What's so great about DAZED AND CONFUSED?
Richard Linklater is one of my favorite current film directors, hands down. For one, when he's interviewed, he shows a real joy and passion in making films, and seems universally popular amongst his actors. It's not a job to him--it's a calling. For another, he's not a slave to commercialism--witness his animated classic Waking Life (soon to be joined by A Scanner Darkly) and his pair of European book-ended films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. In fact, his only true failure was, oddly, his most commercial effort, The Newton Boys.
And yet his instant cult-classic from the nineties, and now simply-classic film remains Dazed and Confused. It's been called the American Graffiti of my generation, and that's no exaggeration. It may not carry the poignancy and emotional resonance of Grafitti (still, to my mind, George Lucas's finest film) but it is a helluva' lot of fun, and is made with surprising skill.
For example, take the opening. To the strains of Aerosmith's finest song, "Sweet Emotion," one gets the entire tale of the last day of school--the best day of the year for any kid--told with humor and grace, and yet it doesn't seem gimmicky in the slightest, unlike most movie montages. There's another great musical montage when the boys play pool which achieves an element of poetry in the marriage of music, pool ball movement, and the facial expressions of the actors. Don't let the subject matter fool you--just because it's a hilarious movie about a party on the last day of school doesn't mean it's not brilliant film-making.
The acting is naturalistic and effortless, and the cast--well, the cast put about as many new, memorable faces on screen as did Graffiti in its time. Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Jason London, and especially Matt McConaughey all got their starts here (among many others). There's great little moments we all remember from junior high and high school in the 70's, but the one I enjoyed the most was one of the quietest: after the baseball game, when each team lines up and they pass each other to shake each opposing player's hand, they all rather robotically say, "good game, good game, good game, good game." As soon as I saw this, I knew we were in the hands of a man who knew the time period; who knew these kids; who knew exactly what he was doing.
And it's a very funny film. From the opening paddle-hazing ritual to the wild kegger at the "Moon Tower," it's got as many real laughs as any film in the last 20 years. I'm half-waiting for the sequel to it, which will take us to the time and place where these memorable characters ended up, but I sincerely hope it never happens: I want to remember them, and this night, as always being the last day of school in 1976.
Richard Linklater is one of my favorite current film directors, hands down. For one, when he's interviewed, he shows a real joy and passion in making films, and seems universally popular amongst his actors. It's not a job to him--it's a calling. For another, he's not a slave to commercialism--witness his animated classic Waking Life (soon to be joined by A Scanner Darkly) and his pair of European book-ended films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. In fact, his only true failure was, oddly, his most commercial effort, The Newton Boys.
And yet his instant cult-classic from the nineties, and now simply-classic film remains Dazed and Confused. It's been called the American Graffiti of my generation, and that's no exaggeration. It may not carry the poignancy and emotional resonance of Grafitti (still, to my mind, George Lucas's finest film) but it is a helluva' lot of fun, and is made with surprising skill.
For example, take the opening. To the strains of Aerosmith's finest song, "Sweet Emotion," one gets the entire tale of the last day of school--the best day of the year for any kid--told with humor and grace, and yet it doesn't seem gimmicky in the slightest, unlike most movie montages. There's another great musical montage when the boys play pool which achieves an element of poetry in the marriage of music, pool ball movement, and the facial expressions of the actors. Don't let the subject matter fool you--just because it's a hilarious movie about a party on the last day of school doesn't mean it's not brilliant film-making.
The acting is naturalistic and effortless, and the cast--well, the cast put about as many new, memorable faces on screen as did Graffiti in its time. Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Jason London, and especially Matt McConaughey all got their starts here (among many others). There's great little moments we all remember from junior high and high school in the 70's, but the one I enjoyed the most was one of the quietest: after the baseball game, when each team lines up and they pass each other to shake each opposing player's hand, they all rather robotically say, "good game, good game, good game, good game." As soon as I saw this, I knew we were in the hands of a man who knew the time period; who knew these kids; who knew exactly what he was doing.
And it's a very funny film. From the opening paddle-hazing ritual to the wild kegger at the "Moon Tower," it's got as many real laughs as any film in the last 20 years. I'm half-waiting for the sequel to it, which will take us to the time and place where these memorable characters ended up, but I sincerely hope it never happens: I want to remember them, and this night, as always being the last day of school in 1976.
posted by I. Michael Koontz | 7:21 AM
1 Comments:
There's a new deluxe DVD version out that's terrific--commentary, extras (like screen-tests and a 50 minute documentary) that add to the appreciation of this film.
BTW, Martin Scorsese named it one of his ten favorite films from the nineties. Not a bad endorsement!
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