Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story (2002)

movie

(117)

Country: USA
Genres: Documentary
Release: 2003-03-22
Director: Garrett Scott
Writers: Ian Olds , Garrett Scott
Language: English
Stars: Shawn Nelson
Runtime: 55 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story (United States of America) , Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story
Plot: In May 1995, Shawn Nelson, a 35 year-old plumber from Clairemont, California, emerged from an eighteen foot mine shaft he had dug beneath his backyard in search for gold. An ex-soldier and methamphetamine abuser, he stole a tank from a nearby National Guard armory and went on a rampage through the residential streets of his neighborhood, crushing cars and lampposts until the cops took him down. CUL DE SAC goes far beyond this apparently minor news story and provides extensive political, economic and social context that ties Nelson's life to the larger story of a working class community in decline. Newsreels of a fat, happy San Diego in the 50s and 60s, the perfect representation of middle class aspirations for economic prosperity, are juxtaposed with contemporary images of shuttered defense plants, jobless blue-collar suburbanites, drug abusers, and police on patrol. Statements from police, historians and real estate agents sketch out the rise and fall of this military-fueled boomtown, and trace the area's social ills back to World War II, the Vietnam War and recent layoffs.
IMDB:tt0317273