David O'ConnellArt School Confidential
February 11th 2009 03:29
When director Terry Zwigoff collaborated with artist Daniel Clowes in 2001 for an adaptation of the latter’s graphic novel Ghost World, a film with enormous potential for underground success and future cult status resulted. Thankfully this winning combination re-teamed five years later for Art School Confidential, a film very similar in tone, full of dark, satirical barbs and pessimistic irony. Possibly even surpassing Ghost World, the pair takes deadly aim at the phony world of art with all its narcissism, high-minded pretensions and hollow posturing.
Max Minghella is Jerome, a newly inducted freshman into the Strathmore Institute of Art. He’s a genuinely talented artist but quickly discovers that talent alone is hardly a prerequisite for success – in fact it’s more likely to be overlooked in favour of hastily conceived, poorly executed concepts. Jerome’s optimism soon fades like a shooting star, his bright outlook dimmed by the parade of pretenders around him winning plaudits from their classmates for simplistic, idiotic representations of what barely passes for a child's definition of art.
Clowes’s screenplay, based on another graphic novel, plays out with constantly churning, rapid-fire scenes, almost like a series of colourful vignettes. It gives the film real momentum and the reams of hilarious dialogue don't hurt either! With wry observations and acerbic wit, Jerome’s only friend in class Bardo (Joel David Moore) points out the obvious clichéd characters in the class they take with Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich). Jerome’s more interested in their nude model Audrey (Sophia Myles) however, a gorgeous blonde who happens to be the daughter of a famous artist.
Jerome’s lustful, longing pursuit of Audrey, who he desperately wishes to impress with the quality of his art, turns sour as he watches less talented people swarm around her, effortlessly winning her approval. The harder Jerome tries, the more he seems doomed to failure and his desperation eventually turns into depression. He understands that radically different measures need to be taken if he’s ever to make a name for himself, and the last half an hour of the film heads into darker territory as his quest becomes entangled with the search for a local serial killer strangling victims in the nearby districts and the paintings of a demented drunken artist, Jimmy (Jim Broadbent), who never leaves his squalid apartment.
This sublimely funny film never slackens the pace with the short, sharp scenes working a treat as they’re vividly brought to life by an able cast. Minghella plays the naïve, frustrated artist with a vulnerable but believable edge; though most of the best lines aren’t his, he’s a perfect foil for the likes of Malkovich as the teacher and artist whose taken 25 years to perfect his elaborate series of triangle paintings! Moore as the carefree slacker compliments Jerome’s more internal personality nicely, whilst Steve Buscemi (the real star of Ghost World) and Angelica Huston have tiny but colourful roles. The beautiful Myles is the only cast member who doesn’t create much of an impression with her sweet but underdeveloped Audrey, though Broadbent's American accent is a little grating too.
Art School Confidential, with its lean and satirical independent spirit is a perfect antidote to mass-produced Hollywood films in every way. There's a deliciously ironic resolution too that serves as a fitting summary of all its loosely, but entertainingly conceived, themes. Let’s hope it’s not the last time these two wonderful artists - Zwigoff and Clowes - collaborate either; they’ve provided us with a couple of real gems so far.
Max Minghella is Jerome, a newly inducted freshman into the Strathmore Institute of Art. He’s a genuinely talented artist but quickly discovers that talent alone is hardly a prerequisite for success – in fact it’s more likely to be overlooked in favour of hastily conceived, poorly executed concepts. Jerome’s optimism soon fades like a shooting star, his bright outlook dimmed by the parade of pretenders around him winning plaudits from their classmates for simplistic, idiotic representations of what barely passes for a child's definition of art.
Max Minghella as Jerome
Clowes’s screenplay, based on another graphic novel, plays out with constantly churning, rapid-fire scenes, almost like a series of colourful vignettes. It gives the film real momentum and the reams of hilarious dialogue don't hurt either! With wry observations and acerbic wit, Jerome’s only friend in class Bardo (Joel David Moore) points out the obvious clichéd characters in the class they take with Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich). Jerome’s more interested in their nude model Audrey (Sophia Myles) however, a gorgeous blonde who happens to be the daughter of a famous artist.
John Malkovich as Sandiford
Jerome’s lustful, longing pursuit of Audrey, who he desperately wishes to impress with the quality of his art, turns sour as he watches less talented people swarm around her, effortlessly winning her approval. The harder Jerome tries, the more he seems doomed to failure and his desperation eventually turns into depression. He understands that radically different measures need to be taken if he’s ever to make a name for himself, and the last half an hour of the film heads into darker territory as his quest becomes entangled with the search for a local serial killer strangling victims in the nearby districts and the paintings of a demented drunken artist, Jimmy (Jim Broadbent), who never leaves his squalid apartment.
Jerome with Bardo (Joel David Moore)
This sublimely funny film never slackens the pace with the short, sharp scenes working a treat as they’re vividly brought to life by an able cast. Minghella plays the naïve, frustrated artist with a vulnerable but believable edge; though most of the best lines aren’t his, he’s a perfect foil for the likes of Malkovich as the teacher and artist whose taken 25 years to perfect his elaborate series of triangle paintings! Moore as the carefree slacker compliments Jerome’s more internal personality nicely, whilst Steve Buscemi (the real star of Ghost World) and Angelica Huston have tiny but colourful roles. The beautiful Myles is the only cast member who doesn’t create much of an impression with her sweet but underdeveloped Audrey, though Broadbent's American accent is a little grating too.
Art School Confidential, with its lean and satirical independent spirit is a perfect antidote to mass-produced Hollywood films in every way. There's a deliciously ironic resolution too that serves as a fitting summary of all its loosely, but entertainingly conceived, themes. Let’s hope it’s not the last time these two wonderful artists - Zwigoff and Clowes - collaborate either; they’ve provided us with a couple of real gems so far.
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