MOVIES

Crawford sees itself through director's lens

By Peter Mongillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 13, 2008

CRAWFORD — "Fair and balanced." That was Crawford resident Ricky Smith's assessment of "Crawford," a documentary by Austin-based filmmaker David Modigliani, screened outdoors in this town of 705 Sunday night.

As the sun set over a grove of trees, the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Road Show erected a 20-foot-by-40-foot inflatable screen and the crowd of almost 400 laid out blankets and lawn chairs on the Crawford High School football field, which plays a prominent role in the documentary. It was there that then-Gov. George W. Bush, gearing up for a run against Al Gore in that fateful 2000 presidential race, introduced himself to the town while presiding over the school's graduation ceremony.

Given the town's dominant political leanings, applause rippled as news footage of the contentious Florida recount and Bush's subsequent victory were replayed on the field. Yet the film, which chronicles the lives of several of first neighbors and premiered in Austin at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, is hardly the stuff of Fox News and its slippery "fair and balanced" slogan.

In fact, the documentary focuses on the microscopically personal. At one point, an impassioned Smith and a friend use shoe polish to adorn white horses with various messages including "God Bless the USA" and "Cindy go home" (referring to anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan). He explains how he refused to do an interview with CNN, referring to one staffer as a "Chinaman" and offering up his version of a Chinese accent.

"It amazes me that he likes himself in the film," said Crawford Peace House co-founder John Wolf. "He charged me with his horse and hit me. He's a scary person."

Yet Smith's on-screen sentiment was echoed throughout the crowd, many of whom chuckled audibly as Smith expressed his outrage with the swarm of media as well as the peace activists who, on the heels of the war in Iraq, settled in the town where the president owns a ranch. "I knew that if the movie wasn't right, I know my way to Austin," he said in a discussion with Modigliani and other residents featured in the film prior to the screening.

Smith, wearing a cowboy hat, sunglasses and a thick white goatee, comes across as a bit of a joker, but one with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Given the nature of his lighthearted but poignant threat, the fact that Smith didn't eventually knock on Modigliani's door is a testament to both the director's skill as a filmmaker and to how people can find different messages in the same film.

The movie, which is causing a stir on the festival circuit and is represented by Submarine Entertainment, which found distribution for lauded documentaries "Super Size Me" and "Spellbound," almost wasn't made. Modigliani, who attended the University of Texas on a fellowship at the James A. Michener Center for Writers, originally visited the town with the intention of writing a play, but his efforts eventually steered toward filmed portraits.

Many Crawford residents in attendance seemed happy that their stories made it to the big screen, balanced or not.

"I was thrilled to be able to see the film, and to see our own people take part and know that it is right here in Crawford," said Margie Stuth, an elderly resident who has spent her life in the town. "It's a real surprise, really. I wish my husband were here so he would've been able to know what was going on."

Others seemed to revel in the novelty of the experience. "It was the biggest picture I've ever seen of myself," said retiree Bill Holmes, another resident interviewed in the film.

While some of the colorful characters featured in "Crawford" elicited a humorous response from the audience, the story of Misti Turbeville, one of only a handful of Crawford's more liberal residents, drew mostly silence. It's not surprising, since the experiences of Turbeville and a few others who share her views receive even billing with the rest of the town, despite their minority status.

When asked about her role in "Crawford," Turbeville explained that it was difficult because she "didn't want to knowingly offend anyone." A lifelong resident who has now left for the larger world of nearby Waco, she still seemed at home, sitting next to Smith prior to the screening, laughing and patting him on the arm.

At times on Sunday, Modigliani, who explains that he felt "duped" or "betrayed" when he discovered that the president wasn't really from Crawford, also seemed very conscious of not wanting to offend. Throwing around the occasional "y'all" and dropping a few g's as he chatted with the film's subjects, the Boston-born filmmaker seems to have become comfortable in the town, which he has been visiting periodically over the past four years. He also took the opportunity to express his gratitude to Crawford's residents for being so welcoming —access he attributes to the fact that he and his crew made it clear early that they were interested in the residents' personal stories and his habit of visiting even when the president was elsewhere.

"Meeting the filmmaker, I knew that I wasn't going to be upset," said resident Warren Johnson.

Nick Spanos, co-owner of the Coffee Station, where much of the action takes place, was pleased with Modigliani's choice of footage. "He picked the top of the line. We talk kind of different. We don't have any money, but we've got class."

Wolf perhaps summed up Modigliani's achievement best: "All the different perspectives are represented fairly in the documentary, and I feel that's the greatest compliment you can give to a documentarian, that everybody identifies with themselves and feels like they're treated fairly. From Cindy to Ricky, it's pretty amazing."