There are, it seems, prototypes for all movie genres out there: there's the teenage prototype, the romance prototype, drama, comedy, etc. The new addition to genres combines all movies under a generalization - indie - that's all-encompassing, but cheaply made.
"Particles of Truth" may be the prototype for this genre. It's got everything every other indie film professes to have: "deep" insight with cliché observations on life; bad camera work that begs for a tripod; production that demands better lighting; unheard-of music; relatively unknown actors; drugs; depressed people; funny people; trashy people; people with parent problems (esp. with the father); and the we're-weird-but-we're-really-normal-in-light-of-everyone-else main characters.
While I'm sure that some people might find "Particles" to be a careful and mind-blowing and revolutionary examination of truth, to me, it's like every other "alternative" film out there. Not only that, but its indie pretension is unbearable; the unusual camera angles that are the mark of low-budget films are irritating, and one keeps thinking, "Jesus, will somebody please stand on a table whilst holding that camera or something?" Otherwise, all the butt shots and four-foot sitting-eye-level footage really take a toll on one's patience.
I suppose that's my biggest complaint against this film: nothing about it feels original, which seems against the MO of the entire institution of indie film-making. Aren't these films, which aren't produced by big companies with big company interests, supposed to reveal something new, something that wasn't exhaustively covered by studio films like Paramount or Warner Brothers?
"Particles of Truth" may be the prototype for this genre. It's got everything every other indie film professes to have: "deep" insight with cliché observations on life; bad camera work that begs for a tripod; production that demands better lighting; unheard-of music; relatively unknown actors; drugs; depressed people; funny people; trashy people; people with parent problems (esp. with the father); and the we're-weird-but-we're-really-normal-in-light-of-everyone-else main characters.
While I'm sure that some people might find "Particles" to be a careful and mind-blowing and revolutionary examination of truth, to me, it's like every other "alternative" film out there. Not only that, but its indie pretension is unbearable; the unusual camera angles that are the mark of low-budget films are irritating, and one keeps thinking, "Jesus, will somebody please stand on a table whilst holding that camera or something?" Otherwise, all the butt shots and four-foot sitting-eye-level footage really take a toll on one's patience.
I suppose that's my biggest complaint against this film: nothing about it feels original, which seems against the MO of the entire institution of indie film-making. Aren't these films, which aren't produced by big companies with big company interests, supposed to reveal something new, something that wasn't exhaustively covered by studio films like Paramount or Warner Brothers?