06/02/06 Smithereens

Smithereens (1982), directed by Susan Seidelman

watched w/ Leslie (partially); DVD (borrowed from Jason) @ home

Judging a movie by its cover can sometimes be more enlightening than with the old "book" saying...seeing as movies are the visual medium to begin with, and the images are set forth for you to process rather than imagine. This movie had a great cover, as it played up to my fondness for neon vs. dark eyeliner clashing cacophonies that are 80's punk rock album covers. Ahhh, the discordant sound of the disenchanted! Long live punk rock! This lesser-known fragment of that early 80's DIY era comes from the lady (Susan Seidelman) who would later come out with "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "Sex And The City." It stars two lesser-known actors in Susan Berman as Wren, and Brad Rinn as Paul...and throws in seminal punker Richard Hell (www.richardhell.com) as Eric. Filmed during a time when star Richard Hell (of Television and Voidoids fame)was deep into his own addictions and dirty excesses, and after another classic in "Blank Generation." The story is a rather simply constructed one, as it follows a restless and confused 19 year-old Wren as she tries to escape her Jersey boredom into the fame of punk rock stardom in NYC. Her misguided attempts at this get her nowhere, thrown out onto the street, and into the arms of two vastly different men (Eric and Paul). Eric is the moody punk rocker who does little to give a healthy relationship, as the two play mind games with each other. Paul is a shy artist who has come to live in the City from Montana in his van, and is the romantic who wants to give Wren everything he doesn't have. With the punk scene of NYC's Greenwich Village as the backdrop, and the bare-bones style of the filmmaking...I can see why some hail this as a cult classic. It is a good film, with uneven acting (hey, they were amateurs or stoned) and definitely rough around the edges. I like my cult classics like I like my punk rock.

3 out of 5 stars