Cinema41's Last Hurrah Before Hiatus

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By Brandon Martin

At first glance, the Salvage Vanguard Theater looks like it was either once a boutique storage company or Austin's most prestigious clown school. Currently, it serves as a center for the city's artists, audiences and arts organizations, and is the venue for Cinema41. This nonprofit organization screens independent films that have influenced film, but in their own time largely went unseen. July 19's movie, In the Soup, was the series' last screening before a hiatus.

Located on the east side on Manor Road, the theater is almost camouflaged by the residential neighborhood that surrounds it. Only a 10-minute drive from my apartment, it was just a skip away. And I overestimated how long it would take me to get there, so I had lots of time. But you couldn't miss it once you found it. I drove into the gravel parking lot taking my sweet time to park. I always feel strange about showing up too early. There's early, and then there's EARLY.

Walking into the lobby/semi-art gallery, a couple stood admiring the abstract paintings. I was in good company. I soon made my way to the makeshift bar, ordering a plastic cup of red wine for $4. I paid the full amount, feeling guilty at first paying so much for cheap red wine -- but after learning the screening was free, it was the least I could do. I entered the small screening room, a black box theatre with a projector screen set up at the front.

I made my way forward and sat in the first row. This was already an intimate setting; no reason not to embrace it. Before long, seats started to fill, and soon after, Cinema41 executive director and programmer Ryan Darbonne introduced the film. He started by acknowledging that the movie would be the last screening of the Cinema41 series -- perhaps for good? -- and followed up by giving some background information on director Alexandre Rockwell's film and its impact on the era of independent filmmaking of the early '90s. In the Soup won the grand jury prize at Sundance, beating out Reservoir Dogs and El Mariachi. I’d never seen In the Soup, so this was all sort of fascinating to find out.

The film follows Adolpho Rollo (Steve Buscemi) as he tries to get his magnum opus, a 500-page screenplay, produced. Joe (Seymour Cassel) becomes his patron, funding his film through illegitimate means. They say you can tell if a film is going to be good or bad in the first five or 10 minutes. I usually try to avoid subscribing to this, but it was hard with this film to not immediately dislike it. As a screenwriter, it’s a pet peeve of mine to see movies about writing, and cringe-worthy to see self-aware characters written to the point of uninteresting self-indulgence. This was the case from the beginning till the very end. But at least Buscemi and Cassel kept it from being unwatchable.

Ryan mentioned at the beginning that In the Soup won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, landing it a big distribution deal, but only made about $256,000 in theaters. Reservoir Dogs and El Mariachi would go on to make Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez successful mainstream directors. It opened the door for these films, but got locked out. The lights came up, my plastic cup of cheap red wine empty. No, I didn’t like the film, but I respect the series. Not because I admire the noble cause of bringing obscure films to light, but because Ryan and others of the Cinema41 series love these films. To love a film is personal, and to let people know that is bold.

We checked with Ryan Darbonne later on and found out that he does plan to bring Cinema41 back after a break. In the meantime, he's working on short films of his own. We'll keep you posted when the series returns.

Brandon Martin is an intern at the Austin Film Society.