This strange, heartfelt documentary from film critic Godfrey Cheshire is a fascinating examination of his family roots, as well as an evocative meditation on the complexities of the South.
This strange, heartfelt documentary from film critic Godfrey Cheshire is a fascinating examination of his family roots, as well as an evocative meditation on the complexities of the South.
At Christmas 2003, New York-based film critic Godfrey Cheshire is visiting his family in North Carolina when his cousin Charlie Silver tells him something startling. Charlie inherited Midway Plantation, the ancestral home of his and Cheshire's extended family, and has been its devoted caretaker. But now Charlie and his wife Dena have made a decision: They want to move Midway - the antebellum manor house and several outbuildings - to a new location to escape Raleigh's encroaching sprawl.
In its 98 minutes, film critic Godfrey Cheshire's documentary Moving Midway records an amazing architectural feat, and that's the least of its virtues.
The whole idea of foundation -- as it applies to family, history, and an actual, stately American house -- receives a thoughtful inspection in Moving Midway, the graceful nonfiction film from Godfrey Cheshire.
Godfrey Cheshire's Moving Midway, from his own screenplay, provides a profound meditation on the paradoxes of race in America through a discovery of his own Southern family's hitherto hidden secrets.
Godfrey Cheshire, a highly acclaimed film critic, uses his cinematic smarts and sensibility to good effect in "Moving Midway," his documentary about the relocation of his ancestral home, an antebellum N.C. plantation named Midway.
The details behind the actual move are the least interesting part of the film; far more compelling is the "history" of slavery as presented through a polished Hollywood veneer.
Cheshire deftly interweaves different interpretations of the antebellum South, through architecture, family memories (black and white), history, and popular culture.
Moving Midway isn't a simple-minded brotherhood-of-man tract. The film is spiked with artfully edited excerpts from some of the movies that have shaped American racial attitudes over the years.
Southern myths rise up, then drop like flies in the enthralling documentary Moving Midway, and all because director Godfrey Cheshire's cousin is moving house. Literally.
The film offers a probing and patient analyses of converging social movements related to everything from the nomination of the country's first black President to how people relate their family's history.
No quotes approved yet for Moving Midway. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Moving Midway'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
