Friday 13 March 2009

Clerks

In 1994, a student, working in a convenience store, called Kevin Smith, made a movie. It cost $27,000 to make, which he raised by selling his comic book collection, borrowing $3000 from his parents, and maxing out his credit cards.

This film was Clerks, which went on to make $3 million in the cinema, and more than double that in VHS and DVD sales.



I am a real fan of this film, and these kind of films, where not much happens, and so everything depends on the strength of the story, and the jokes. Of course with this film it was not a choice to have very little happen, money just would not allow. But that seemes to help. Where it would have been so easy to fall down, the film stood strong.

Kevin Smith worked so hard on his script. The average script length is between 70 and 90 pages. The 'Clerks' first draft was over 170 pages.

The film relies very heavily on its dialogue, which luckily, is VERY sharp.

I know there are many people out there who watch a film or tv show and think "Wow, it's like this was made for me! It has references to all my favourite stuff, jokes that really match my sense of humour, and characters I can relate to", but I really feel this way about this film. The retro references are all spot on, the comedy is so biting, and the satire could be cut with a big political spoon.

In short, this film is the antidote to all these huge blockbusters with lots of explosions but not much else. As long as you don't mind bad language (F-word appears 91 times) then please watch this film. It means a lot to me.


VERDICT - PROOF YOU DON'T NEED A BIG BUDGET TO MAKE A GREAT FILM

2 comments:

  1. I don't know if this is going to prove that I've had my head stuck in a plant pot for the last 22 years but I've never heard of Clerks.

    I really loved your review and have decided that I will rent it (although this does suggest I'm going to have to find a video store in America somewhere!).

    I think if I keep reading your blog I'm going to get no work done because I have so many films to watch!!!

    :o)

    I'm watching for more in this 24 hours... good luck!

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  2. Clerks (and it's sequel, starring Kinky Kelly & The Sexy Stud) are fantastic films.

    They really capture the feeling of leaving education and not knowing where to go with your life - so you end up going nowhere.

    And the sequel is amazing. I didn't think that it could top the original, but they did.

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