Product Details

• Actors: Adrian McElwee, Charleen Swansea
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: First Run Features
• VHS Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303038328
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,537 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ross McElwee's heartwarming autobiographical documentary Time Indefinite picks up a few years after his fabulously funny (and successful) Sherman's March left off. While the earlier film billed itself as a search for romantic love in the postnuclear age, this one deals with the weightier subjects that come after you've found that romantic love: marriage, birth, family, and death. For the first 20 minutes you might have the creepy feeling that you're watching someone else's rather well-made home movie (or as one of McElwee's subjects blurts: "Turn off that camera--this isn't art, this is life!"). But abruptly this intimate chronicle turns into an intensely meaningful meditation on the continuity of family, on perseverance in the face of loss... and on McElwee's pathological need to get it all on film. With his gentle Southern wit, McElwee manages to do all this without ever lapsing into bleakness or depression; more than a few moments are laugh-out-loud funny. Even more remarkable is McElwee's talent in organizing the random moments of everyday life--gospel-singing gynecologists, flashbacks to childhood fishing lessons, his family housekeeper's 50th wedding anniversary, fish dinners with philandering friends, the discovery of 8mm footage of his parents' marriage--into something intricately profound and beautiful. This might not be the best introduction to McElwee's movies (or to his family, which is pretty much the same thing). But if you enjoyed following Sherman's March, you'll love where this film takes you. --Grant Balfour

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, March 17, 2000

By 

William Layman "Will Layman" (Bethesda. MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Indefinite [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I just couldn't disagree more vigorously with "Chewbacca." SHERMAN'S MARCH was wondrous, but many were tempted to compare its wit with regard to romance with Woody Allen's take on that subject. Though SM touched on nuclear war, etc, it was still about a young guy looking for love. TIME INDEFINITE is a much weightier investigation of death and love and family, but the wit and gentle affection is still there. It's much more Kafka or Camus than Woody Allen. And, if anything, McElwee's ability to collage the small incidents of his life into something profound has only increased.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine, Quiet Chronicle, April 21, 2003

By 

joshua chapman (Roanoke, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Indefinite [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a real masterwork. It's a subtle, painful film and takes some time to develop, but the themes it considers are profound. McElwee is a charming man, and his omnipresence never grates. Indeed, the viewer is often aware of the camera only as a surrogate self. When watching this movie one feels honored to be observing firsthand the life of another person and community, and ain't that why we go to the movies?

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, April 29, 2003

By 

Jonathan Watson (Bellaire, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Indefinite [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A perfect, humble, and delightful documentary. Few other films could equal it. Sure, this review doesn't tell you much about the actual film, but so what? I just really like this film. Saw it in my second semester in film school. I'll never forget it.