Capturing a Man

By Elizabeth C. Holtz
Staff Writer

Recreating a life is difficult enough in a novel, but on film the challenge is even greater. Yet by employing a number of different techniques, the directors of American Splendor, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, manage to capture both the essence of Harvey Pekar and many facets of American life.

There have been a number of notable movies released recently that focus on the life of an artist: for example, Frida and to some extent The Hours. But while each of these films manages to communicate something important about these artists, neither film is able to transcend the wall between thier extraordinary subjects and the viewers. American Splendor not only achieves this but also captures the terrible beauty in a life that is not as average as it claims to be.

American Splendor exhibits the life of comic book writer Harvey Pekar. From his humble beginnings as a file clerk, Pekar turned the comic world on its head with the publication of his series, American Splendor. While most comics deal with superheroes with clever names and flashy costumes, his comic chronicled his own life. The setting is working-class Cleveland, and the characters are not figments of his imagination but rather the people in his life.

As his comics develop a cult-following and he becomes a sort of celebrity, Pekar's life becomes less ordinary. He appears on the David Letterman show, MTV exploits one of his coworkers in a promotional spot, and he makes more money. Yet he retains much of his old life before the comics. He keeps the same job and has the same friends, the same routine. This is what distinguishes American Splendor, or rather Pekar, from other biographies. It’s not a trite story of an underdog overcoming the odds to go on to glory. Pekar finds happiness or at least contentment without dramatically changing his life.

As a film American Splendor stands out as well. The director includes a myriad of interesting formats. The film is intercut with pages from the comic books, clips from Pekar’s interviews with David Letterman and the most successful, scenes in which Pekar himself discusses his own life.

This filmic technique effectively makes it clear that Paul Giamatti (who masterfully portrays Pekar) and Pekar the man are not one and the same. American Splendor is not a retelling of Pekar’s life; it is a meditation on it. This technique also bridges the gap between the audience and Pekar himself.

Most viewers of American Splendor as well as readers of the comic will not have difficulty relating to Pekar—a key difference between American Splendor and both recent biographical movies and comic superhero movies alike. Films like X-Men and Spiderman find their audiences by appealing to a person’s innate desire for greatness. The protagonists of these films may be flawed, but nevertheless they have some kind of power, something that clearly sets them apart from the average guy. They are fantastic and awe-inspiring, but they lose part of their humanity as well.

Many biographical movies fall prey to the same problem. Nicole Kidman in The Hours is difficult to relate to. Her portrayal of Virginia Woolf is inaccessible. She is in her own world; her actions are ambiguous and confusing. Perhaps this is not an artistic problem, perhaps most people who have changed the world are not accessible, but that fact only makes both American Splendor and Pekar worth additional attention.