UK Premiere

Short Synopsis:

What happens to the 705 residents of Crawford, Texas when George W. Bush moves to town?

Review:

David Modigliani’s Crawford is a feature-length documentary about a small town in Texas that is turned upside down by George W Bush’s politically-motivated decision to move there. A baffling choice, at first, you’d think – until we learn that Bush wants a bit of the town to rub off on his newly-announced presidential campaign. Bush needs us to see him as a more folksy, down-to-earth character and Crawford, he’s hoping, will give him all that.

But what does he give the resident population? For some, his association with their hometown is a massive boom and especially good for tourism. For others, his living there creates big problems.

Bush’s eventual war in Iraq is splitting the residents into patriots and traitors and soon, this once-sleepy town is the scene of much unrest. Modigliani moves swiftly from character to character, and gives us an insight into both sides of the left/right divide. We meet protesting students, willful teachers and scarily Republican pastors. One of the most explosive elements in the film is the sentiment stirred up by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son who had been stationed in Iraq during the ‘war against terror’. And it is on this terrain that director Modigliani really excels, by being careful to treat all his interviewees with respect and not taking the all-too-easy option of ridiculing those with (seemingly) reactionary points of view.
The fact that Super Size Me's Submarine Entertainment are representing this, tells you all you need to know. An excellent documentary.

GB