LIVING IN OBLIVION (1995)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Back in the 1990's, there were a myriad of indie flicks about making indie flicks - you can't get more postmodern (or meta, in today's parlance) than making a low-budget movie about making a low-budget movie. In hindsight, that almost sounds like an insane idea, if only because of how difficult it was in those days to get financing at all (I would not venture to guess how difficult it is now in 2018). The difference may be that "Living in Oblivion" is director Tom DiCillo's experience on making his debut film, "Johnny Suede" that starred then-unknown Brad Pitt - DiCillo knows the nuts and bolts of filmmaking almost on the fringe.
The specific details of making a movie are far too knowing to be made up in "Living in Oblivion." Bad milk makes the cinematographer sick after having his coffee; actors flubbing their lines; microphones accidentally ruining shots; the film director having a fit after hearing an endless ticking noise; fog machine releasing far too much fog; a diva-ish Brad Pitt-like actor who keeps changing every set-up to his own Method liking; sounds from a car radio with a deep bass; a light bulb bursts during filming, etc. The joke here, perhaps implied, is that professionalism may be lacking due to financial constraints in making a smaller film yet the big studios have to got to deal with their own hangups as well. A big-budget movie can have just as many problems on the set with accidents and diva-like personalities as a low-budget film.
Seeing "Living in Oblivion" yet again the other day for the first time since the late 90's, the film is almost nostalgic in its grungy look at a 1990's low-budget movie set. It is possibly the best film about making such films from that period because it focuses exclusively on the nuts and bolts and frustrations of making a movie. Steve Buscemi is a total joy as the erratic film director Nick - he shows patience with his actors but he can also be driven to madness (in one scene, he tears apart the stage). Catherine Keener is Nicole, the somewhat patient and frustrated lead actress who wants to do her best and is the most talented on the set, though women on the crew feel they could do a superior job. James LeGros is consistently funny as an airhead of a superstar actor who is concerned how he looks on screen, and does everything he can to upstage everyone (despite denials from DiCillo, LeGros's Chad Palomino instantly reminds one of Brad Pitt). Dermot Mulroney is wickedly engaging as the beret-wearing, leather-strapped cinematographer who cannot handle Chad's inability to stay in the frame of a shot. Danielle von Zerneck ("La Bamba") is a hoot and half as the assistant director who wears loud colorful shirts and has a thing for Chad (of course, all the women do). To top it all off, we have a memorable turn by Peter Dinklage as Tito, playing some sort of magical character in a dream sequence directed by Nick. Tito then asks, "why does every dream sequence have to have a dwarf?" Good question.
Speaking of dreams, most of what occurs in "Living in Oblivion" is a dream, either Nick's or Nicole's dream. Quite possibly the last section of the film, which I believe is not a dream, may be ironically the
actual film about dreams with Tito that Nick is making (which feels odd when you consider the supposed domestic family drama in one dream, and the hokey 1940's-like black-and-white romance that follows). Maybe that is the idea - no matter what kind of film you are making, if you don't love it with a passion then it is not worth doing.
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