subgenre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
The Seattle Weekly
The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspaper ...
''. Retrieved on Oct 7, 2009. and Ry Russo-Young. In many cases, though, these directors reject the term.
The genre is a mostly American phenomenon. The term mumblegore has been used for films mixing the mumblecore and
horror
Horror may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Genres
*Horror fiction, a genre of fiction
** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction
**Korean horror, Korean horror fiction
* Horror film, a film genre
*Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...
genres.
Distinguishing characteristics
Naturalism – both in performance and dialogue – is a key feature of almost all mumblecore films. Early mumblecore films tended to feature non-professional actors, although later films have had more professional actors, including major stars such as Anna Kendrick ('' Drinking Buddies'' and ''
Happy Christmas
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late Novembe ...
'') and Orlando Bloom ('' Digging for Fire''). Some mumblecore films feature a prominent use of improvisation, with the cast sharing script credits, though some, like Bujalski's films, are mostly scripted.Bujalski's Beeswax Makes People Say Mumblecore, indieWire Retrieved June 2011.
Mumblecore films are generally produced with a
low budget
A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...
, which has ranged from several thousand to several million dollars as well as low production values. Filming is done in real places, as opposed to studio sets or sound stages. Many of these films are shot digitally, although Bujalski's films have all been shot on film. Soundtracks tend to be limited, or nonexistent.
Mumblecore films tend to revolve around characters in their twenties and early thirties who are usually single, white, and fairly aimless in both their professional and personal lives. Plots are often concerned with difficulties in romantic relationships, exacerbated by the characters' inability to articulate their own desires.
Influences on mumblecore
Films that have been described as influencing, or at least anticipating, the conventions of mumblecore include '' Girlfriends'' (1978), ''
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
Before Sunrise
''Before Sunrise'' is a 1995 romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Kim Krizan. The first installment in the ''Before'' trilogy, it follows Jesse ( Ethan Hawke) and Céline ( Julie Delpy) as they mee ...
Eric Rohmer
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
, including what one critic called "the spring-break psychodrama of MTV's '' The Real World'', has also been called an influence on mumblecore, as has the 2001 BBC reality-TV-style
mockumentary
A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary.
These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...
series '' The Office''.
Another often-cited influence on mumblecore is the profusion of cheaper filmmaking technology starting in the early 2000s, such as the Panasonic AG-DVX100 video camera, and desktop
video editing software
Video editing software, or a video editor is software used performing the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a non-linear editing system. It has replaced traditional flatbed celluloid film editing tools and analog video t ...
such as
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is a series of non-linear editing, non-linear video editing software programs first developed by Macromedia, Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro 10.6.4, runs on Macintosh, Mac computers power ...
.
History
Andrew Bujalski has been described as the "Godfather of Mumblecore".A Genre Worth Shouting About, The Independent Retrieved June 2011. His 2002 directorial debut, '' Funny Ha Ha'', is generally considered to be the first mumblecore film.Youth Quake: Mumblecore Movies, New Yorker Retrieved June 2011.
The 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival screened a number of other films that came to be considered part of the mumblecore movement, including Bujalski's second film, '' Mutual Appreciation''; '' The Puffy Chair'', by Mark Duplass & Jay Duplass; and ''
Kissing on the Mouth
''Kissing on the Mouth'' is a 2005 American film directed by Joe Swanberg. The small cast served as the only crew, with the film featuring real interviews with recent college graduates and a documentary approach to the graphic sex and conversatio ...
'', by Joe Swanberg.Mumblecore meets the mainstream in Cyrus at Sundance, Guardian Retrieved June 2011.Mumblecore Goes Mainstream, Variety Retrieved June 2011. That festival was also the origin of the term "mumblecore": Eric Masunaga, a sound editor who has worked with Bujalski, coined the term one night at a bar during the festival, when asked to describe the similarities between those three films. The term was first used publicly by Bujalski in an interview with
indieWIRE
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
. Bujalski has downplayed the existence of an organized "movement", however, and stated that he does not intentionally make "mumblecore" films.
Film journalists have also referred to the genre collectively with the terms "bedhead cinema" and "Slackavetes" (a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsRichard Linklater's dialogue-heavy, lo-fi 1990s film '' Slacker'', and the name of independent film director John Cassavetes).
In 2007, the IFC Center in New York City exhibited a ten-film series of mumblecore films, titled "The New Talkies: Generation D.I.Y."
Legacy
Some critics have stated that mumblecore ended around 2010, as the original crop of directors began making films with larger budgets, more diverse storylines, and a more conventional cinematic approach. For this reason, films made since 2010 or so that retain an emphasis on naturalistic dialogue and plot are sometimes referred to as "post-mumblecore". Filmmakers who have been labelled as "post-mumblecore" include Amy Seimetz, Sean Price Williams, Alex Karpovsky, Alex Ross Perry and Kate Lyn Sheil.
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
) have been described as having mumblecore elements due to their use of naturalistic dialogue. Some TV series, including the HBO series '' Girls'' (2012), '' Looking'' (2014) and '' Togetherness'' (2015), and the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
series '' Easy'' (2017) have been called mumblecore-inspired, or, in the words of one critic, "mumbleshows".
Horror films using mumblecore techniques have resulted in the term "mumblegore." Films that have been described as "mumblegore" include '' Baghead'' (
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
), and ''
Creep
Creep, Creeps or CREEP may refer to:
People
* Creep, a creepy person
Politics
* Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), mockingly abbreviated as CREEP, an fundraising organization for Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign
Art ...
'' (
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
Patrick Brice
Donat Patrick Kack-Brice (born April 23, 1983), known professionally as Patrick Brice, is an American film director, actor, screenwriter and cinematographer. He is known for directing ''Creep'' (2014), ''The Overnight'' (2015), '' Creep 2'' (201 ...
, Patrick Horvath, and Ti West.
A review of the independent quasi-documentar ''Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets'' in which actors were served real alcohol and filmed interacting in improvised scenes in a recreated dive bar, noted that "the film may be the first-ever in a new 'stumblecore' genre, a risky fusion of indie-mumblecore and on-camera drunkenness."
Outside the United States
Mumblecore has not always been a strictly American phenomenon. Since about 2009, the Berlin Mumblecore movement has had its own manifesto, ''Sehr gutes Manifest''. Berlin Mumblecore is not a reaction to the American hype so much as it is a reaction to the lack of reform in the German public financial support system for the film industry (Filmfoerderung). Crowdfunding is a new possibility to finance movie productions with small and very small budgets independently from restrictions of the German Filmfoerderung.
In 2009, Jette Miller's ''Austern ohne Schale'' was screened in Berlin. In 2011, the movies ''Frontalwatte'' by Jakob Lass and ''Papa Gold'' by Tom Lass were released. The latter won several German film awards. 2012 saw the release of ''Klappe Cowboy'' by Timo Jacobs and Ulf Behrens, as well as the award-winning ''Dicke Mädchen'' by Axel Ranisch.Denis Demmerle: Eine neue Schule. In: Berliner Filmfestivals. 2012-04-28 retrieved in December 2012 In 2015, Malte Wirtz ''Voll Paula!'' had its theatrical release, having also been produced without film funding. Since then he produced three more Mumblecore Films
(Hard & Ugly, Only one day in Berlin, About Rita!) and the media called him one of the most active German directors.
Kissing on the Mouth
''Kissing on the Mouth'' is a 2005 American film directed by Joe Swanberg. The small cast served as the only crew, with the film featuring real interviews with recent college graduates and a documentary approach to the graphic sex and conversatio ...
Hannah Takes the Stairs
''Hannah Takes the Stairs'' is a 2007 American independent mumblecore film by Joe Swanberg. It has been described "as the defining movie of the low-budget, dialogue-driven 'mumblecore' movement."
Plot
Hannah is a recent college graduate living in ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Let Them Chirp Awhile
''Let Them Chirp Awhile'' is a 2007 independent drama-comedy by Jonathan Blitstein, filmed in just eighteen days in New York during October 2006. The film was produced by Anouk Frosch and Jonathan Blitstein. It was photographed by Andrew Shulkind ...
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
''In Search of a Midnight Kiss'' is a 2007 American independent romantic comedy film written and directed by Alex Holdridge. It was listed on the National Board of Review's Top 10 Independent Films of 2008, won the Independent Spirit John Cassavete ...
Beeswax
Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...
Sorry, Thanks
''Sorry, Thanks'' (2009) is an independent feature film directed and written by filmmaker Dia Sokol, who previously produced '' Mutual Appreciation'' and the MTV reality series ''16 and Pregnant''.
''Sorry, Thanks'' premiered at the 2009 South ...
'' (2009)
* ''
The Exploding Girl
''The Exploding Girl'' is a 2009 American independent film written and directed by Bradley Rust Gray, starring Zoe Kazan and Mark Rendall. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2009 and was released theatrically in the United St ...
Art History
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon
''The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' is a 2012 independent comedy film written and directed brothers Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. The film stars Mark Kelly, Steve Zissis, Jennifer Lafleur, and Julie Vorus. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on Mar ...
'' (2012)
* ''
The Color Wheel
''The Color Wheel'' is a 2011 American independent film co-written, co-produced, edited, directed by and co-starring Alex Ross Perry. Perry co-wrote the film with Carlen Altman, who both also play the respective lead roles.
A screwball black com ...
Touchy Feely
''Touchy Feely'' is a 2013 film directed by Lynn Shelton and stars Rosemarie DeWitt as a massage therapist who develops a phobia to touching skin. Other cast members include Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Elliot Page and Josh Pais ...
'' (2013)
* ''
I Love You, Apple, I Love You, Orange
''I Love You, Apple, I Love You, Orange '' is a 2013 American independent romantic comedy-drama film by Horam Kim. It stars Kim, Lori Anne Smithey, Stefan Griswold, and Victoria Blake, and follows a lonely young woman who has to deal with a budding ...
Swim Little Fish Swim
''Swim Little Fish Swim'' is a 2013 French-American indie comedy-drama written, produced and co-directed by Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar.
This film was shot in New York on a shoe-string budget. Once finished, it hit the festival circuit (Rotterda ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Happy Christmas
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late Novembe ...
Blue Jay
The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are ...
Teenage Cocktail
''Teenage Cocktail'' is a 2016 American thriller film, thriller drama film, written and directed by John Carchietta and starring Nichole Sakura, Fabianne Therese, Michelle Borth, Pat Healy (actor), Pat Healy, A. J. Bowen and Joshua Leonard. The fil ...
Only One Day in Berlin
Only may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Only'' (album), by Tommy Emmanuel, 2000
* ''The Only'', an EP by Dua Lipa, 2017
Songs
* "Only" (Anthrax song), 1993
* "Only" (Nine Inch Nails song), 2005
* "Only" (Nicki Minaj song), 2014
* " The Only", by ...
'' (2018)
List of mumblegore films
* ''
The Roost
''The Roost'' is a 2005 American horror film written and directed by Ti West.
Plot
On television show Frightmare Theatre, the Horror Host welcomes viewers and introduces them to the film they are about to see, ''The Roost''.
Four friends – T ...
The Signal The Signal may refer to:
* ''The Signal'' (2007 film), American horror film written and directed by David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry
* ''The Signal'' (2014 film), American science fiction thriller film directed by William Eubank
* ''Th ...
Home Sick
''Home Sick'' is a 2007 American horror film written by E. L. Katz and directed by Adam Wingard.
The film had its world premiere at the 2007 Fantasia Festival.
Plot
A strange man crashes a party and asks each person to name the person they ha ...
Hysterical Psycho
''Hysterical Psycho'' is a 2009 American horror comedy film written and directed by Dan Fogler. It stars Randy Baruh, Noah Bean, Kelly Hutchinson, Charissa Chamorro, Nicholas DeCegli, and Kate Gersten as a group of friends who encounter "lunar ra ...
Frozen
Frozen may refer to:
* the result of freezing
* a paralysis response in extreme cases of fear
Films
* ''Frozen'' (1997 film), a film by Wang Xiaoshuai
* ''Frozen'' (2005 film), a film by Juliet McKoen
* ''Frozen'' (2007 film), a film by Sh ...
V/H/S/2
''V/H/S/2'' (originally titled ''S-VHS'') is a 2013 found footage horror anthology film produced by Bloody Disgusting and Roxanne BenjaminThe second installment in the ''V/H/S'' franchise, it comprises four found footage segments linked toge ...
Coherence
Coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following:
Physics
* Coherence (physics), an ideal property of waves that enables stationary (i.e. temporally and spatially constant) interference
* Coherence (units of measurement), a deriv ...
Honeymoon
A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Creep
Creep, Creeps or CREEP may refer to:
People
* Creep, a creepy person
Politics
* Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), mockingly abbreviated as CREEP, an fundraising organization for Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign
Art ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Starry Eyes
''Starry Eyes'' is a 2014 American horror film directed and written by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer. The film had its world premiere on March 8, 2014 at South by Southwest and features Alexandra Essoe as a hopeful young starlet who finds that ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Bag Boy Lover Boy
''Bag Boy Lover Boy'' is a 2014 comedy horror film that was directed by Andres Torres. The movie had its world premiere on July 23, 2014 at the Fantasia Festival and stars Jon Wachter as a hotdog vendor who finds himself becoming the muse of a ma ...
They Look Like People
''They Look Like People'' is a 2015 independent psychological horror film shot, edited, written, produced and directed by Perry Blackshear. It was his feature film directorial debut. It premiered on January 25, 2015 at the Slamdance Film Festival, ...
Lace Crater
''Lace Crater'' is a 2015 American comedy film written and directed by Harrison Atkins; the film marks his first feature full-length film. The film stars Lindsay Burdge, Peter Vack, Chase Williamson, Joe Swanberg, Jennifer Kim, Keith Poulson and ...
'' (2015)
*''
Darling
Darling is a term of endearment of Old English origin.
Darling or Darlin' or Darlings may also refer to:
People
* Darling (surname)
* Darling Jimenez (born 1980), American boxer
* Darling Légitimus (1907–1999), French actress
Places Austral ...
Always Shine
''Always Shine'' is a 2016 American psychological thriller film written by Lawrence Michael Levine and directed by Sophia Takal. The film stars Mackenzie Davis and Caitlin FitzGerald as two friends going for a weekend retreat to Big Sur. It also s ...
Pooka!
"Pooka!" is an episode of American horror anthology web television series '' Into the Dark'' that aired as the third episode of the show's first season. It originally premiered in the United States on December 7, 2018, on Hulu. The episode was dir ...
'' (2018)
*''
Body at Brighton Rock
''Body at Brighton Rock'' is a 2019 American horror thriller film, directed, written, and produced by Roxanne Benjamin. It stars Karina Fontes, Casey Adams, Emily Althaus, Miranda Bailey, Martin Spanjers, Matt Peters, Susan Burke and John Getz.
I ...
'' (2019)
*''
I Trapped the Devil
''I Trapped the Devil'' is a 2019 American supernatural horror film written, produced, edited, and directed by Josh Lobo in his feature film directorial debut. It stars A. J. Bowen, Scott Poythress, Susan Theresa Burke, Jocelin Donahue, and Chri ...
Pooka Lives!
''Into the Dark'' is an American horror anthology streaming television series produced for Hulu. The first season premiered on October 5, 2018, and consists of twelve feature-length episodes of television films. ''Into the Dark'' was renewed fo ...
'' (2020)
*''
Nocturne
A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.
History
The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemb ...
Rent-A-Pal
''Rent-A-Pal'' is a 2020 American thriller film written and directed by Jon Stevenson, produced by J.D. Lifshitz, Brian Landis Folkins, Jon Stevenson, Annie Elizabeth Baker, Jimmy Weber, Robert B. Martin Jr., Brandon Fryman and Raphael Margules. ...
Evil in the woods
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...