BE LIKE AN ANT
A film by Mike Plante
2012, 57 minutes
2012, 57 minutes
No. 062
Documentary
Documentary
Description
After returning from Vietnam, Paul bought a mobile home for his family. Unhappy with its construction, he decided to build his own house around it. 38 years, 4 floors and 100 windows later, Paul is nearly finished. Be Like an Ant is a thoughtful, captivating portrait of a modern man who found redemption in the act of building a home.
This unconventional documentary presents a guided tour of the house in its perpetually unfinished state (Paul never used blueprints) and a fascinating glimpse inside the mind of someone living entirely off his instincts and rejecting the rules of society.
Paul won a Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and his harrowing survival story provides a profound potential origin for his unorthodox working methods.
This unconventional documentary presents a guided tour of the house in its perpetually unfinished state (Paul never used blueprints) and a fascinating glimpse inside the mind of someone living entirely off his instincts and rejecting the rules of society.
Paul won a Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and his harrowing survival story provides a profound potential origin for his unorthodox working methods.
Festivals
Official Screening, UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art
Reviews
"In Be Like an Ant filmmaker Mike Plante documents the work of his uncle, a Vietnam veteran-turned-amateur architect who has spent the last 20 years expanding his mobile home in upstate New York into an elaborate, four-story structure hidden away in a forest." - Chicago Tribune
