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cycloid

Looking for Small Town America in film

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Which is probably a totally wierd question, especially coming from a Brit but i want to watch some films that are set in the US, the problem is that 99.9% of movies that you can go out and rent/buy are set in the US. what therefore needs to happen is to filter out the cop chases, explosions and general nonsense and get down into the core of actual films about americans doing american stuff.

e.g.

Milwaukee, Minnesota ... a guy who's an expert fisherman get's targetted by con artists after inheriting a bunch of cash

The Deep End ... this is a 2001 film with tilda swinton in, she lives in a nicey nicey town by a lake, but ends up hiding a body to protect her gay son, as you do.


bigger films also have touched upon it slightly, Signs and The Faculty are set in small towns, but they just happen to involve alien invasions too. and in 8 mile eminem takes a bus someplace, without dennis hopper happening, he just, you know, takes a bus.

does anybody have any idea what i'm rambling about?

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I wasn't aware that Americana was so obscure. I don't know, look for more independent films.

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The documentary Country Boys may be interesting to you (viewable online). I only saw parts of it. It obviously focuses on two kids trying to grow up in a rural area rather than a specific coverage of small town life, but it should be more accurate than any fictional movie.

A more LOLZ answer would be Blue Velvet or something.

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If you're looking for films exposing the rural heart of America, there are plenty of them out there. Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Apostle, and Down By Law come to mind right away. If you're looking for genuine rural or small-town Americana, you have plenty to choose from, like To Kill A Mockingbird and Fargo. Documentaries may evoke the most authentic real-America.

Read this book for a lot of information on small-town America in film history.

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How about David Lynches Blue Velvet. It concerns no cop chases and shit but does involve some taboo sexual acts in a small town from the fifties. Very Americana and one one of my personal favs.

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Technician said:

a small town from the fifties


Blue Velvet doesn't take place in the fifties.

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A History Of Violence spends the first third or so focusing on small-town life, which is suddenly shattered by, well, violence.

I hear Brokeback Mountain is set in a small town too.

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Anything by the Coen brothers. Their movies are basically American Tall Tales set in the modern era. Each takes place in a specific time and place in America and paints a accurate picture of the setting while telling a fantastic story. I love their movies. Some examples:

Fargo - Minnisota/North Dakota, late 80s?
The Big Lebowski - Los Angeles, 1991
O Brother Where Art Thou? - Mississippi, Depression era

Most of their characters are portrayals (albiet exaggerated) of typical Americans too.

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And don't overlook Raising Arizona. But The Big Lebowski for me doesn't come across as much as a small town film, being L.A. and all.

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cycloid said:

the core of actual films about americans doing american stuff.

Friday Night Lights. Seriously. THAT is small town usa doing what it does. Being a lifelong resident of small town usa, I can say that is fact without having even seen this movie.

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Donnie Darko - I think my roommate described it best as Napolean Dynamite with a six foot tall demonic rabbit.

Despite the wierdness, it actually covers small town life and the stupid joke that is american education pretty well.

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Let's see... Kids and Ken Park. Elephant. Donnie Darko. I'll add more.

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GGG said:

Blue Velvet doesn't take place in the fifties.


My mistake, it's the late sixties. Thats from Imdb.

Gokuma said:

Donnie Darko - I think my roommate described it best as Napolean Dynamite with a six foot tall demonic rabbit.

Despite the wierdness, it actually covers small town life and the stupid joke that is american education pretty well.


I'd never compare anything to that trash Napoleon Dynamite. But if you want to see Donnie Darko then rent the theatrical version. The directors cut ads allot of different elements and CG that will kill the Americana feel. I personally own both versions in my DVD collection.

Another good American film that predicted the school shooting fad of the nineties was Class of 1984. It was made in 1982 and predicted random violence by kids and shown (At the time) farfetched things like metal detectors and school security in high schools.

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Technician said:

I'd never compare anything to that trash Napoleon Dynamite.


I second that. Napoleon Dynamite was horrible. It wasn't funny under any circumstances. Donnie Darko kicked ass though.

But, if you want a small town America film...um...Footloose? Or The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink or 16 Candles. Yeah, I know they're chick flicks, but John Huges(s/p) rules.

Oh yeah, Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

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Bucket said:

Gummo!


Seconded. Sling Blade is probably also a good choice.

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spank said:

Let's see... Kids and Ken Park. Elephant. Donnie Darko. I'll add more.


Kids is a fantastic movie and certainly paints a brutally realistic portrait of youth culture in America...except it takes place in New York City, which I think would disqualify it from being "small town America." But I would still highly recommend it to anyone.

I'm a big fan of "Dazed & Confused," which is just one day in the life (as it happens, the last day of school) of a bunch of kids in 1976 in a small town in Texas.

And, like someone else said, "Friday Night Lights" and "Varsity Blues" both demonstrate the football-obsessed mentality of many towns across the nation (and not just in the south, although both of those do take place in Texas).

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GGG said:

And don't overlook Raising Arizona. But The Big Lebowski for me doesn't come across as much as a small town film, being L.A. and all.

I've never actually seen Raising Arizona, sadly. I have seen The Man Who Wasn't There though, which is one of their more obscure films. I think The Big Lebowski still has the feel of a small town film because it's more about the little people than anything on a grand scale.

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How about Lolita? Old or newer version doesn't matter. They run around America with some good scenery. I wouldn't use it as an example of our values though.

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Man how did we forget Borat? I guess it's not out on tape yet, but still...small town American at its finest on display in that one.

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