Rumtreiber

Ein sehr eigenartiger Comedy-Film von Richard Linklater, in dem die Kamera von einem Charakter zum nächsten reist und damit eine Kette von nicht zusammenhängenden Geschichten erzählt, von denen jede auf ihre eigene Weise interessant ist und ihren eigenen Stil hat. In jeder Folge folgen wir einem zwei oder sogar mehreren Faulenzern und ihren Abenteuern in Austin, Texas. Einige Dialoge und Gespräche sind absolut genial, andere sind einfach witzig durch ihre Eigenartigkeit und der Zuschauer hat auf keinen Fall die Chance, sich zu langweilen. Und das stumme, fast groteske Ende ist makellos! Nach dem Anschauen würde ich es sofort noch einmal mit Genuss sehen wollen. (08.07.2018)

Slacker is a well-thought-out narrative experiment that does not bind the story to a single protagonist, but rather to the overall mood of paranoia (reminiscent of Rivetto's debut, Paris nous appartient) and several leitmotifs (media manipulation of reality, mistrust of public opinion). Just as the film’s characters do not live according to standard social norms, Linklater seeks an alternative to mainstream storytelling through his chosen structure comprising a sort of narrative relay (which he starts himself). Unlike his characters, who are either sociopaths conducting bizarre rituals (cutting photos out of a yearbook, throwing away things left behind by an ex-girlfriend) and carrying on paranoid conversations about a major conspiracy, or stoned slackers discussing Smurfs and Krishna, Linklater is relatively successful in his effort to capture the postmodern zeitgeist. By combining numerous different stories (which differ in the lightness of their themes and the characters’ degree of sanity) and many different media and formats (video, Super 8, 16mm), he succeeds in expressing the unfocused perception of Generation X, whose members flit among a tremendous number of stimuli, but are unable to dedicate themselves to any one thing. The film is thus constructed as a succession of diversions from a particular topic or someone’s story. The viewer’s desire for a coherent plot is thus never fulfilled, but our attention never falters nonetheless, because we have to get acquainted with other characters over and over again. Though human characters are used in a utilitarian manner (as bearers of meanings and functions) in every story, their subordination to the narrative is accentuated in Slacker by the fact that they are used like any other narrative means, such as editing or camera movement. Instead of obscuring the narrative structure and inducing the impression of documentary immediacy, multiple perspectives and the randomness in choosing what we will see next, the formulas that we have adopted by watching films with a traditional narrative force us to be more sensitive to how Slacker unfolds. From this perspective, its main content is not a portrait of a generation, but rather the very act of storytelling with all of its fixed (cause-effect model) and variable elements (independence from the main protagonist and the main storyline). 80% (20.06.2018)

Slacker is definitely a crucial indie work of the early nineties, standing alongside Clerks by Kevin Smith. What most often helped the best independent creators succeed is an original idea – and that's exactly what Richard Linklater had. To make a film without a story that will entertain people is not an easy task – but he managed to do it. He mobilized his friends and acquaintances and shot this low-budget piece, which rightfully boasts a cult status today. Another beautiful example of how talent can succeed even without a large budget, needing just an incredibly meager budget of $23,000 – simply a lot of bang for little bucks. Slacker starts off with a completely genius scene, in which the central character – a chatterbox guy – is played by the director himself, who kicked off the whole concept of a wandering camera following small snippets of life from randomly meeting people. Slacker has exactly that delightful indie feeling of films from the early nineties – just like the aforementioned Clerks or Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino. The film relies solely on polished dialogues, which may seem like crap at first glance, but hide much more. However, it's not just a pure comedy; the film mixes comedy with drama and various experimental approaches, more prominent in the second half. Slacker is a completely unique film that rightfully put Richard Linklater on the cinematic world map. After the film ends, pay attention to the credits, which show apt character names, which I found to be a great way to end. BTW: Been on the Moon Since the 50's guy definitely deserves his own film! (02.07.2018)

Richard Linklater is simply unique in the way he can tell a story. It doesn't really matter what he's saying, but the processes he finds in the medium of film are simply unique. He's incredibly innovative, and yet he's still his own man. Whether he's shooting two characters after ten years or shooting a film over several long years to capture aging, or like in this case, letting people go through and play out short scenes just because it could have happened that way, it doesn't matter. It always works when he does it and usually never gets boring. (25.02.2016)