Plot Summary:On the one hand, you have the Panamians, but Frederick Wiseman shows them as the Americans see them: from a distance. They are poor and of no particular interest to them even if Panama is THEIR country. But the Canal Zone belongs to the USA and what really matters is THEMSELVES living in closed circuit, worshiping the standards of American culture, God and Coca Cola, money and nationalism...
怀斯曼的马赛克结构，其结果是把若干细小的片段组成某个机构的一幅图景，通过段落的巧妙并置和贯穿整部影片的母题的重复来创造出含义。他坚持认为，含义存在于整体之中。
运河区的美国日常。三小时中的绝大部分都近乎无趣，但对于超级政权的影响力之局限这个题材而言，将正当紧迫的政治形势置之画外而聚焦微妙得多的平民生活，怀斯曼的尝试还是非常大胆。况且此阶段的他永远能用一个有力的尾声挽回分数，试问还有几个人敢把Memorial Day拍出如此强烈的讽刺意味？