CREEMEDIA
Smithereens is the story of a no-talent girl from New Jersey trying to make a name for herself in the “glamorous” punk rock fast track of New York’s decaying “new music” scene. The film was shot on location by unknown Susan Seidelman, making her directorial debut with a spartan budget of $100,000—the kind of bucks that don’t even buy toothpicks in today’s megadollar film mentality.
CREEMEDIA
Richard Hell on Smithereens
SMITHEREENS Directed by Susan Seidelman (New Line Cinema)
by
Vernon Gibbs
Smithereens is the story of a notalent girl from New Jersey trying to make a name for herself in the “glamorous” punk rock fast track of New York’s decaying “new music” scene. The film was shot on location by unknown Susan Seidelman, making her directorial debut with a spartan budget of $100,000—the kind of bucks that don’t even buy toothpicks in today’s megadollar film mentality. Surprisingly, it was picked to be the first independent American film ever entered in the main competition at Cannes, a stroke of luck that occured when one of the judges overheard Seidelman talking up the film over lunch. It opened in New York in November to very favorable reviews, and by the time you read this should be making its way to the hinterlands. If you’re looking for the definitive movie on the “underground” music Scene in New York, this isn’t it.