This documentary by Jim McBride about his British girlfriend Clarissa and her decision to marry another man for a green card is undeniably from the maker of the great pseudo-cinema-verite mockumentary DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY... but this time it's real. Interesting as a time capsule, it is still way too long at 60 minutes for a movie in which the big event takes only about five and is bookended by endless talking.
It remains a necessary preface, however, for McBride's far more energetic and far superior self-reflexive doc PICTURES FROM LIFE'S OTHER SIDE, which picks up the couple and their son (Clarissa's, from a previous relationship) a few years later on a cross-country road trip looking for a new home. Even though imdb doesn't list it, I saw the films as a double feature a few months ago, and I highly recommend the experience.
It remains a necessary preface, however, for McBride's far more energetic and far superior self-reflexive doc PICTURES FROM LIFE'S OTHER SIDE, which picks up the couple and their son (Clarissa's, from a previous relationship) a few years later on a cross-country road trip looking for a new home. Even though imdb doesn't list it, I saw the films as a double feature a few months ago, and I highly recommend the experience.
