Sherman's March

General Sherman's march through the South in the American Civil War was unrivalled up to that time for its ferocity towards a civilian population. McElwee's march through identical terrain was little more than a cinema verité girl hunt, though the alternative ethos is closer to the era of Richard Brautigan's A Confederate General from Big Sur than The Confessions of a Window Cleaner. It is extremely long, inconsequential and low-budget, but if you surrender to it, it is not devoid of delights and resources. Honours are divided between the director's sister, with her reluctant explanation of her 'fanny tuck', and the buxom and biting Charleen, who tries to bully him into falling for one of her stable of eligible girls. McElwee's voice-over commentary is another of the movie's little pleasures.