Director: Richard Linklater
Stars: Oh sheesh, so many people!
Dazed and Confused takes place at the end of a school year where seniors and freshmen blow off some steam and look forward to the freedom of summer.
This reminded me of American Graffiti in some ways, but a 70s version. I was born in the 80s so it’s not a nostalgic trip for me but I can imagine that for a great many people it’ll be something where they can remember their friends and the good times they had. This is helped by a completely awesome soundtrack.
If the story has a focus it’s with Pink (Jason London) and Mitch (Wiley Wiggins), who represent the present and the future (and Matthew McConaughey’s character is the future). But those two characters are quite similar and Pink is coming to terms with self-discovery while Mitch is entering into this new world, and it shows the cyclical nature of the traditions of high school. The main tradition in this film is hazing.
I have never understood the obsession with these hazing rituals. Why would anyone put themselves through this humiliating treatment. It’s the same when it’s featured in frat houses, it seems to be an acceptable treatment but to me it’s just weird. But I’m glad there are characters in this film that express the same opinions.
Anyway, there’s a very loose structure here as it just follows these characters around throughout the night and manages to explore many different facets of behavior and motivations. There were some humorous moments but mostly it’s more of an amusing film rather than a hilarious one, and it’s interesting to watch these adolescent characters bounce off each other in one night that captures the timelessness of that period of life. I mean, at that stage everything is magnified and it all seems so important, so it feels like the moments last forever, yet the future is so close, and when it comes in this film it’s in the form of daylight that hits so suddenly it’s actually very jarring.
I liked how all the different groups interacted and people shifted from one to the other, which is more realistic I feel than when there are strictly defined groups. It’s a very easy movie to watch that you can simply sink into and watch unfold, and although I wouldn’t call it profound it does capture a moment in time that, even if you didn’t live through it, allows you to be wistful.