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7
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9 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
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A
small town girl (Susan Berman) goes to New York
in hopes of finding fame in the punk music scene...
Perhaps most notable as the first independent
American feature invited to compete for the Golden
Palm award in the Cannes Film Festival, Smithereens
also marks the debut of director Susan Seidelman.
Seidelman would later direct the hit Madonna vehicle
Desperately Seeking Susan,
but is best known these days for her work on the
popular TV series Sex in the City.
The story is nothing groundbreaking, but
Seidelman invests it with a certain quirky charm.
Shot on 16mm, the film has a gritty texture that
is closer to the urban dramas of Martin Scorsese
than one might anticipate, but where it really
scores is in its dead-on sense of characterization.
Susan Berman manages to make her self-absorbed,
fame-obsessed character rather likable, which
is essential to the success of the film. True,
the character has more than her fair share of
flaws and verges, throughout, on the brink of
becoming incredibly irritating, but Berman successfully
finds the frail human core of the character and
transforms her into a compelling protagonist.
Cast as the two men in her life, Brad Rinn and
legendary punk musician Richard Hell make for
effectively contrasting figures. Rinn has the
comparatively thankless task of being the "nice"
guy who allows himself to be debased and humiliated
for the bulk of the film, while Hell quite comfortably
trades on his real life persona. Both performers,
like Berman, succeed in bringing a sense of depth
to characters that verge on total cliche. The
fact that these central roles are so well delineated
by their respective performers only helps in adding
some verisimilitude and drama to the finished
product.
Seidelman does a terrific job in pacing
the film — there
are no real lulls to speak of, and the whole things
flows with a wonderful sense of creative spontaneity
and improvisation. The effect is enhanced by a
catchy soundtrack composed by The Feelies, as
well as by the atmospheric use of real New York
locales. Indeed, the film stands as something
of a time capsule in its depiction of a very rich
and specific period in New York culture. Its depiction
of the punk music scene, in addition to its cataloguing
of the seedier sections of 'old' New York, stand
in stark contrast to the city and its culture
as it stands today.
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| Blue
Underground's release of Smithereens
is well up to their usual level of quality. The
1.66/16x9 image looks very good indeed. Colors are
accurately rendered and the framing looks correct.
Bearing in mind the film's low budget 16mm origins,
the occasional instances of grain and print damage
are hardly surprising, but there is nothing too
distracting to complain of. Audio quality is also
up to par. The original mono mix sounds clear and
distinct, and BU has also gone to the trouble of
preparing new stereo and 5.1 soundtracks, both of
which do a nice job with the music score but ultimately
serve to remind one of the film's low budget where
dialogue recording is concerned. The remixed tracks
are certainly respectable, but the original mono
seems the logical way to go. Extras include a theatrical
trailer, still gallery, audio commentary with Seidelman
and a 12 minute featurette featuring Berman and
Hell. The commentary, moderated by David Gregory,
is a lively and informative affair that details
Seidelman's detailed memories of the film and its
reception, while the featurette offers some breezy
insights into the production.
5/09/05 |
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