What is the American Dream? For the father of the Siev family, it’s reaching the United States and escaping the mass killings in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. More specifically, it’s Bad Axe, Michigan, the place where he opened his restaurant and started his family. But what happens when this idea is put into jeopardy by a pandemic and the political turmoil of 2020’s America? Bad Axe, the new documentary by filmmaker David Siev, explores these external conflicts through the lens of one immigrant family’s journey.
In March 2020, just before the pandemic lockdowns began, David left New York City to return to his hometown. There’s nothing there – just a Walmart, two traffic lights and one road. But there’s also Rachel’s, the restaurant run by Siev’s parents, Chun and Rachel, with the help of his older sister, Jaclyn, and younger sister, Raquel. The beginning of Bad Axe follows the family as they try to keep Rachel’s afloat during the early pandemic. The children fear that their parents may contract the virus, so Jaclyn takes over operations. The restaurant becomes a primarily take-out business but still suffers its worst earnings and the family struggles to keep all of its staff.
The film’s perspective changes as spring turns into summer and protests against police brutality and racism flare up across the country. The Siev family refuses to keep quiet as they have for years, being an Asian-American family in a predominantly white town. Jaclyn along with other staff members take to the streets and demonstrate their support through the restaurant’s social media. This doesn’t help their business’s cause, fostering hostility in a largely conservative community. The pushback is emblematic of the escalating tension of 2020 where the Sievs face customers who refuse to wear masks and incur the brunt of anti-Asian discrimination and threats from white supremacists. These problems are exacerbated once the residents of Bad Axe see the promotional trailer for David’s documentary, which paints the town as an obstacle that the Siev family must overcome.
The negative reception leads David to reframe the second half of his film into a more personal one, documenting the journey each family member takes throughout the year. The charismatic Jaclyn must balance her corporate job with running the restaurant, all amid frequent clashes with her father’s combative personality. Meanwhile, Raquel is about to graduate from college but doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life.
Midway through Bad Axe, David is asked what his film is about. He reflexively answers, “it’s a love letter to Bad Axe.” But when viewing the documentary, it becomes apparent that David and his family’s relationship with their hometown is much more complex. It’s true that the community supports their business and provides them the opportunity to live their “American Dream,” but what the film reveals is how the frustrations the Siev family face while living in Bad Axe only serve to make their bond stronger. David captures his loved ones’ perseverance through the pandemic, showing how each member makes sacrifices to help the household. In this sense, the film is not a love letter to the town but one to David’s family and how they overcome hardship through the strength of unity.
Bad Axe is a film whose meaning changes over time. It’s apparent that David never really grasps what his documentary is trying to say in the process of making it. Instead, he finds his voice in the editing room, first observing his family from afar and then drilling down to the personal level and finding out what makes them strong. At times, this results in an uneven affair, but in truth, that’s representative of life in 2020. The film is about many things – the immigrant American Dream, the rising social issues in the summer of 2020 and a struggling restaurant during COVID-19. But most of all, David grounds the story in his love for his family. The film’s overwhelming positivity in the face of uncertainty is necessary to process the events that have passed and to better prepare for the journey ahead.
Photo courtesy of IFC Films
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