Review: Living in Oblivion (1995)

Living in Oblivion (1995)

This one's for those that enjoy off-kilter comedies and are interested in the film-making process, specifically that of indie films that have the tendency to have everything go on while filming. The film has less of a forward-moving plot and is more of a snapshot view into the filming of three separate scenes of an indie feature. It is quirky and absurd, entertaining and also interesting.

As far as films go, this is really the only film I can think of that really goes into the minutiae and the technicalities of film-making such as light meters, terminology and call-out cues, blocking, framing, script supervisors, the many many takes that go into filming a single scene, and much more. It is quite fascinating seeing all of these elements woven into a comedy.

The film is directed and written by former Jim Jarmusch DP, Tom DiCello, and is an early outing for a number of now-very recognizable faces including Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Peter Dinklage and Dermot Mulroney. While watching it, you can kind of get a sense of why the film wasn't a breakout hit as it has a quite unconventional structure and the pacing/dialogue does not have that Hollywood refinement. This is not to say that the film doesn't have its indie charm though. I recommend it for anyone looking for a quirky, outside-the-box comedy,
those who are fans of any of the aforementioned stars or interested in what film-making is really like.

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