Review of Henry Fonda for President: The Fading Vision of an Improved America

      The Academy Awards may not hold significant importance in the overall narrative of film history, but the fact that the iconic actor Henry Fonda secured his first competitive Oscar just five months before his passing invites contemplation on a larger scale. The film "Henry Fonda for President," released during a time when America appears to be visibly collapsing, likely encourages such reflections. It's difficult not to feel some emotional resonance with this film, despite its eventual implication of a harsh reality.

      Director and film historian Alexander Horwath presents a three-hour video essay that covers a wide array of concepts over its possibly excessive duration. The essay starts with Horwath recalling a pivotal moment in his cinephilia: a family trip to Paris in the summer of 1980, where as a teenager, he watched several Henry Fonda films at the Cinémathèque alongside his parents. This occurred simultaneously as Fonda was making his final film, "On Golden Pond," while Ronald Reagan was securing the Republican presidential nomination, marking a step in history that seemed to lead towards a bleaker future. The film often contrasts Fonda, a distinguished actor with progressive beliefs, against Reagan, a subpar performer with even more troubling views. History has revealed the outcome of this rivalry. In an era where people’s parasocial relationships with celebrities often lead to unsettling consequences on social media, Horwath’s film offers a thesis closely related to our inclination towards projection. Part of me wonders: why does the Austrian still care so deeply about America?

      The film's title is inspired by an episode of the often-overlooked Norman Lear sitcom "Maude," where the openly liberal protagonist places her hopes for the 1976 presidential election on the esteemed actor. Representing New Deal ideals through films like "The Grapes of Wrath" and embodying ‘50s liberal humanism in "12 Angry Men," Fonda resonated with fundamentally good Americans alienated by reactionary figures like Eisenhower and Nixon. Off screen, Fonda frequently embodied the morals of the honorable characters he portrayed, acting as a Tom Joad-like voice of reason.

      Horwath organizes the film not solely through clips and interviews from Fonda’s filmography but also through his own journey across America, exploring how locations from Fonda’s films and his life remain nearly 80 to 90 years later. It’s hard to overlook the awkward connection between Fonda's theatrical days and footage from an outdoor performance of "Hamilton," especially when it shifts to a performer wearing a Trump mask in Times Square, which only serves to underscore a potential desire to forget the past decade of culture.

      There are elements of Horwath’s project that remind me of Wim Wenders’ road movies: a classical, Hollywood-admiring European idealizing America while traversing it. Wenders’ earnest sentimentality might be hard to emulate today and tends to frustrate many contemporary cinephiles. Delve deeper, and it becomes clear that Fonda is more of an exception than the norm—a nuance the film somewhat acknowledges.

      The film’s sincerity is endearing, yet it can also become challenging to engage with over time. While it indicates from the outset the inevitable decline of Fonda’s legacy amid the Reagan revolution that irrevocably transformed America, it's difficult not to feel a sense of regret over paths not taken.

      "Henry Fonda for President" premieres at Anthology Film Archives on Thursday, April 3, with plans for expansion.