With five films in the Loew series on new American independents under our belts, it is fitting that we be shown a depiction of the trials and tribulations of making a low budget film.
Tom DiCillo's "Living in Oblivion," showing tonight in Loew auditorium, follows one day in the making of an independent movie where everything that can go wrong, does.
"Living in Oblivion" was extremely well received when it premiered in March, leading off the New Directors/New Films series in New York City.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it "a wonderfully funny behind-the scenes-look at the perils of film making, no-budget style."
Nick Reve (Steve Buscemi) is a director trying to shoot his piece de resistence amidst a sea of troubles.
His male lead (James LeGros), a studly up-and-coming star, is just using Nick's film as a stepping stone.
The female lead (Catherine Keener) has to perform her pivotal scene over and over because technical accidents ruin every take, and the macho cameraman (Dermot Mulroney) is out-of-control.
"Living in Oblivion" was originally intended as a thirty minute short about an actress who can't get her big scene right, and it was shot in black and white for $38, 000.
But DiCillo decided to extend it, so he wrote and shot a second and third part which were added to the original segment to become the final product.
This is DiCillo's second film; his first was "Johnny Suede," which was released in 1992 and starred a pre -"Thelma and Louise" Brad Pitt.
The film, although critically acclaimed, was a commercial flop. DiCillo's experience during filming of "Johnny Suede, " which was also plagued by disasters, are mirrored the events in "Living in Oblivion."
DiCillo viewed the making of "Living in Oblivion" as therapeutic. "I know that making it saved me from myself," he said in a recent interview.
"I was in the most negative, the most utterly disparaged state of mind that I've ever been in my life. The strangest irony for me is that "Living in Oblivion" came directly out of my own disappointment, and somehow saved me from it."
The film's comedic highlight is James LeGros's portrayal of Chad Palamino, the hot young star of Nick Reve's film, a character who was reportedly based on Brad Pitt, though DiCillo denies it.
Palamino picks his nose in between scenes, and comes on to every woman on the set.
His true motivation for appearing in Nick's film is revealed in a fight between the two: "You know, the only reason that I took a part in this movie is because someone said that you were tight with Quentin Tarantino!"
The other Tarantino connection and notable player is the irrepressible Steve Buscemi as the beleaguered director.
A cult favorite since his appearance in Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," Buscemi brings a frenetic, bulging-eyed energy to the role of the highly wrought-up Nick, who is forced to hold his film together at the seams.
In addition to Buscemi and LeGros, an equally talented and delightful supporting cast cooperates in making this film an intelligent and fiercely funny look at what Janet Maslin calls "The hair-raising perils of creative endeavor."
