"Americana" (1981)

Within seconds of starting this film I had to pause to go find out if I was delusional or had everyone really gone and de-aged by a lot. Turns out that I was not delusional (this time). The film was originally directed by David Carradine back in 1972 but it had taken him another twelve years to find a distributor. It's the tough world of cinema.

The film is a very character driven story of a Vietnam vet whose return to the US, comes across a broken down merry-go-round in the middle of no where America and decides to fix it. Throughout the film we see him interacting with many of the small town's inhabitants including: a young girl (Hershey's character), an elderly woman whose father was the original owner of the merry-go-round, and the gentleman who runs the only garage in the area.

Hershey's character doesn't do much. She just seems to always be there and usually appears as the out sider to everyone else. It's really funny seeing this performance after now having seen her in some other roles that just tested her more. It felt out of place watching, which I know makes sense because of the derail on the film's release. Still it felt like watching her take five steps backwards after having seen her play such crucial, more interesting characters. I had to go and see what people thought of the film at the time and it was funny seeing them describe her performance "stepping back into her earth mother phase".

Now reflecting on having watched through her early 70's movies I can certainly see where they are coming from. The Early 70's: Hershey's Earth Mother Phase. The Late 70's Early 80's: The Love Interest.

As far as the garage owner, who is really the only other town's person we see Carradine's character interact with a lot. I couldn't help but get some homosexual undertones from their interactions. If this had been released now than there would certainly be fan art of some sorts with those two kissing. There is certainly something there, even when Carradine brings it up and it gets knocked down.

Sadly, I can see why it had taken forever for this film to be released. Everything is very dry and I sometimes found myself finding it hard to watch and just wanting it to end. Think of it like if you were a city person who just found themselves out in the country. It's a whole different world and you can appreciate it, but at the same time you are falling asleep from the boredom. By the time it ended I was seriously thinking: this town doesn't need a stupid merry-go-round! Just leave it broken! Go somewhere were chicken fighting is not everyone's favorite pass time! Run, don't walk!