Year: 1982
Director: Susan Seidelman
Country: US
Language: English
Not unlike Barbara Loden's Wanda (1970), Susan Seidelman's Smithereens (1982) has a main character who is irritating, contemptible, and tragic. Wren (Susan Berman) is a wrench; a compulsive liar filled with narcissism. In many ways she reflects her time period and her hometown. Even though the character is terrible. it can be fairly easy to identify with her. She's cool, charismatic, and funny. Thus proves a great exercize in empathy within a unique character study.
In this film, a narcissistic runaway engages in a number of parasitic relationships amongst members of New York's waning punk scene.
New York City, the setting for this film, looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Wren says it's as if the world has been "blown to smithereens" and the people are still living in the debris of the catastrophe. The allure of degradation in Smithereens creates an uneasy atmosphere of entrapment, desire, and self-destruction.
Shot with a bare budget of $40,000, Seidelman's picture pulls us into the gritty underground of a city that had just come out of bankruptcy. This New Yotk, one that desperately needs a second chance, is one that no longer exists. The punk scene is gone and everything is square. Smithereens is a time capsule picture about the down-trodden; the gritty underbelly of American culture that is vying for a chance to belong and hold some importance in the world.
Bold, impressive, and on the fringe Smithereens is a masterpiece in film-making. Like the main character, it's a true underdog that deserves to be heard by many. The soundtrack is also remarkable; it truly enhances the atmosphere of the film.
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