The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

238 Kevin Smith
Smith: The benefit of nonprofessional actors is that you’ve got people who
are hungry. You can never discount a hungry cast and crew, because, man,
they’ll fully give it everything they’ve got. You know, 120 percent, or some
other cliche. Because this could be their shot, right? They don’t really have
much else going on, so they haven’t arrived yet. They’re working to get to
that point, to that arrival point.
When you’re working with a professional cast, they’ve already been to the
circus. They’ve already seen the trapeze act and they’re just not as impressed.
And just a little bit jaded. So you’re pulling more teeth at that point.
So is there something to that adage that great films or great ideas in
film are formed against the odds—the odds of a budget—so filmmakers
are forced to be more creative?
Smith: It certainly seems so, but if you go to like the IFFM [Independent
Feature Film Market, an indie talent showcase] every year and see the hundreds
of movies that aren’t gonna go anywhere further than the eyes in
front of them, and you know they were all made under duress/stress and
under limited budget circumstances and they’re not even watchable—it
doesn’t really apply to every film.
How would your life have been different if you hadn’t seen the film? Do
you think something like Trust or Stranger Than Paradise eventually
would have inspired you?
Smith: I don’t think anything else would have done it. Because even Trust
looked good. And it’s not like Slacker didn’t. Slacker had this kind of grainy
quality to it. But Trust seemed too accomplished for me. I think it was
Slacker or nothing.
When you saw this film on subsequent viewings, how did your relationship
with it change?
Smith: It still really takes me right back to that moment, where suddenly
I could see myself doing that. I think it’s still an insanely original film. It’s
still very clever; it’s still the movie that I recommend to people when I do
college Q&As.