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The Way of the Independent
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18626 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1991 |
1,358 Words |
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David D'Arcy
David D'Arcy broadcasts on cultural matters on National Public
Radio. |
It used to be that you could tell a film was independently made just by looking at it. The black and white image was shaky, the acting amateurish, and the subject matter of a kind Hollywood wouldn't dare touch. The directors were familiar enough: John Cassavettes, John Waters, Andy Warhol.
Things have certainly changed in the last twenty years. Not that these sorts of films aren't made anymore. They are--by students, and by directors with international distribution contracts who flaunt their crude production values proudly. These days, however, independent films can also be visually stunning, with a beauty even Hollywood envies and usually endeavors to co-opt as quickly as possible.
As filmmaking of all kinds outside the studios grows, and as the cinema--like all media--becomes a global phenomenon, we find developments. The term independent film can be applied to nonstudio projects of all kinds, regardless of budget. Directors who've shown that they can make profitable independent films are being wooed by studios and distributors desperate for ideas and talent. At the same time directors whose films don't make money remain on the margin. The term independent needs updating.
Slacker, a comedy entered in the Sundance Film Festival's dramatic competition this year and released by Orion in the spring, was created by 26-year-old screenwriter and director Richard Linklater of Austin, Texas, and looks like everyone's id? recue of an American independent film in style, subject matter, and budget.
The story, composed of intercut scenes featuring former students, cost Linklater about $23,000 to write, produce, and direct.
Linklater's film seems just the kind of work the Sundance Festival was created to encourage: a low-budget, quirky vision of a place that probably wouldn't have ended up on film if its director hadn't been determined to make it, regardless of whether an audience had wanted to see it or not. These days, however, even among independent films, projects such as Slacker could turn into anachronisms.
At this year's Sundance Film Festival, it was sometimes hard to believe that what we were watching wasn't just Hollywood product.
The competition, the country's most distinguished showcase for independent American feature films, offered
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