A colorful and provocative survey of anarchism in America, the film attempts to dispel popular misconceptions and trace the historical development of the movement. The film explores the movement both as a native American philosophy stemming from 19th century American traditions of individualism, and as a foreign ideology brought to America by immigrants. The film features rare archival footage and interviews with significant personalities in anarchist history including Murray Boochkin and Karl Hess, and also live performance footage of the Dead Kennedys.

Fernando Pessoa's paradoxical 1922 short story is styled as a Platonic dialogue between a wealthy banker and his colleague, in which the banker explains the strictly logical path that led him step-by-step from an anarchist youth to being the only true and consistent anarchist. The tale playfully undermines many of the founding texts of political 'enlightenment' (Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Malthus, Rousseau, Smith, Spinoza), as well as making a devastating critique of revolutionary psychology and of 1917 Bolshevism. Like magic, the sleight of hand is transparent, apparently convincing us of the banker's inexorable logic, while the plot challenges us to discover the flaw in the shocking twist of the wealthy banker's logic.

AMERICAN ANARCHIST tells the story of one of the most infamous books ever written, The Anarchist Cookbook, and the role it has played in the life of its author, William Powell, who wrote it at 19 in the midst of the countercultural upheaval of the late 1960s and early ’70s. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Charlie Siskel (FINDING VIVIAN MAIER) tracks down Powell, now 65 and a schoolteacher, for an intimate and thought-provoking conversation as he revisits the work and the influence it continues to have. A cautionary tale of youthful rebellion and unforeseen consequences, AMERICAN ANARCHIST is a universal and all-too-human story of a man at the end of his life wrestling with his past, his identity, and the repercussions of his youth.

AMERICAN ANARCHIST tells the story of one of the most infamous books ever written, The Anarchist Cookbook, and the role it has played in the life of its author, William Powell, who wrote it at 19 in the midst of the countercultural upheaval of the late 1960s and early ’70s. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Charlie Siskel (FINDING VIVIAN MAIER) tracks down Powell, now 65 and a schoolteacher, for an intimate and thought-provoking conversation as he revisits the work and the influence it continues to have. A cautionary tale of youthful rebellion and unforeseen consequences, AMERICAN ANARCHIST is a universal and all-too-human story of a man at the end of his life wrestling with his past, his identity, and the repercussions of his youth.

这部影片被形容为一部“三个乐章的交响乐”，片中集合了几位有着不同国家、种族背景的角色。影片的故事发生在一艘地中海豪华邮轮上，游轮行经六处著名的欧洲神话故事遗址，其中包括埃及、巴勒斯坦、希腊、敖德萨、那不勒斯、巴塞罗那。来自世界各地不同文化背景、说着不同语言的乘客在这里相遇。主要角色包括一位来自莫斯科警察局的探长，一名出身背景不详、由孙女陪同的老战犯，一名上了年纪的法国警察，一位巴勒斯坦大使，一位前联合国女官员，一名间谍，以及法国哲学家阿兰·巴丢和美国“朋克教母”帕蒂·史密斯。

这部影片被形容为一部“三个乐章的交响乐”，片中集合了几位有着不同国家、种族背景的角色。影片的故事发生在一艘地中海豪华邮轮上，游轮行经六处著名的欧洲神话故事遗址，其中包括埃及、巴勒斯坦、希腊、敖德萨、那不勒斯、巴塞罗那。来自世界各地不同文化背景、说着不同语言的乘客在这里相遇。主要角色包括一位来自莫斯科警察局的探长，一名出身背景不详、由孙女陪同的老战犯，一名上了年纪的法国警察，一位巴勒斯坦大使，一位前联合国女官员，一名间谍，以及法国哲学家阿兰·巴丢和美国“朋克教母”帕蒂·史密斯。

五十年前的乌托邦幻梦，本是加以尖锐讽刺，今天回首却尽成唏嘘。原籍智利的大师级导演拉乌卢易兹，当年在左翼总统上台后，拍片批评新政府的理想主义不切实际，岂料军事政变走向独裁，作品未及完成，他本人亦流亡海外。在他辞世多年后，视频终于寻获，经抢救修复，由其遗孀兼创作伙伴完成剪接，令此作重现人间。糅合纪实与虚构，在历史洪流里保持清醒，在激昂呐喊中洞察困境。由两组故事交错而成，工人接管工厂，知识份子空言革命，结局预示终成泡影。

五十年前的乌托邦幻梦，本是加以尖锐讽刺，今天回首却尽成唏嘘。原籍智利的大师级导演拉乌卢易兹，当年在左翼总统上台后，拍片批评新政府的理想主义不切实际，岂料军事政变走向独裁，作品未及完成，他本人亦流亡海外。在他辞世多年后，视频终于寻获，经抢救修复，由其遗孀兼创作伙伴完成剪接，令此作重现人间。糅合纪实与虚构，在历史洪流里保持清醒，在激昂呐喊中洞察困境。由两组故事交错而成，工人接管工厂，知识份子空言革命，结局预示终成泡影。

故事发生在1937年的马德里，胡斯托（胡安·迭戈·波托 Juan Diego Botto 饰）本是一位精明强干的律师，有着无量的前途和一位美丽的妻子曼纽埃拉（玛利亚·瓦沃德 María Valverde 饰）。西班牙内战爆发了，爱国心切的胡斯托果断的放弃了事业，加入了共和军，走上了战场。 　　胡斯托就此音信全无，曼纽埃拉带着两个孩子帕洛玛（伊万娜·巴克罗 Ivana Baquero 饰）和拉斐尔过着提心吊胆东躲西藏的日子。在一场意外中，拉斐尔不幸身亡，在巨大的绝望之中，曼纽埃拉却依然坚信着丈夫并没有死，并以此为精神支柱，将帕洛玛抚养成人。一晃眼几十年过去，某一日，曼纽埃拉在一张集中营的照片上瞥见了丈夫的身影。

故事发生在1937年的马德里，胡斯托（胡安·迭戈·波托 Juan Diego Botto 饰）本是一位精明强干的律师，有着无量的前途和一位美丽的妻子曼纽埃拉（玛利亚·瓦沃德 María Valverde 饰）。西班牙内战爆发了，爱国心切的胡斯托果断的放弃了事业，加入了共和军，走上了战场。 　　胡斯托就此音信全无，曼纽埃拉带着两个孩子帕洛玛（伊万娜·巴克罗 Ivana Baquero 饰）和拉斐尔过着提心吊胆东躲西藏的日子。在一场意外中，拉斐尔不幸身亡，在巨大的绝望之中，曼纽埃拉却依然坚信着丈夫并没有死，并以此为精神支柱，将帕洛玛抚养成人。一晃眼几十年过去，某一日，曼纽埃拉在一张集中营的照片上瞥见了丈夫的身影。