Independent Cinema
When we talk about independent cinema , many times we do not agree on what exactly we are referring to. An auteur cinema or simply a low-budget one, far from the big Hollywood studios or one that tells us a more intimate story? If we pay attention to all these definitions, independent cinema is…
…a cinema far from the big studios and their production, distribution and exhibition channels, three phases that they controlled until the antitrust law prevented them from doing so at the end of the 50s.
…a more realistic and intimate cinema , which arises as a consequence of this distancing from the studios and the appearance of a new narrative current in New York that tried to show the characters in real situations of daily life.
…an auteur cinema , due to the fact that the studios stopped producing a certain type of cinema, which led many filmmakers to seek their own financing and set up small production companies in the 80s, although their aspirations were to work for the industry Hollywood movie.
…a low-budget cinema, which is currently the most widespread meaning for society in general.
In this sense, today’s independent cinema is usually one that, since it is not produced by the most important studios (the major ones in Hollywood), has limited financing , so generally the plot of these stories tends to take precedence over the special effects and action scenes. However, the production budget does not always influence the classification of a film as ‘indie’ and neither does its distribution, although this is usually limited. There are independent filmmakers who, despite being able to count on large budgets, make this type of film by having a more personal and artistic vision of cinema.
History of Independent Cinema
1. Origins
Since the beginning of the history of cinema , all kinds of films have been conceived, from productions that meet the typical parameters of commercial cinema, to those that opt for a subversive character, outside the established norm. But with the exception of some avant-garde proposals, the independent film genre did not take its own form until 1959 , when different countries adopted innovative and unconventional models of filmmaking.
2. English Free Cinema
In England, a movement entitled Free Cinema was born in February 1956, willing to transform the aesthetics of classic British cinema and direct it towards a more realistic approach, in line with the social reality of the moment. The ” Manifesto of Angry Young People ” begins this model that is still active during the 1960s. Among its main characteristics was the use of minimalist resources such as the use of small teams for filming, a limited budget and the selection of music jazz as a soundtrack.
Among the most representative filmmakers of British Free Cinema are Jack Clayton with his two-Oscar Award-winning dramatic film A Place at the Summit (1958), Tony Richardson with A Taste of Honey (1961), a production that caused controversy at its premiere for the approach to issues such as homosexuality, early pregnancy and interracial relationships, but with the passage of time it acquired a well-deserved recognition and Lindsay Anderson with films such as The Naive Savage (1963) and the satirical drama If…. (1968), an acid critique of British boarding schools.
3. The French Nouvelle Vague
The so-called ” new French wave ” arose from a group of French filmmakers who were unhappy with the system imposed in the film industry at the time, decided to create an artistic movement whose main objective was to set aside traditional filming techniques to make way for experimentation. and a unique style of auteur cinema.
Critics baptized these filmmakers with the name of La Nouvelle Vague (New Wave). Freedom of expression was one of the great postulates of this movement, as was the free choice of the technical resources of film production. Among its most important representatives were the names of Agnès Varda with the success of Cleo from 5 to 7 (1961), Louis Malle with Elevator to the Gallows (1957) and The Lovers (1958), Francois Truffaut with the influential The 400 Blows (1959) and Jules and Jim (1962) and Jean Luc-Godard with Breathless(1960), known in Spain as At the end of the escape.
4. North American independent cinema
In 1959, the film Shadows by American filmmaker John Cassavetes was released . From this moment, the current of independent cinema in the United States is generated. A broad discussion about the model to follow begins and we proceed to the creation of two groups of filmmakers who intend to carry out low-budget productions , based on the parameters of the Nouvelle Vague, specifically.
These groups had names, the New York School and the television generation. The former had great figures such as Andy Warhol, Maya Deren , and filmmaker John Cassavetes among its members, while the latter had renowned directors such as Stanley Kramer, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Robert Mulligan in its ranks.
Then a new group appears at the beginning of the 70s, known as the New American Cinema , made up of the acclaimed Dennis Hopper and Peter Bogdanovich among its prestigious figures. Easy Rider (1969) was the first film by this group to achieve fame, becoming a cult classic and a box office success, also exceeding expectations, when it was acquired for distribution by Columbia Pictures, one of the big Hollywood industry companies.
The second generation of the 70s arrives with substantial names such as Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Terrence Malick , among others. These directors manage to carve out a niche in the industry with good box office results and go on to become renowned filmmakers with commercial productions.
5. Post-independent cinema
In the year 1980, a new generation of directors emerged seeking to resize the conventions present in social issues and provide a new aesthetic perspective to their productions. From the filmmaker Spike Lee with films like She’s Gotta Have It (1986) and Do The Right Thing (1989) where a clear focus on racial issues is appreciated, going through the experimental aesthetics of David Lynch that can be seen in Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001), Stephen Frears with the erotic romance My Beautiful Laundromat (1985) and the irreverence of the Coen brothers with tapes likeArizona Baby (1987). The long journey of these filmmakers established the term independent cinema as part of a genre in itself, driven by the distributors in favor of the search for commercial results.
Characteristics of independent cinema
Financing
Independent cinema is characterized by having a much lower budget than that allocated to commercial productions, which is why these films depend on the directors’ ability to find their own forms of income and distribution. All with the intention of avoiding the rigid system of movie studios .
visual section
The aesthetic used by the creators of independent productions can vary according to the filmmaker’s proposal, but their approach is based on experimentation and avant-garde techniques to forge their own imagery and the ability of the filmmaker to establish final control over their creation.
Topics they deal with
The issues handled by independent cinema differ from the topics addressed in commercial cinema. Since its inception, indie films have shown a high level of courage in portraying issues of social concern such as homosexuality, drugs, economic inequality, racism, and mental health.
Featured Directors
Atom Egoyan
Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Ararat (2002), Where The Truth Lies (2005)
François Truffaut
The 400 Blows (1959), Jules and Jim (1962), The Mississippi Mermaid (1969)
John Cassavetes
Opening Night (1977), Shadows (1959), Faces (1968)
Stephen Frears
Gumshoe (1971), My Beautiful Laundromat (1985), Hidden Business (2002)
Jim Jarmusch
Stranger than Paradise (1984), Mystery Train (1989), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), Broken Flowers (2005), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), Paterson (2016)
Sofia Coppola
The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antoinette (2006), Somewhere (2010).
Richard Linklater
Dazed and Confused (1993), Before Dawn (1995), Waking life (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Fast Food Nation (2006), A Glance into the Dark (2006), Orson Welles and Me (2009) , Bernie(2012), Before Dark (2013), Boyhood: Moments of a Lifetime (2014), We All Want Something (2016), Last Flag Flying (2017).
ken loach
Bread and Roses (2000), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), I, Daniel Blake (2016), Sorry We Missed You (2019)
Xavier Dolán
Mommy (2014), Laurence Anyways (2012), I Killed My Mother (2009).
