Rent Living in Oblivion (1995)

Lights, Camera, Breakdown - Living in Oblivion review by griggs

Living in Oblivion is like stepping into an anxiety dream—complete with camera malfunctions, diva tantrums, and that creeping sense nothing will ever go right. It’s a low-budget film about making a low-budget film, and it captures the chaos brilliantly. Anyone who’s ever had to wrangle egos (in any industry) will feel right at home. DiCillo balances farce and tragedy with a kind of scrappy charm, and Steve Buscemi is bang on as the frazzled director barely holding it together. It’s messy, neurotic, and surprisingly relatable—like the cinematic equivalent of a nervous breakdown you can laugh at.

Cheap Shoot - Living in Oblivion review by Steve

When a writer stuck for ideas suggests making a film about making a film... groans must go around the room. It's such a cliché! And yet, that's what this is and it was a success... well, for an independent which was more or less homemade and financed by the cast and crew putting their hands in their pockets.

It's based on Tom DiCillo's experiences on Johnny Suede (1991), his debut as writer-director. Though this is much better! Plus there must be many favourite insider anecdotes included. So we see the production of a no budget melodrama where everything goes wrong, with Steve Buscemi in the director's chair.

It's a three parter, two of which are anxiety dreams. The standout is the opener with Catherine Keener as an inexperienced actor who saves her best performance for the take with no film in the camera. Her ability to either phone it in or nail it is an acting tour de force; just like Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive (2001)!

Famously there's an old rumour James Le Gros, as the narcissistic, scene stealing wannabe, based his role on Brad Pitt, star of Johnny Suede... DiCillo says no! But it's uncanny. While this is low budget, it's rich in imagination and good vibes and captures something of the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of the cinema.