It is a paradox, but Time Indefinite can best be descri¡bed as a professional home movie. In this film Ross McElwee documents his own life as an amateur could also do, but one the obvious difference is that McElwee is a film-maker. He records the life of a film-maker and does so with a professio¡nal 16mm camera.But professional or not, he does not have life under control. For instance early in the film the maker’s father plays an important role. He was a prominent surgeon and dominant cha¡racter. He never saw much in his son’s film career. Ross wantsto improve this difficult relationship with his film, but is only partially successful. The father dies fairly suddenly so that the focus of the film has to change – for instance to his own budding married life. McElwee married fairly late but now devotes himself to his own family life.McElwee’s gaze is not only honest, personal and plain-speaking but above all funny. His laconic and ironic commentary on the pictures is infectious. He also manages to broaden his perso¡nal angle into a general reflection on marriage, parenthood and death, as they are all experienced in Western society.
