Genre: documentary

Running Time: Approx. 60 mins.

Awards & Reviews: Telly Award Bronze (see all)

Outline: Take This Hammer is Bob Gordon’s story of building traditional dry stack stone walls by hand, without mortar or cement, year in and year out, in all weathers and seasons. Bob began repairing broken down stone walls on his farm 15 years ago. His part-time cleanup project became a lifetime passion.

As the on-screen narrator, Bob guides the viewer through his wall-building process, while providing a very personal statement about the simple pleasures of traditional manual work. Bob’s consultations with professional stone masons add additional perspective, and when the neighbors come by for a “cap stone party” their work and comments add flavor and richness to the project.

Bob is also an amateur folksinger and guitarist, and the film’s soundtrack is an eclectic collection of old time folk and blues music, mostly made by Bob and his friends.

The sound of hammer on rock, and the music that make the work flow, combine with visually compelling rural scenes ranging from broad peaceful views of Virginia’s Blue Ridge rising above a horse pasture, down to the sight of ants scurrying when an upturned stone disturbs their nest.

What began as a how-to video on building dry stack stone walls, has evolved into a perspective on the satisfaction of “doing it yourself” by working on the land and playing homemade music, in our increasingly complex and stressful modern culture.

In a world where many of us are divorced from nature and expect to put dinner in the microwave and have it done in sixty seconds, Take This Hammer shows that construction of a wall that will last for centuries, goes on for years and yet is a source of joy, for Bob and for the viewer.