http://www.ofdb.de/film/13458,subUrbia---Sixpacks-Sex-+-SupermarketsSuburbia
Eric Bogosian's stageplay on the seamy underside of suburban life is brought to the screen by twentysomething angstmeister Richard Linklater, and the result is a funny, bitter and compelling look at a group of former high school pals who still hang out in the local convenience store parking lot. Steve Zahn, Nicky Katt, Amie Carey, Giovanni Ribisi and the ubiquitous Parker Posey head the ensemble cast. 118 min.
Richard Linklater directed Dazed and Confused, a slice-of-life portrait of 70's teenagers filling up their time with parties, boozing and getting high. That film captured the idleness and boredom associated with a fixation on those activities, but did not make any heavy or preachy statements on that lifestyle. SubUrbia, however, in its portrait of equally idle 20-somethings, is far more frank about the emotional effects of such tedium. This is because of the screenplay by playwright Eric Bogasian. Naturally, being based on a stage play, this movie is far more focussed on words, dialogue, concrete ideas - and is certainly far more heavy-handed than anything in Dazed and Confused. The nature of the production will certainly turn off most fans of Dazed; even without the constant bitterness, the fact that these guys do almost nothing but talk will distract those with small attention spans.
A bunch of guys and gals, including one played by Giovanni Ribisi, hang out at the corner store, much to the displeasure of the Pakistani owner. One, named Tim, is a former army man who now lives on his pension, and spends his life drinking. Buff, possibly the biggest moron I've ever seen, is a perverted show-off whose primary verbal occupation is relating primitive sexual fantasies out loud to those within earshot. Sooze, Ribisi's girlfriend, is a budding performance artist who hopes to go to New York to art school. Bee-Bee is a former addict who still finds rehab quite tough. And Ribisi's character is a cynic, far too smart to be with most of these people, but still unwilling to find a way out.
All of them are waiting for the arrival of Pony, formerly a geek from high school, now an up-and-coming rock star. He arrives in his limo, along with his publicist (Parker Posey), and they all hang out for the night. The rest of the evening involves much pain, truth, and resentment, and is played out in a generally fascinating way, as we are given a picture of fairly hopeless individuals.
Much of the heightened emotions are possible because of the nature of Ribisi's character, and how he projects himself to the others. He is clearly a very smart guy - certainly much more aware than Tim and Buff, yet is very unambitious. But of course he's without ambition, because he's cynical about everything. Right from the start, we can see where this guy is going. He berates Tim and Buff for their casual racism toward the Pakistani, but then turns around and feels rejected because Sooze would dare leave him and this town. He hates the ignorance and stupidity around him, but doesn't have the willpower or the courage to change his surroundings, and he reveals this mainly by lashing out at those who are trying to or already looking beyond this small town. First, he criticizes Sooze's performance piece about the evils of testosterone (which, I admit, is pretty ridiculous!), mainly from the standpoint that he feels she doesn't really stand for anything. He then knocks Pony's music, because he feels it, too, is a bunch of empty bullshit. Ironically, of course, it's not much of a stretch to say that Ribisi is correct - I believe that Sooze and Pony really are a couple of fakes (neither her performance piece or his song he plays to the slackers really say anything), pretending to everyone (and to themselves) that they are doing something noble, when all they really want is attention. Hey, look, I made it; I'm not some drunk hanging out at the corner! The result of their meeting each other is certainly appropriate.
Bogasion is a very interesting writer, although there isn't really anything here that's as disturbing as his work in Talk Radio (I've only seen a half hour of the film version on TV, but it's still more disturbing!). It comes close, however, in the second half of the film, when it appears as if something genuinely horrific has occurred. The rest of the film after that is fairly grim; I'm not sure what the message is, but, as narrative, it works.
The movie does not have any seemingly unnecessary moments. It is a play, and like most plays, the emphasis is on dialogue and character, not heavy action or many scene changes (how could you stage them?). In a sense, a movie version of a play is one of the better ways of staging a play, if only because, in a film's case, the stage is real, and the buildings and other props aren't made of cardboard, or what have you. In SubUrbia's case, the scenes go on for minutes at a time, but seems natural, because the characters develop, and the narrative makes sense. It doesn't suffer too much from excess verbiage, unlike, say, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which is quite good, but too much in love with word games and the like. But, nevertheless, it does force a situation where a second viewing is required.
SubUrbia probably won't appeal to most adolescents, and certainly not the type of Dazed and Confused fans whom I described, rather uncharitably, as fans only because they have a thing for drug humour. Most teens aren't going to enjoy a film burdened with talk, especially the kind of talk which often wounds and which often suggests that these characters are missing something in their lives. Well, I suppose some teens may laugh at that idiot Buff, thinking that he's the coolest guy around. But people who think Buff is "awesome", and potentially relate to him, are missing the point of the play entirely, and deserve their fate.
David Macdonald's Movie Reviews
Ich möchte euch hier mal einen Film vorstellen, der mich wie kein anderer in letzter Zeit zum Nachdenken gebracht hat bzw. in dem man so viel von sich selbst wiederfindet. Vorab möchte ich erstmal sagen, dass ich dieses Review gepostet habe, anstatt selbst eines zu schreiben, da dies der beste Kommentar zu diesem Film ist, den ich bisher im Netz gelesen habe. Ich glaube nicht das ich es auch nur ansatzweise so gut hinbekommen hätte, denn Macdonald beschreibt und urteilt nicht nur, wie es in den meisten Reviews der Fall ist, sondern er analysiert auch das Geschehen und gibt Hintergrundinformationen. Nichtsdestotrotz möchte ich es mir nicht nehmen lassen, selbst ein paar Worte über "Suburbia" zu verlieren.
Der Film ist in Deutschland total untergegangen und meines Wissens bisher noch nicht auf DVD veröffentlicht worden. Wie Macdonald schreibt ist es ein sehr realitätsnaher und dialoglastiger Film, der für oberflächliche Videojunkies nicht geeignet ist. Die Location ist sehr beschränkt, fast den ganzen Film über hängen die "verlorenen Jugendlichen der Generation X" (mein O-Ton
) an ihrer Ecke neben der Tankstelle herum. Aber gerade das macht den Reiz dieser Produktion aus.
Der Film stellt massig Identifikationsmaterial zur Verfügung (kann man das so formulieren?) und ist genau das richtige für die Leute, die sich die wichtigen Fragen im Leben stellen - ihr wisst schon: "Was fang ich mit meinem Leben an?", "Hat das hier überhaupt irgendeinen Sinn?", "Was läuft hier falsch?".
Insgesamt ein eher depressiv anmutender Film, der dank der Charaktere trotzdem zu überzeugen weiß. Regisseur Linklater ist auch durch seinen ähnlichen, ungleich aber deutlich leichter verdaubarem Stoff, "Dazed and Confused" bekanntgeworden, der die Rebellion und Probleme Hasch-, Alkohlol und Aerosmith- konsumierender Jugendlicher in den 70-er Jahren am Ende ihrer Schulzeit (vergleiche auch: "American Graffiti") näherbringt.
Ein paar bekannte Darsteller sind auch dabei: Ribisi, bekannt als Jeff Billings aus "Wunderbare Jahre" (die Serie), Nicky Katt ("Insomnia"), Parker Posey ("Scream 3", "Dazed and Confused") und Steve Zahn (in seiner Rolle als Trottel Buff göttlich - ich nominiere ihn für den Oscar).
Der Soundtrack ist ebenfalls 1a. Eingespielt von der Rockband "Sonic Youth" bietet er (hab ihn vor ein paar Tagen bei ebay ersteigert) psychedelisch angehauchte Deprimucke vom feinsten (damit mein ich jedoch nicht "ich blas mir gleich die Birne weg"-Grunge), z.B. Beck, Skinny Puppy, Butthole Surfers, Flaming Lips und Gene Pitney (!).
Fazit: Checkt dieses stark unterschätzte Werk (Jahr: 1996) auf jeden Fall an, wenn ihr die Möglichkeit dazu bekommt. Hat ihn denn schon jemand von euch gesehen? Wenn ja, würde ich mich über jeden Kommentar freuen
.
