Bright Leaves

Nov 2006
Ross McElwee, best known for the documentary Sherman's March , turns his eye to the history of the American tobacco industry.

He was drawn to the subject by a cousin who collected film memorabilia and introduced him to a 1950s drama, called Bright Leaf, which starred Gary Cooper as a tobacco magnate ruined by a ruthless, rich man (Humphrey Bogart). This chimed with McElwee, who remembered stories about his grandfather, who built up a fortune in the industry only to lose it all suing the Duke family, the most powerful growers in America, for allegedly stealing his famous Durham Bull brand.

As well as investigating the origins of the film, the growth of the industry and his own familial connections, McElwee also looks at the impact on today's society, talking to those made ill by smoking, those addicted to the weed and those who profit from growing it, though the latter confess to mixed feelings over profiting from such a crop.

This is an almost personal journey for McElwee, where he's willingly sidetracked by chance encounters and discoveries rather than a rigid linear structure.

Occasionally rambling, the film is never less than intriguing and his encounter with film historian Vlada Petric borders on the surreal.

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