Hidden corners of American life leap into focus in this documentary from French émigré, Jean-Pierre Gorin. After relocating to the U.S. in the mid-seventies, the filmmaker went to work exploring the American spirit as revealed first by a pair of twins who developed their own language in Poto and Cabengo (1980), then in the contrast between a group of model railroad enthusiasts and critic-turned-artist Manny Farber in this 1986 film. His attempts to place himself within his new culture lead to a unique mix of cinematic techniques marked by a shift from blue-tinted black-and-white to full color partway through. As a result, critics have hailed Routine Pleasures as Gorin's most personal work.
Gorin studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, where his professors included such seminal modern thinkers as Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault and Jacques Lacan. There he developed a radical sensibility that made him a perfect match for French director Jean-Luc Goddard, whom he met in 1966. Two years later, they founded the Dziga Vertov Group (named for the pioneering Soviet documentarian), a collective devoted to bringing Bertolt Brecht's theatrical and political thought to filmmaking through a series of film essays. During this period, Goddard and Gorin focused on collective production rather than individual artistic expressions, so their films were co-directed. Among their efforts were Wind from the East (1970), Vladimir et Rosa (1971), in which Gorin also acted, Tout Va Bien (1972) and Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still (1972). Although considered cold and distant by contemporary mainstream critics, the films Goddard and Gorin made are now valued for their use of film language to explore political ideology.
The Dziga Vertov Group dissolved in 1972, and over Goddard's objections, Gorin moved from France to Southern California in 1975 to teach film history, criticism, editing and scriptwriting at the University of California, San Diego. One of Gorin's main motivations in moving was the chance to work with Farber, the esteemed film critic who was also teaching there.
In 1980, Gorin began work on Routine Pleasures after meeting a group of model train enthusiasts who had had formed a club called the Pacific Beach & Western Railroad in Del Mar, California. With their permission, he documented their painstaking attempts to create a 1/6th scale model train in a sprawling warehouse, where they created a miniature America. He linked this with his fascination of Farber's work. Although Farber only appears in still shots (at his own insistence), his works and words dominate the film. As Gorin explores the microcosm created by the white, middle-aged men in the model railroad club, he seems increasingly charmed by their rigid hierarchy and dogged devotion. Yet, he also interrogates that affection through Farber's words as the artist prods him to dig deeper, leading him to realize that he sees in their work a reflection of his own devotion to filmmaking. In addition, he contrasts the amazing detail in their models to the cluttered images Farber creates in his own artwork. Gorin draws no conclusions, but raises fascinating questions about the nature of art and the landscapes it can create.
As in his other American documentaries, Gorin defies the conventions of the genre. There is no narrative tension underlying his exploration of the model train club or Farber's paintings. They are simply works in progress that he observes for a period of time. Nor does he attempt to draw any universal significance out of his particular subjects. Rather, he simply explores his reactions to American life as an alien artifact, making a film more about his adjustment to life in a new country than it is about the lives of his subjects.
Contributing greatly to the film's success were the collaborators with whom Gorin worked, particularly cinematographer Babette Mangolte, the French-born filmmaker best known for shooting Chantal Ackerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). Mangolte has also directed such experimental films as The Cold Eye (My Darling, Be Careful) (1980) and Seven Easy Pieces (2007), about performance artist Marina Abramovic, and serves with Gorin on the faculty at UC-San Diego.
Director: Jean-Pierre Gorin
Producer: Rachel Regan Staver
Screenplay: Patrick Amos, Jean-Pierre Gorin
Cinematography: Babette Mangolte
Score: Georges Bloch
Cast: Jean-Pierre Gorin (Narrator)
By Frank Miller
