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Smithereens



Susan Seidelman established her distinctive vision of 1980s New York with this debut feature, the lo-fi original for her vibrant portraits of women reinventing themselves. After escaping New Jersey, the quintessentially punk Wren (Susan Berman)—a sparkplug in fishnets who lives dangerously downtown—moves to the city with the mission of becoming famous. When not pasting up flyers for herself or hanging at the Peppermint Lounge, she's getting involved with Paul (Brad Rijn), the nicest guy to ever live in a van next to the highway, and Eric (Richard Hell), an aloof rocker. Shot on 16 mm film that captures the grit and glam of the setting, with an alternately moody and frenetic soundtrack by the Feelies and others, Smithereens—the first independent American film to compete for the Palme d'Or—is an unfaded snapshot of a bygone era.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

• New 2K digital restoration, approved by director Susan Seidelman, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary from 2004 featuring Seidelman
• New interviews with Seidelman and actor Susan Berman
• And You Act Like One Too (1976) and Yours Truly, Andrea G. Stern (1979), two early shorts by Seidelman, with new introductions by the director
• PLUS: An essay by critic Rebecca Bengal

Richard Hell in now in the Collection. F*** yeah.

hearthesilence wrote:Richard Hell in now in the Collection. F*** yeah.

...along with more music from the Feelies.

the first independent American film to compete for the Palme d'Or

That can't possibly be true, can it?

domino harvey wrote:

the first independent American film to compete for the Palme d'Or

That can't possibly be true, can it?

I found it surprising too, so I did some searching. In 1974, there was The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, produced by AIP. And I don’t believe Johnny Got His Gun was a studio film.

Smithereens previously had a DVD release back in 2004 by Blue Underground, so I wonder if the other 'debut film by a female director' that Blue Underground released at the same time, The Loveless by Kathryn Bigelow, may also be upcoming?

I thought this had been licensed from Westchester Films but Shout Factory! is listed as the licensor. I thought they only got the films for streaming...

I guess I'll break the silence and say this was a pretty great film. It reminded me a lot of Demme to the point where I'm a little surprised it predates the most obvious points of comparison. The film's wonderfully sensitive to the way we act as dependent upon how we view others. This is heavily tied to being in or out of the punk scene, but gives forth many other examples the most plain being with the boy following around our lead like a puppy as he gets increasingly frustrated with the pawnshopper.
Are any of Seidelman's other films as good or at least worth watching.

knives wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:56 pm I guess I'll break the silence and say this was a pretty great film. It reminded me a lot of Demme to the point where I'm a little surprised it predates the most obvious points of comparison. The film's wonderfully sensitive to the way we act as dependent upon how we view others. This is heavily tied to being in or out of the punk scene, but gives forth many other examples the most plain being with the boy following around our lead like a puppy as he gets increasingly frustrated with the pawnshopper.
Are any of Seidelman's other films as good or at least worth watching.

I'm glad you enjoyed this gem of a film. Regarding Seidelman's other works, I'm a big admirer of Making Mr. Right; if you enjoy
True Stories, give it a shot, as they share a similar comedic DNA.

knives wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:56 pm Are any of Seidelman's other films as good or at least worth watching.

If what you enjoyed was the loose, skittish, though humanist feel, I can thoroughly recommend Desperately Seeking Susan. One of my fav. American films of the 80s.

I like both Cookie and She-Devil a lot; Cookie in particular is very Demme in how sweetly it handles its violent subject matter.

Cookie was looking mighty attractive to being with because of the cast and I'll definitely keep an eye out for Susan as well.

I didn’t realize Seidelman released a memoir back in June