Online Response 8: The Essayistic Mode

When it comes to blending a variety of styles together into a cohesive narrative, there is no documentary form that surpasses the essayistic in breadth or flexibility of approaches. When I initially heard of the essayistic mode, it sounded as if it referred to a single, extended reflection on an idea or concept. As I have become more familiar with the form, I have realized it is as much about the process of discovering new and unexpected angles and approaches to an idea as it is about the idea itself. Says Fox, “This mode is an active one, in which a proposed idea or question is tested by a range of means and intersecting lines of argument.”In Sherman’s March, we watch Ross McElwee struggle through a variety of tactic, techniques—and people—as he tries to find his theme. Different people offer suggestions and ideas, some of which seem to be effective for a time, others which are charming, but flawed.

                There is an inherent reflexivity in McElwee’s work. Notes Fox again, “This ability for reflexive mirroring and constant reassessments is a longstanding tradition of the essayistic form.” The film has the potential to become almost as much about the creation of the film itself as it does about the original theme. These tangents and deviations within a film usually add to it. The essayistic mode is highly personal, and is in many senses a kind of journey. This journey may take on various physical or mental aspects as the filmmaker travels through space, time and rhetoric.

                In Stories We Tell, we watch Sarah struggle to make sense of her life through the complex interweavings of others’ lives. In Nobody’s Business, there is a similar sort of effort to sort through mismatched pieces of stories to (hopefully) find some kind of larger picture.

Essayistic Docs benefit from this personal journey and touch, but Fox notes that the best kind of essayistic documentaries shy of becoming self-absorbed and indulgent. “The art of a great written or documentary essay hinges upon integrating personal experience, history, and social critique with taut, kinetic progression toward a synthesizing claim.” The essayistic mode may digress, but it finds its greatest power when its final form shows careful thought and deliberate craft.