Mumblecore
Encyclopedia
Mumblecore is an American
independent film
movement
that arose at the turn of the 21st century. Filmmakers associated with the movement include Andrew Bujalski
, Lynn Shelton
, Mark Duplass
, Jay Duplass
, Aaron Katz
, Joe Swanberg
, and Barry Jenkins.
has been described as the "Godfather of Mumblecore". His 2002 directorial debut, Funny Ha Ha
, is generally considered to be the first mumblecore film.
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 by Joe Swanberg
.
The term "mumblecore" was coined by Eric Masunaga
, a sound editor who has worked with Bujalski. Masunaga
coined the term one night at a bar during the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival
, when asked to describe the similarities between Mutual Appreciation
, The Puffy Chair
, and Kissing On The Mouth, which all screened at the festival. The term was first used publicly by Bujalski in an interview with indieWIRE
.
The directors of the films are sometimes referred to collectively as "mumblecorps," as in press corps. Film journalists have also used the terms "bedhead cinema", and "Slackavetes," a portmanteau derived from the title of Richard Linklater
's dialogue heavy, lo-fi 90s 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."
New York-based Benten Films, a boutique DVD label run by film critics, has championed such mumblecore titles as Swanberg's LOL
, and Katz's first two films: Dance Party USA
and Quiet City
.
& Jay Duplass'
Baghead
utilises a number of tropes from the horror film genre.
Naturalism - both in performance and dialogue - is a key feature of almost all mumblecore films. Many mumblecore films feature non-professional actors, however Mark Duplass
& Jay Duplass
have worked with professional actors on their films Baghead
and Cyrus. Some mumblecore films feature a prominent use of improvisation, with the cast sharing script credits. However, not all mumblecore films feature significant improvisation. For example, the films of Andrew Bujalski are heavily scripted.
Mumblecore films are general produced with a low or micro-budget and low production values. Many of these films are shot digitally, however this is not a defining characteristic. As of July 2011, all of Andrew Bujalski's films have been shot on film.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
movement
Art movement
An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...
that arose at the turn of the 21st century. Filmmakers associated with the movement include Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski, born April 29, 1977 in Boston, Massachusetts, is an American film director, screenwriter and actor, who has been called the "Godfather of Mumblecore."- Bio :...
, Lynn Shelton
Lynn Shelton
Lynn Shelton is an American director known for writing, directing, and producing the 2009 film Humpday.-Early life, and education:Shelton grew up in Seattle. She describes herself as having been audacious as a young girl, but having lost confidence in her creativity in adolescence...
, Mark Duplass
Mark Duplass
Mark David Duplass is an American film director, film producer, actor, and screenwriter.Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of director and writer Jay Duplass. He is married to his co-star on The League, Katie Aselton. Duplass is considered to be one of the founders of...
, Jay Duplass
Jay Duplass
Lawrence Jay Duplass is an American film director. He is best known for his debut film The Puffy Chair and most recent film Baghead. His brother Mark Duplass has worked with him on both films....
, Aaron Katz
Aaron Katz (filmmaker)
Aaron Katz is an award-winning independent American filmmaker from Portland, Oregon.-High school and college:Aaron began his artistic career while attending Pacific Crest Community School in Portland from 1994 to 2000...
, Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg is an American independent filmmaker. He is a member of the "Mumblecore" movement. His films include Kissing on the Mouth , LOL , Hannah Takes the Stairs , Nights and Weekends and Alexander the Last...
, and Barry Jenkins.
History and etymology
Andrew BujalskiAndrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski, born April 29, 1977 in Boston, Massachusetts, is an American film director, screenwriter and actor, who has been called the "Godfather of Mumblecore."- Bio :...
has been described as the "Godfather of Mumblecore". His 2002 directorial debut, Funny Ha Ha
Funny Ha Ha
Funny ha ha, considered the first mumblecore film, follows the exploits of recently graduated protagonist Marnie as she tries to find a temporary job and win the attention of a college friend named Alex , while trying to cut down on her beer consumption...
, is generally considered to be the first mumblecore film.
The 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
screened a number of other films that came to be considered part of the mumblecore movement, including Bujalski's second film Mutual Appreciation
Mutual Appreciation
Mutual Appreciation is an independent film by Andrew Bujalski who previously directed Funny Ha Ha . The script is primarily dialogue between a group of young people as they try to determine where they fit in the world. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement.-Plot:The principal characters...
, The Puffy Chair
The Puffy Chair
The Puffy Chair is a 2005 comedy film written and directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. It screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement...
by Mark Duplass
Mark Duplass
Mark David Duplass is an American film director, film producer, actor, and screenwriter.Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of director and writer Jay Duplass. He is married to his co-star on The League, Katie Aselton. Duplass is considered to be one of the founders of...
& Jay Duplass
Jay Duplass
Lawrence Jay Duplass is an American film director. He is best known for his debut film The Puffy Chair and most recent film Baghead. His brother Mark Duplass has worked with him on both films....
, and Kissing on The Mouth by Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg is an American independent filmmaker. He is a member of the "Mumblecore" movement. His films include Kissing on the Mouth , LOL , Hannah Takes the Stairs , Nights and Weekends and Alexander the Last...
.
The term "mumblecore" was coined by Eric Masunaga
Dambuilders
-History:The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene. The founding members - Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga - hail from Hawaii and had played in a number of bands before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and...
, a sound editor who has worked with Bujalski. Masunaga
Dambuilders
-History:The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene. The founding members - Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga - hail from Hawaii and had played in a number of bands before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and...
coined the term one night at a bar during the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
, when asked to describe the similarities between Mutual Appreciation
Mutual Appreciation
Mutual Appreciation is an independent film by Andrew Bujalski who previously directed Funny Ha Ha . The script is primarily dialogue between a group of young people as they try to determine where they fit in the world. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement.-Plot:The principal characters...
, The Puffy Chair
The Puffy Chair
The Puffy Chair is a 2005 comedy film written and directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. It screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement...
, and Kissing On The Mouth, which all screened at the festival. The term was first used publicly by Bujalski in an interview with indieWIRE
IndieWire
indieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...
.
The directors of the films are sometimes referred to collectively as "mumblecorps," as in press corps. Film journalists have also used the terms "bedhead cinema", and "Slackavetes," a portmanteau derived from the title of Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
's dialogue heavy, lo-fi 90s film Slacker
Slacker (film)
Slacker is an American independent film written and directed by Richard Linklater, who also appears in the film. Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.-Plot summary:...
and the name of independent film director John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
.
In 2007, the IFC Center
IFC Center
IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, New York City in the United States of America. It is located at 323 Sixth Avenue, on the former site of the Waverly Theater, which was itself a well known art house movie theater...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
exhibited a ten-film series of mumblecore films, titled "The New Talkies: Generation D.I.Y."
New York-based Benten Films, a boutique DVD label run by film critics, has championed such mumblecore titles as Swanberg's LOL
LOL (film)
LOL is a 2006 independent mumblecore film by Joe Swanberg that examines the impact of technology on social relations.The movie follows three recent college graduates in Chicago: Tim, Chris and Alex. Tim watches the screen of his laptop as he makes out with his girlfriend. Chris conducts...
, and Katz's first two films: Dance Party USA
Dance Party USA (film)
Dance Party USA is a 2006 film written and directed by Aaron Katz. It stars Cole Pensinger and Anna Kavan.The film took nearly two years to complete. Katz explained the reason for such as being due to the film's editor, Zach Clark, living in Virginia while he lived in Brooklyn...
and Quiet City
Quiet City (film)
Quiet City is a 2007 film directed by Aaron Katz.It premiered at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival in the Emerging Visions category...
.
Distinguishing characteristics
Mumblecore films are generally set in a post-college milieu, with characters that are typically heterosexual, white, middle class, and in their twenties. These films are typically character-driven, focusing more on relationships than conventional plot points. However, a number of films considered to be part of the movement do not conform to this mold. Medicine for Melancholy focuses on African American characters, Bujalski's Beeswax features characters that are older, and MarkMark Duplass
Mark David Duplass is an American film director, film producer, actor, and screenwriter.Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of director and writer Jay Duplass. He is married to his co-star on The League, Katie Aselton. Duplass is considered to be one of the founders of...
& Jay Duplass'
Jay Duplass
Lawrence Jay Duplass is an American film director. He is best known for his debut film The Puffy Chair and most recent film Baghead. His brother Mark Duplass has worked with him on both films....
Baghead
Baghead
Baghead is a 2008 comedy/horror film directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. Its limited release began on 25 July 2008.-Plot:Four actors go to a cabin in the woods to write, direct, and act in a film that will jump-start their careers...
utilises a number of tropes from the horror film genre.
Naturalism - both in performance and dialogue - is a key feature of almost all mumblecore films. Many mumblecore films feature non-professional actors, however Mark Duplass
Mark Duplass
Mark David Duplass is an American film director, film producer, actor, and screenwriter.Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of director and writer Jay Duplass. He is married to his co-star on The League, Katie Aselton. Duplass is considered to be one of the founders of...
& Jay Duplass
Jay Duplass
Lawrence Jay Duplass is an American film director. He is best known for his debut film The Puffy Chair and most recent film Baghead. His brother Mark Duplass has worked with him on both films....
have worked with professional actors on their films Baghead
Baghead
Baghead is a 2008 comedy/horror film directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. Its limited release began on 25 July 2008.-Plot:Four actors go to a cabin in the woods to write, direct, and act in a film that will jump-start their careers...
and Cyrus. Some mumblecore films feature a prominent use of improvisation, with the cast sharing script credits. However, not all mumblecore films feature significant improvisation. For example, the films of Andrew Bujalski are heavily scripted.
Mumblecore films are general produced with a low or micro-budget and low production values. Many of these films are shot digitally, however this is not a defining characteristic. As of July 2011, all of Andrew Bujalski's films have been shot on film.
List of mumblecore films
- 2002
- Funny Ha HaFunny Ha HaFunny ha ha, considered the first mumblecore film, follows the exploits of recently graduated protagonist Marnie as she tries to find a temporary job and win the attention of a college friend named Alex , while trying to cut down on her beer consumption...
- Funny Ha Ha
- 2005
- Kissing on the Mouth
- The Puffy ChairThe Puffy ChairThe Puffy Chair is a 2005 comedy film written and directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. It screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement...
- Mutual AppreciationMutual AppreciationMutual Appreciation is an independent film by Andrew Bujalski who previously directed Funny Ha Ha . The script is primarily dialogue between a group of young people as they try to determine where they fit in the world. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement.-Plot:The principal characters...
- 2006
- Dance Party USADance Party USA (film)Dance Party USA is a 2006 film written and directed by Aaron Katz. It stars Cole Pensinger and Anna Kavan.The film took nearly two years to complete. Katz explained the reason for such as being due to the film's editor, Zach Clark, living in Virginia while he lived in Brooklyn...
- LOLLOL (film)LOL is a 2006 independent mumblecore film by Joe Swanberg that examines the impact of technology on social relations.The movie follows three recent college graduates in Chicago: Tim, Chris and Alex. Tim watches the screen of his laptop as he makes out with his girlfriend. Chris conducts...
- Dance Party USA
- 2007
- Hannah Takes the StairsHannah Takes the StairsHannah Takes the Stairs is a 2007 independent mumblecore film by Joe Swanberg.-Synopsis:The movie tells the story of Hannah, a recent college graduate living in Chicago who works as an intern at a production office, as she begins to develop crushes on Matt and Paul, two scriptwriters she works with...
- Quiet CityQuiet City (film)Quiet City is a 2007 film directed by Aaron Katz.It premiered at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival in the Emerging Visions category...
- Hohokam
- Orphans
- Team PictureTeam PictureTeam Picture is a 2007 mumblecore drama film written and directed by filmmaker Kentucker Audley. The movie is as a character study of a young man and his relationship with an ambitious girlfriend, his dealings with the familial and societal pressures to go to college, and his considerations of a...
- Hannah Takes the Stairs
- 2008
- BagheadBagheadBaghead is a 2008 comedy/horror film directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. Its limited release began on 25 July 2008.-Plot:Four actors go to a cabin in the woods to write, direct, and act in a film that will jump-start their careers...
- In Search of a Midnight KissIn Search of a Midnight KissIn Search of a Midnight Kiss is an American independent romantic comedy written and directed by Alex Holdridge. It is listed on the National Board of Review's Top 10 Independent Films of 2008, won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award in 2009 as well as having earned awards at festivals...
- The Pleasure of Being Robbed
- Nights and WeekendsNights and WeekendsNights and Weekends is a 2008 American mumblecore film directed by and starring Joe Swanberg and Greta Gerwig. The film recounts a long-distance relationship between two people, one of whom lives in Chicago, the other in New York City...
- Luke and Brie Are on a First Date
- Yeast
- Baghead
- 2009
- Alexander the Last
- Medicine for Melancholy
- HumpdayHumpdayHumpday is a 2009 American comedy film starring Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, and Alycia Delmore; and directed, produced, and written by Lynn Shelton. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance film festival. International distribution rights have been purchased by Magnolia Pictures for a mid-six figure sum...
- BeeswaxBeeswax (film)Beeswax is a 2009 American mumblecore film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. The film examines a few days in the life of a pair of twins, played by real-life sisters, Tilly and Maggie Hatcher....
- Daddy LonglegsDaddy Longlegs (2009 film)Daddy Longlegs is a 2009 American independent film directed by the New York based brothers Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie. It premiered at the 2009 Directors' Fortnight section of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival, under the title Go Get Some Rosemary. It premiered in the United States at the...
- Sorry, ThanksSorry, ThanksSorry, Thanks is an independent feature film by filmmaker Dia Sokol, who previously produced Mutual Appreciation and the MTV reality series 16 and Pregnant....
- 2010
- CyrusCyrus (film)Cyrus is a 2010 comedy-drama film written and directed by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass and starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, and Catherine Keener.-Plot:...
- Tiny FurnitureTiny FurnitureTiny Furniture is a 2010 American independent comedy film written, directed and starring Lena Dunham, daughter of co-star, Laurie Simmons.It premiered at South by Southwest, where it won best narrative feature, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 12, 2010.-Plot:Aura...
- Cyrus
- 2011
- Cold WeatherCold Weather (film)Cold Weather is an American mystery film written by Aaron Katz, Ben Stambler, and Brendan McFadden and directed by Katz with Stambler and McFadden producing. The film stars Cris Lankenau as a former forensic science student investigating the mysterious disappearance of his ex-girlfriend...
- Uncle Kent
- Cold Weather
External links
- indieWIRE Interview:The Mumblecore Movement? Andrew Bujalski On His "Funny Ha Ha"
- indieWIRE: Mumblecore Movie? Swanberg, Bujalski, Duplass and Others Unveil "Hannah Takes The Stairs"
- The Austin Chronicle: Mumblecore And Murder
- Benten Films website
- BU Today: Don't Say "Mumblecore" to Bujalski, article and video
- Free Times: Features - Don't Call it "Mumblecore"
- Daily Film Dose: Alexander The Last, The Movie That Killed Mumblecore
- Mumblecore: All Talk? | Filmlinc.com | Film Society of Lincoln Center