American Smart Cinema

193 Pages·2012·1.72 MB·English

by  Claire Perkins

Traditions in World Cinema
General Editors:Linda Badley and R.Barton Palmer
Founding Editor:Steven Jay Schneider
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This series introduces diverse and fascinating movements in world cinema. Each volume L
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concentrates on a set of films from a different national,regional or,in some cases,cross-cultural
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cinema which constitute a particular tradition. R
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AMERICAN SMART CINEMA N
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CLAIRE PERKINS
AMERICAN SMART CINEMA
‘A thought-provoking analysis of the thematic and formal qualities of a significant series of
tendencies in American cinema beyond the mainstream,mixing detailed readings of individual
films with consideration of broader cultural contexts in which they can be understood.’
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Geoff King,Brunel University M
CLAIRE PERKINS
‘In American Smart Cinema,Claire Perkins makes an important contribution toward mapping ER
recent American filmmaking with greater critical precision,providing a detailed and insightful I
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examination of the “smart film” in relation to its recurring interest in the politics of youth
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culture.It is a welcome addition for those interested in better understanding the unique tone
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and thematic obsessions of this particular wing of “Indie” production.’
Jeffrey Sconce,Northwestern University S
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Connecting the ‘smart’ sensibility to issues of expressive irony, generational divide and A
therapeutic culture, this bold new book describes a recent critical tradition in commercial- R
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independent American filmmaking by exploring the unstable tone and dysfunctional themes of
such films as The Royal Tenenbaums,Adaptation,The Squid and the Whale,Palindromes,Magnolia, C
Flirt,Ghost World,Your Friends and Neighbors,Donnie Darkoand Simple Men. I
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Acknowledging the loaded forms of expression employed by these films,American SmartCinema E
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provides new directions for their study by discussing the self-conscious approach taken to film
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historical discourses of authorship, narrative and genre. Examining the smart film’s taste for
‘blank’ style and issues of middle-class identity,the book provides a comprehensive account of
smart cinema as an aesthetic category while also considering the cultural and political factors
that have guaranteed it critical and popular success.
Claire Perkins is Assistant Lecturer in Film and Television Studies in the School of English,
Communication and Performance Studies at Monash University,Australia.
ISBN 978-0-7486-4074-4
Jacket design:riverdesign.co.uk
Jacket image:The Savages,2007 © FoxSearchlight Pictures /
The Kobal Collection
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Edinburgh University Press d
22 George Square,Edinburgh EH8 9LF in
www.euppublishing.com b
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ISBN 978 0 7486 4074 4 g
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AMERICAN SMART CINEMA
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Traditions in World Cinema The International Film Musical
by Corey K. Creekmur and Linda Y.
General Editors Mokdad (eds)
Linda Badley (Middle Tennessee State 978 0 7486 3476 7 (hardback)
University)
R. Barton Palmer (Clemson University) American Smart Cinema
by Claire Perkins
Founding Editor 978 0 7486 4074 4 (hardback)
Steven Jay Schneider (New York
University) Italian Neorealist Cinema
by Torunn Haaland
Titles in the series include: 978 0 7486 3611 2 (hardback)
Traditions in World Cinema
by Linda Badley, R. Barton Palmer and Forthcoming titles include:
Steven Jay Schneider (eds) The Spanish Horror Film
978 0 7486 1862 0 (hardback) by Antonio Lázaro-Reboll
978 0 7486 1863 7 (paperback) 978 0 7486 3638 9 (hardback)
Japanese Horror Cinema American Independent-Commercial
by Jay McRoy (ed.) Cinema
978 0 7486 1994 8 (hardback) by Linda Badley and R. Barton Palmer
978 0 7486 1995 5 (paperback) 978 0 7486 2459 1 (hardback)
New Punk Cinema The Italian Sword-and-Sandal Film
by Nicholas Rombes (ed.) by Frank Burke
978 0 7486 2034 0 (hardback) 978 0 7486 1983 2 (hardback)
978 0 7486 2035 7 (paperback)
New Nordic Cinema
African Filmmaking: North and South of by Mette Hjort, Andrew Nestigen and
the Sahara Anna Stenport
by Roy Armes 978 0 7486 3631 0 (hardback)
978 0 7486 2123 1 (hardback)
978 0 7486 2124 8 (paperback) Italian Post-neorealist Cinema
by Luca Barattoni
Palestinian Cinema: Landscape, Trauma 978 0 7486 4054 6 (hardback)
and Memory
by Nurith Gertz Magic Realist Cinema in East Central
978 0 7486 3407 1 (hardback) Europe
978 0 7486 3408 8 (paperback) by Aga Skrodzka-Bates
978 0 7486 3916 8 (hardback)
Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia
Tradition Cinemas of the North Africa Diaspora of
by Stephen Teo France
978 0 7486 3285 5 (hardback) by Will Higbee
978 0 7486 3286 2 (paperback) 978 0 7486 4004 1 (hardback)
Czech and Slovak Cinema: Theme and New Romanian Cinema
Tradition by Christina Stojanova and Dana Duma
by Peter Hames 978 0 7486 4264 9 (hardback)
978 0 7486 2081 4 (hardback)
978 0 7486 2082 1 (paperback) Contemporary Latin American Cinema:
New Transnationalisms
The New Neapolitan Cinema by Dolores Tierney
by Alex Marlow-Mann 978 0 7486 4573 2 (hardback)
978 0 7486 4066 9 (hardback)
Visit the Traditions in World Cinema
website at www.euppublishing.com/series/
TIWC
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AMERICAN
SMART CINEMA
Claire Perkins
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For Mum
© Claire Perkins, 2012
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
www.euppublishing.com
Typeset in 10/12.5 pt Sabon
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd,
Croydon, CR0 4YY
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 4074 4 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 4654 8 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 0 7486 5425 3 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7486 5424 6 (Amazon ebook)
The right of Claire Perkins
to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vi
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction 1
1. Authorship: Whit Stillman’s ‘Yuppie’ Trilogy, Flirt, Adaptation 20
2. Narrative: The Squid and the Whale, The Safety of Objects,
Palindromes 49
3. Melodrama: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal
Tenenbaums 76
4. Music: Simple Men, Magnolia, Ghost World 106
5. Suburbia and Utopia: Happiness, Your Friends and Neighbors,
The Chumscrubber, Donnie Darko 132
Conclusion 157
Bibliography 166
Index 178

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book was completed during a sad and diffi cult period of my life, and I
was lucky to receive support and insight from a number of people. I would like
to thank my friends and colleagues in Film and Television Studies at Monash
University, especially Con Verevis for his help at every stage of the project,
and for his feel for the smart fi lm. I am also grateful for the advice I received
from Alison Ross, and for the assistance and understanding of my editors,
R. Barton Palmer and Linda Badley. Thank you to the School of English,
Communications and Performance Studies at Monash University for providing
images for the book. On a personal note, I have greatly appreciated the emo-
tional and practical support of Alistair Perkins, Peter Perkins, Jennie Bremner,
Orli Schwartz and Mary Harvey. My heartfelt thanks go to Liam Nolan for his
love, generosity and perspective. Finally, I thank my mother, Jo Perkins, who
was such a factor in this and everything else. This book is dedicated to her.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Lara Flynn Boyle in
Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998). 3
Figure 2: Mackenzie Astin, Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny in The
Last Days of Disco (Whit Stillman, 1998). 32
Figure 3: Adrienne Shelly, Martin Donovan and Edie Falco in Trust
(Hal Hartley, 1990). 37
Figure 4: Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep in Adaptation (Spike Jonze,
2002). 43
Figure 5: Al Pacino and Gene Hackman in Scarecrow (Jerry
Schatzberg, 1973). 55
Figure 6: Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline, Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels
in The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005). 61
Figure 7: Ellen Barkin and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Palindromes (Todd
Solondz, 2004). 71
Figure 8: Dermot Mulroney and Glenn Close in The Safety of Objects
(Rose Troche, 2003). 80
Figure 9: Mary Lynn Rajskub, Emily Watson and Adam Sandler in
Punch Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002). 83
Figure 10: Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Gwyneth Paltrow and
Anjelica Huston in The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson,
2001). 98
Figure 11: Julianne Moore and Jason Robards in Magnolia (Paul
Thomas Anderson, 1999). 113
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AMERICAN SMART CINEMA
Figure 12: Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch in Ghost World (Terry
Zwigoff, 2001). 119
Figure 13: Amy Brenneman and Aaron Eckhart in Your Friends and
Neighbors (Neil LaBute, 1998). 140
Figure 14: Jamie Bell and Richard Gleason in The Chumscrubber (Arie
Posin, 2005). 146
Figure 15: Jake Gyllenhaal and Jena Malone in Donnie Darko
(Richard Kelly, 2001). 153
Figure 16: Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Savages
(Tamara Jenkins, 2007). 161
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TRADITIONS IN WORLD CINEMA
General editors: Linda Badley and R. Barton Palmer
Founding editor: Steven Jay Schneider
Traditions in World Cinema is a series of textbooks and monographs devoted
to the analysis of currently popular and previously underexamined or under-
valued fi lm movements from around the globe. Also intended for general inter-
est readers, the textbooks in this series offer undergraduate- and graduate-level
fi lm students accessible and comprehensive introductions to diverse traditions
in world cinema. The monographs open up for advanced academic study more
specialised groups of fi lms, including those that require theoretically-oriented
approaches. Both textbooks and monographs provide thorough examinations
of the industrial, cultural, and socio-historical conditions of production and
reception.
The fl agship textbook for the series includes chapters by noted scholars
on traditions of acknowledged importance (the French New Wave, German
Expressionism), recent and emergent traditions (New Iranian, post-Cinema
Novo), and those whose rightful claim to recognition has yet to be established
(the Israeli persecution fi lm, global found footage cinema). Other volumes
concentrate on individual national, regional or global cinema traditions. As the
introductory chapter to each volume makes clear, the fi lms under discussion
form a coherent group on the basis of substantive and relatively transparent, if
not always obvious, commonalities. These commonalities may be formal, sty-
listic or thematic, and the groupings may, although they need not, be popularly
ix
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