All is not well in the American heartland. But sometimes it takes an outsider to highlight the problem.
In 1979, the American TV channel PBS invited Louis Malle to make a documentary in America. Malle originally wanted to examine the new trend for shopping malls, but couldn’t bear the Muzak droning away in them. However, during his travels he came across the town of Glencoe. He befriended the initially wary townsfolk and recorded life there. When he returned to complete the filming in 1985, he found a startling different place. Reagan’s vision of America had helped transform it into a less friendly world and the resulting film is a startling record of social change.
