onilecraM | Marcelino

Death of Independent Film

Where has the independent film gone? I’m not talking about most of the films played on Sundance and IFC. I don’t think these are true independent films. I mean, they have independent story lines, ones that are inconsistent with typical Hollywood films where everything ends happy. But they have big name actors and huge multi-million dollar budgets. How is that independent? Where is this decade’s Clerks? Heck, how about a Reservoir Dogs for 2005? Quentin, master of the independent film, has gone mainstream (in terms of budgets, not storylines.) That’s great for him, but where’s the next Tarantino?

A lot of people would classify foreign films as independent films, including the IFC and Sundance channels. Yet I maintain that this genre of films exists beyond the realm of Hollywood mainstream in terms of storyline, but they too, often feature famous international actors and huge budgets.

Where has the independent film gone? I’m not so sure.