The Amish and Us (1998) User Reviews

Pretty entertaining, for documentary.

[CaH · 4 August 2001]

First and foremost this is a documentary that tries to show all points of view. Although it does have a tendency to generalize all Amish communities by the one studied. Not only looking at how the Amish have changed their interactions with the English, but also how the English have prospered by peoples fascination with the Amish.

Unconventional, thoughtful and mostly fun.

[DoubleUBeeJay · 9/10 · 14 August 2010]

Most documentary films about the Amish have the same kind of reverence for 'the plain folk' you see in 'Witness.' This takes another path. For one thing, it's has several section that verge on sketch comedy, which the filmmakers use to establish that this is a subjective 'critical essay' type doc, not a 'voice of god' doc claiming to be objective. That said, there's a lot of facts I never knew about the Amish meshed in with the bits. Another unique thing about the film is reflected in the title: it's not just about the Amish, but about 'Us'. It asks not just how interaction with mainstream society through tourism affects the Amish, by why so many people are fascinated by the Amish enough to make their settlements such popular tourist attractions. I'm not all that interested in the Amish myself, and I was attracted to this film more as 'an interesting documentary' rather than by the specific subject matter. But I didn't find it narrow at all. Most good docos have something deeper going on under the surface subject -- Errol Morris' 'Gates of Heaven' being the best example: it's about a lot more than pet cemeteries... The 'Amish and Us' isn't in that class, but it's examination of it's one little area touches subtly on all kinds of larger questions that might get you thinking about your own life. For example, (tiny spoiler here) there's a little bit that contrasts the experience of riding in a horse drawn buggy with traveling by car, and suggests the later is more like watching TV. Lots of interesting stuff like that in this piece. Definitely not typical PBS fare.