Sherman's March

Ross McElwee:
I filmed, um, Dede washing her dog, and I filmed, um, Steve going to the music company where I used to work.

Ross McElwee:
In this film?

Charleen:
Now the only way to get you coupled... and it can be a permanent thing... is to find you a woman who thinks that you're God.

Charleen:
This is the way women want to hear men talk to them. Now, you see, Becky knows how to talk. "I love you and I can't help it and I don't care who knows it." What is she saying? "I give you my life and heart." This is the way I want you to talk to Dede. This is what... This is the language women can understand. That's what they believe. They experience it in their own lives.

Ross McElwee:
Well, not all women, I mean...

Charleen:
Well, the only women I know believe that. That's the only way I can... could... understand you...

Ross McElwee:
Well, I've felt that way about a couple of people. It doesn't solve everything. That's the point.

Charleen:
Well, you never solve everything, Ross. You never solve everything. The only thing you've got is a chance for a few passionate hits. You see how foolish it all is. You see what the army comes to. The bunkers, the island, the burned-out house. Hell, it's all a tragedy. It's just a matter of how you get through it. And the most interesting way to get through it is to say, "I can't help it. I'm full of passion and I'm gonna die this moment." It's the only way to pretend you're alive. It's the only way to not be alone and depressed. You've got to kid yourself and you've got to kid her and then you'll both believe it.

Charleen:
Could you turn it off? This is important. This is not art, this is life!

Ross McElwee:
The place is like a tomb.

Charleen:
No, it's not. It's like pubic hair. Part, part the bushes. Go into the place. Go with it, Ross. It's not like a tomb. That's the trouble with you. You don't know the difference between sex and death.

Ross McElwee:
Sex and death?

Charleen:
Yes, and death. This is life, this isn't dead. When it sits on your face, you can't tell which it is.

Ross McElwee:
It seems I'm filming my life in order to have a life to film, like some primitive organism that somehow nourishes itself by devouring itself, growing as it diminishes.

Ross McElwee:
It's a little like looking into a mirror and trying to see what you look like when you're not really looking at your own reflection.