Strange Portraits
Chicago Filmmakers
Ostensibly embarking on a portrait of a “modern-day Abraham Lincoln”, Stewart Applegath’s Escaping History (1992, 41 min) relates to story of Mel Glasser of Chicago. Glasser, a recovering schizophrenic, has consciously adopted a Lincoln persona and has made considerable development of both a working and a personal and has made considerable progress in the last twenty years.
Ostensibly embarking on a portrait of a “modern-day Abraham Lincoln”, Stewart Applegath’s Escaping History (1992, 41 min) relates to a story of Mel Glasser of Chicago. Glasser, a recovering schizophrenic, has consciously adopted a Lincoln persona and has made considerable progress in the last twenty years. As the video unfolds, it traces the development of both a working and a personal relationship between Applegath and his subject all the while refusing to romanticize Glasser’s condition or situation: he speaks clearly to us , with intelligence and humour and takes Applegath on a special journey. Applegath recently won the prize for best Canadian Video at the Montreal Festival for New Cinema and Video for Escaping History. Quirky: Facts & Friction (1992, 35 min) deals with portraiture as well although John Sanborn’s take on autobiography is indeed highly “quirky” and includes philosophical musings along with humor and splendid video trickery.