GRODMIN (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| GRODMIN | |
|---|---|
 Grodmin film poster |
|
| Directed by | Jim Horwitz |
| Produced by | Jim Horwitz |
| Written by | Jim Horwitz (screenplay) |
| Starring | John Wiederholt Lucas Branum David Becker Richard Paro Cyra Polizzi Eef Barzelay |
| Running time | 100 Minute |
| Language | English |
GRODMIN is the 2005 independent film written and directed by Jim Horwitz. It stars John Wiederholt, Lucas Branum, and actor, Richard Paro, as the on-screen presence of the film's real director, Jim Horwitz.
Shot on-location at Yale University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Boston University, GRODMIN is a complex highbrid of "traditional" narrative film interspersed with fictional footage of its own behind-the-scenes documentary to create a wholly compelling, self-reflexive simulacrum of media manipulation and renegade filmmaking.
As a film, GRODMIN is groundbreaking in its forthright simplicity of presentation, not relying on established narrative conventions. The uniqueness of this structure is that it creates a belief-system in the viewers which is shattered and reconstructed in the last minutes of the film.
Drawing heavily on independent films like Tape (film), The Blair Witch Project, and Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal (film) that utilize hand-held camera work and a low-brow aesthetic to create an added sense of hyper-realism, Grodmin is only one of several independent films of recent years to so completely fool audience members into believing its fictional lie.
Predating the 2006 release of Art School Confidential by director Terry Zwigoff, Grodmin is also one of the few American films whose central narrative documents the lives of students at a university art program.
Contents |
[edit] Film terms
Grodmin: A graduate mentor, currently a student, within the fictional university's graduate art program.
Chip: A student apprentice who is mentored by a graduate mentor, or grodmin, within the university's graduate art program.
According to the film, the tradition of Grodmin mentoring was started at its parent university in 1922, and it has continued on ever since. In the film there is a newspaper clipping from the fictional school's student newspaper that reads Art Department Mentoring Celebrates Its 80th Birthday. "Big Brother is Still Watching: Old Traditions Die Hard with Art Department Grodmin and Chips."
[edit] Summary
While on location filming a narrative expose’ at prestigious east coast art school, the cast and crew of the film plunge into despair after a series of on-screen debates threatens to derail the completion of the film.
Drawing its inspiration from an original screenplay by former art student turned screenwriter, Marcus Haine (played by Rob Iulo), Grodmin chronicles the tumultuous relationship of two real-life art students during their time at the university’s highly celebrated art program.
Spending a majority of the film’s finances on fancy hotels, on-site extras, and lengthy on-location shooting, first-time director Jim Horwitz (Played by Richard Paro) finds himself in a heap of trouble as the film’s die-hard documentarian, Dave Marshall (played by Dan Ibara), begins to amass a series of behind-the-scenes footage, chronicling the film’s demise.
Highlighted by subtle moments of insight and clarity, “GRODMIN” takes a fresh look at the Twenty-Something search for identity and meaning in the crumbling ruins of today’s Hollywood/TV culture. Combining both scripted and documentary elements, and saved by clever editing, “GRODMIN” takes the film-within-a-film concept to the ultimate degree in this bold, life imitating art experiment.
- From The Lake County Film Festival-
[edit] Fun Facts
GRODMIN marks the acting debut of singer/songwriter Eef Barzelay, front man for the popular alt-rock group, Clem Snide. Barzelay makes a brief appearance in the film as a jaded graduate of the Grodmin Art program, whose humorous monologue focuses on a former classmate who was obsessed with painting "butt-holes." (Source: The Onion, Volume 39, issue 44 and Volume 39, issue 46. Reviews by Stephen Thompson. Reviews were in local sections of the Madison, WI paper, and do not appear online. The quotes were as follows. "...Grodmin features Clem Snide prominently, which is appropriate, given the funny cameo by the bandleader Eef Barzelay" and "...Clem Snide fans should mark their calendars for Barzelay's screen-acting debut in the independent film Grodmin." The dialogue quote comes from a video clip on www.grodmin.com)
