We're all "Living In Oblivion"

Discussing Director Davd Russell's outburst last week reminded me of Tom Dicillo's vastly underrated 1995 comedy "Living In Oblivion," perhaps the most honest movie ever made about the both frustrating and exhilirating filmmaking process. "Living In Oblivion" stars character actor extraodinaire Steve Buscemi as Nick, the consistently tense director of a low budget film (called of course "Living In Oblivion"). Unfortunately, the film set seems to be haunted by Murphy's law; as everything that can go wrong during the film shoot, does. The movie only covers the filming of three pivotal scenes, but there's enough, panic, mayhem, acting problems, camera mess-ups, and everything in between for one to seriously consider if the film is cursed. The movie uses a unique color scheme. For the first part of the movie, everything seen through the lens of the camera is in eye-popping color, while the behind the scenes footage is in grainy black and white. The second segment of the film, centered around the vain Brad Pitt-esque star of the film (played by James Le Gros) does the reversal, with the black and white seen through the camera and the behind the scenes in color. It's an odd technique which makes the film visually very interesting.

There's one scene in the film that particularly reminds me of Russell's antics. After a particularly frustrating day of attempting to film one small, emotional moment involving the lead actress (Catherine Keener), Nick goes crazy, verbally abusing the cast/crew in a way not so dissimilar to Russell's encounter with Lily Tomlin. Writer/director DiCillo seems to have more sympathy for the role of the director than anyone else involved in the filming of a movie. If you're a fan of films that analyze the movie-going process, "Living In Oblivion" is right up your alley. At the end of the film, after so many pitfalls and problems, Nick finally films a scene he's satisfied with. and the audience after witnessing all of his problems, shares his enthusiasm for everything finally working out. If anything, the film is a reminder to audiences that moviemaking is one of the hardest jobs in the world with disaster looming at every corner. Luckily, "Living In Oblivion" managed to avoid pitfalls and a result, became the unheralded comedy classic it is today.