What is an Independent Film - Movie Review Example

What is independent film? by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date What is independent film? It would not be a mistake to point out that out of many different aspects of social life, art may be regarded as a one of the most characteristic manifestations of human nature. Indeed, nothing similar is found anywhere beyond the boundaries of society that is formed by humans. What is more important is that as the mankind evolved, the art evolved simultaneously. Thus, while in the previous ages people had limited access to tools with the help of which there were able to express their creative potential, in the contemporary society talented people can use the latest technological advancements. One of the most popular as well as influential kinds of art at the present moment is cinema. However, it must be noted that contrary to the so called mainstream cinema, there is a peculiar phenomenon that is called independent film. This paper will engage two independent movies and based on their close examination will come up with a list of characteristic features of an independent film. The first movie that will be used is titled Reservoir Dogs. Leaving aside some formal details of it, such as the cast or the director, one should note that it reflects the general tendency of independent films to involve unusual, controversial and provocative actions in the plot of the movie. In other words, the characters are shown performing actions that are rarely seen in the mainstream cinema (Allen 2003, p. 14). For example, in Reservoir Dogs one of the main characters, namely Mr. Blonde is portrayed torturing a hostage with a razor, ultimately severing his ear off. There is no doubt that scenes which depict torture are seen in the mainstream movies as well, but they have more symbolic meaning, while directors of independent film tend to portray violence quite realistically. In addition to that, in the same scene of torture, Mr. Blonde finds it necessary not only to mutilate the hostage, but also to kill him. In spite of the fact, that Mr. Blonde has a gun and can easily end life of this man, the former decided to spill gasoline all over the hostage and ignite it, making death of the latter long and painful. As one can clearly see, the amount of violence in one particular scene is tremendous if compared to mainstream movies. Indeed, in the latter, people are often killed without excessive cruelty as this is able to undermine the reputation of the studio. Contrary to that independent films have almost no restrictions on the amount of violence that they are able to provide the viewers with. Another important characteristic feature of the kind of films in question is an alternative approach towards presenting the development of the plot. Thus, it is largely suggested that the linear structure is the most easy to understand; so, mainstream movies primarily engage it in order to be welcomed by the audience (Berra 2008, p. 88). Nevertheless, independent film directors find particular pleasure in twisting the way the narration develops. For example, in Reservoir Dogs the narration is divided into chapters, just like in a book. In addition to that, the future of some of the characters is quite ambiguous which leaves the audience with a feeling that the story is not told completely. In other words, the directors of an independent movie like to give the viewers an option to end the movie. In addition to that, in the movie in question, there is a peculiar approach that was used to develop narration. Thus, the plot is primarily based on the aftermath of a robbery; however, the actual scene of robbery is never shown. The characters are seen to be wounded and police is chasing after them, but there are no flashbacks to portray the actual crime. There is no doubt that this was done deliberately so that the audience would be able to reconstruct the act of robbery independently, relying one their fantasy which would make the scene more spectacular than any director could do. As one can easily see, the viewers play quite in important role in presenting the plot as a considerable part of it is left for their imagination. Speaking of the people that are featured in the independent movies, one should note that the latter often involve unusual characters. In spite of the fact that the mainstream cinema also tries to avoid using one dimensional as well as stereotypical characters, the freedom that independent directors enjoy is much bigger (Biskind 2004, p. 30). For example, the movie in question depicts eight protagonists, all of which, except for two, do not have real names, but are referred to as Mr. White or Mr. Orange. It is quite obvious that such an approach towards treating characters reflects the desire of the director to allow actions of the characters to speak for themselves. In other words, the audience does not spend time remembering all the names, but pays attention to the development of the plot from the very beginning. What is more important is that independent directors have full control of the way their movie will be called. Indeed, the title Reservoir Dogs does not really make sense and it is largely thought that this just was an expression that came out of the blue to the director in the course of production and simply matched the atmosphere, but did not have any particular meaning. Indeed, this way of choosing a title for a movie shows that the attention of the audience is attracted to gist of the film and not its title. In addition to that, the audience is encouraged to draw a connection between the title and the contents independently. For example, it is suggested that reservoir dog is a slang for mole, implying that Mr. Orange was an undercover police officer. It is quite obvious that since independent films are produced outside major film studios, the budgets that are available to them are quite low. Indeed, one of the benefits of the mainstream cinema is the financial support that the studios offer which is reflected in the quality of production (Ferncase 1996, p. 10). However, there is not doubt that independent film directors are able to turn this obstacle into a challenge that they would cope with the help of slight changes of the plot. For example, while shooting Reservoir Dogs, the director was not able to stop traffic; so, a rather detailed analysis of the movie shows that the characters never drive while the red light is on. Nevertheless, the biggest limit that a small budgets places on the production is the setting. Thus, the above mentioned movie was shot in a small abandoned warehouse, several rooms of which were transformed into other facilities. That is why it would not be a mistake to point out that the narration resembles a play in the theatre a lot, since the change of the setting is limited. It is quite obvious that such limits shaped the plot of the story a lot which encouraged the director to focus on conversations more. In addition to that, small amount of space that is used while telling the story surely contributes towards the intensity of it. In other words, having a small budget should not necessarily be seen as an obstacle, but rather an encouragement to use the available resources to its fullest. Finally, one would make no mistake pointing out that the directors of independent films often portray the morality from an alternative point of view. In other words, while the mainstream cinema largely supports the conventional values, independent films may not only challenge them, but also give a completely different account of them (Hillier 2001, p. 19). For example, there was a peculiar scene in the movie that is titled Reservoir Dogs when one of the criminals in a gang is accused of being a policeman undercover and the accusation is directed at a person who is truly a mole. Despite the validity of the claims as well the quite plausible grounds, one of the criminals, Mr. White, protects the alleged mole, Mr. Orange. This is quite an interesting situation since all the characters are criminals which means that they operate outside the conventional framework of values, but some of them do tend to show signs of compassion. However, there is also an ironic spin to the situation: Mr. White acts sincerely while thinking that he protects an innocent man; the former is even injured in this conflict, but when Mr. Orange himself confesses to be an undercover policeman, Mr. White is desperate and kills him in revenge. In other words, some time ago he was not afraid to confront his friends while protecting Mr. Orange, but having learned the truth he kills the traitor himself. Such an unusual twist shows that in independent films the audience should watch the narration closely as everything might turn around in a split second, so the viewers should be ready for it. In other word, the plot of such movies is far more unpredictable. The movie that is titled Reservoir Dogs is a great example of an independent film. However, in order to make the analysis of this notion more objective, it would be advisable to engage another contemporary independent movie. The second one that will be used in this paper is called Crash. To begin with, it may be suitable to see similar characteristic features in it and the previous one in order to identify the essential aspects of independent film. Thus, the first one that will be analyzed is the portrayal of unusual acts. Indeed, the mainstream cinema has rather clear cut restrictions on what can be seen and what can not be seen on the screen (Holmlund & Wyatt 2005, p. 92); nevertheless, independent film directors always try to come up with a way to show things that might have not been mentioned in the cinema before. For example, in Crash there is a situation when the police officers stop a car, because passenger of it was performing fellatio on the driver while it was moving. It is quite clear that such scene has never been featured in a mainstream movie. In addition to that, there is a situation when one of the police officers, namely Hansen, asks from an independent car and his supervisor suggests that he will be able to get one, but there should be some kind of justification for it and quickly comes up with it: uncontrollable flatulence. There is no doubt that this topic would have never been featured in a mainstream movie, but independent film directors are not afraid to challenge the boundaries of the conventional morals. Just like the first movie that was discussed in this paper, the second one also features a plot that developed in an unusual matter. It is quite obvious that the directors who make mainstream movie want to make them interesting, but they rarely abandon the path of linear narration. In addition to that, they often generate a single story line placing all the characters along it (King 2005, p. 36). However, the movie Crash features a completely different approach towards it. Thus, the directors have created many characters that live independent lives, but they interact with it each through several unexpected situations, like car crashes or carjackings. In other words, while the interaction between the main and secondary characters of the mainstream cinema is primarily carried out with the help of development of the plot, independent films may utilize several storylines that intervene as the directors would like them to. There are numerous examples that can be drawn from the movie. Thus, there is a locksmith who repairs locks of different people, serving as a bridge between different characters. In addition to that, two criminals hit an Asian man, drop him of a hospital and he appears to be involved in human trafficking – one of the major issues of the movie. There is no doubt that the directors wanted to create the atmosphere of reality while placing such coincidence, since in real life all these people could have met easily, though none of them was suspecting the existence of the others. This means that independent films try to create a more complex as well as objective picture of reality while their mainstream counterparts mostly feature one sided perception. Another point that the two movies in question share is the engagement of peculiar characters that are not often featured in the mainstream cinema. In spite of the fact that major film studios promote diversity on the screen, it would not be a mistake to suggest that the characters tend to be somewhat stereotypical: a mighty hero, a beautiful lady and so on (King 2009, p. 89). The movie Crash engaged a simple locksmith as one of the major characters. Indeed, one can hardly find another movie that features this peculiar profession. The most likely explanation for it lies in the fact that the mainstream cinema is mostly concerned with matters that employ a conventional range of characters, while independent films show a different side of reality. In addition to that, this kind of movies tends to involve people who come from cultural backgrounds that are not primarily featured in the mainstream cinema. Indeed, one would make no mistake pointing out that the latter fail to reflect the real diversity of the world. For example, in Crash, alongside with the people who are white and are of European descent as well as African Americans, there are also people with Hispanic cultural heritage as well as Koreans and Persians. In other words, from the point of view of cultural diversity, the movie in question is able to surpass a considerable number of other movies. What is more important is that this is done not only to equally represent different ethnic group on the screen, but to suggest that protagonists and antagonists should not necessarily be of one particular race. In addition to that, one should also pay attention to the fact that independent films tend to focus on some difficult as well as controversial issues that are often avoided in the mainstream cinema. Thus, one would make no mistake suggesting that the latter has mostly become a tool for entertainment (King, Molloy & Tzioumakis 2013, p. 37). The issue of racism is shown from a rather acute as well as aggressive point of view in the movie in question. Indeed, in the mainstream cinema, racism is primarily shown is a division of the society in two; nevertheless, Crash suggests that racial prejudices are not only apply to any ethnicity other than white, but it is applied simultaneously by all the groups. Indeed, there are numerous victims of racism shown in the movie. Another important question that is raised in the movie is the destructive influence of such negative social phenomenon as human trafficking. In spite of the fact that this issue may have been addressed by the mainstream cinema, the point of view that is taken by the directors of Crash as well as the level of detalisation that is featured in it is astonishing. All this results in the idea that directors of independent films are able to make much bolder statements about nagging issues that the society is facing if compared to their mainstream counterparts. The direct consequence of this is reflected on the screen: the way negative aspects of society are portrayed is much more provocative, urging people to re-evaluate their position with regard to the above mentioned issues. Finally, it must be noted that independent film directors tend to pay attention the inner world of their characters, allowing them to be good and bad at the same time. In other words, the ambiguity of the characters should be regarded as one of characteristic features of independent film. Indeed, the mainstream cinema also tries to involve characters the actions of which may be contradicting; however, the clear cut between antagonists and protagonist is often regarded one of the driving forces of the plot (Levy 1999, p. 63). Contrary to that, different characters in the movie Crash perform actions that often contradict with each other. For example, Farhad, a person of Persian cultural descent, is show to be willing to buy a gun, but he is refused and is called names, such as Osama, referring to the terroristic leader Osama bin Laden. Nevertheless, Farhad argues that he is an American citizen just like anyone else and should not be associated with aggression just because he comes from the East. However, latter in the movie he is shown to be desperate about graffiti attack on his shop and is portrayed attempting to shop the locksmith. As one can clearly see, he features quite an aggressive behaviour, something that he denied in the beginning of the movie. There is another character, namely Tom Hanses, who is largely seen as a positive one, but ultimately crosses the line of good and evil. Thus, he is often portrayed being against racism and willing to follow different ethical guidelines. However, there is an episode when he has picked up a hitchhiker which is undoubtedly a good thing to do, but he ends up killing this person as he thought that the latter was willing to draw out a gun, while he simply wanted to show his statuette of Saint Christopher in order to point out the similarities between him and the driver. Having examined all the evidence, one is able to come to the following conclusion: independent film is a peculiar form of art that is quite different from mainstream cinema in a number of ways. First of all, the actions that are shown in the former are rarely portrayed in the traditional movies as they are more violent and explicit. Secondly, the development of the plot is unusual: it is not linear and features many twists. Thirdly, the characters are also not typical, often rather ambiguous. Finally, the budget of independent films is small, but it often has a positive impact on the movie in general. References Allen M 2003, Contemporary US cinema, Longman, Harlow. Berra J 2008, Declarations of independence American cinema and the partiality of independent production, Intellect, Bristol. Biskind P 2004, Down and dirty pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the rise of independent film, Simon & Schuster, New York. Ferncase R 1996, Outsider features American independent films of the 1980s, Greenwood Press, Westport, CN. Hillier J 2001, American independent cinema, British Film Institute Publishing, London. Holmlund C & Wyatt J 2005, Contemporary American independent film: From the margins to the mainstream, Routledge, London. King G 2005, American independent cinema, Indiana University Press, Bloomington. King G 2009, Indiewood, USA: Where Hollywood meets independent cinema, I.B. Tauris, London. King G, Molloy C & Tzioumakis Y 2013, American independent cinema: Indie, indiewood and beyond, Routledge, London. Levy E 1999, Cinema of outsiders: The rise of American independent film, New York University Press, New York, NY. Read More