Smart Cinema: Wise Cinematography From Indieworld
Abstract
The author analyses one of the most important paths of American independent cinema of the 1990s – smart cinema. He describes the context of production and distribution, and places it in the landscape of indieworld – the phenomenon developing over the last 25 years in the United States. Then he traces the most important features of smart films, focusing on their conservative aesthetics and worldview, but also on the question of irony and random chance and coincidence. He argues that smart films are the antithesis of the beloved family film, but at the same time they express a longing for the principles of American social relations. The author creates a preliminary outline of a phenomenon and lists its principle creators: Paul Thomas Anderson, Tamara Jenkins, Alexandre Payne, Todd Solondz and others. He also compares smart cinema with quirky cinema.
Keywords:
smart cinema, quirky cinema, irony, indieworldReferences
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Authors
Rafał Syskakwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
Historyk filmu, doktor habilitowany w Instytucie Sztuk Audiowizualnych UJ. Autor książek: Film i przemoc. Sposoby obrazowania filmowych aktów przemocy (2003), Zachować dystans. Filmowy świat Roberta Altmana (2008), Poezja obrazu. Filmy Theo Angelopoulosa (2008), Filmowy neomodernizm (2014). Redaktor Słownika filmu, a obecnie współredaktor wielotomowych publikacji Mistrzowie kina amerykańskiego i Historia kina. Stypendysta Fundacji Tygodnika „Polityka”, Fundacji na rzecz Nauki Polskiej i Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej. W 2012 r. przebywał jako scholar visiting na Columbia University. Założyciel i redaktor naczelny magazynu „Ekrany”. Kurator wystawy Stanley Kubrick w Muzeum Narodowym w Krakowie. Dyrektor Narodowego Centrum Kultury Filmowej w Łodzi.
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Copyright (c) 2016 Rafał Syska
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