothers seemed, by their style, to have regular lower middle class jobs, and, in comparison, have "done it" in their world.
I found more humiliating the comment of the other brother, that Mark is a persuavive talker, but has the mind of a "factory worker". That nailed it maybe, actually, but was offending in a harder way.

reply

Wasn't that the same brother?

I thought it was hilarious. Paraphrasing: "I always thought he'd grow up to be a stalker, or a serial killer".

___
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI5hrcwU7Dk

reply

in the commentary, Mark refuses to comment on the things his brother had said about him

reply

[deleted]

That one slightly effeminate brother of Mark's really seemed to have it out for him. What happened between them that the brother said of Mark, "I'd always thought he'd end up plotting someone's death, and some days, I get the feeling it might be mine." I mean, it's pretty common that brothers don't see eye to eye, but that's a next level type of thing to say, if ever I heard it.

reply