Sayles showcases independent cinema

John Sayles is a true American original.

Whether as a Hollywood gun-for-hire, a novelist, a historian or an auteur filmmaker, Sayles has always carried with him a fiercely individualistic vision. For many, he is the definition of independent cinema.

This and much more is why Jon Vickers, director of the IU Cinema, brought Sayles to campus last weekend to take part in a showcase of five of his best films — “Amigo,” “Matewan,” “The Brother from Another Planet,” “Honeydripper” and “Lone Star.”

“John Sayles’s visit is very important to the IU Cinema because he is known for being synonymous with independent American cinema,” Vickers said. “Being independent, he’s able to say what he wants to say, and he’s able to take on the issues that mainstream or studio-financed filmmakers cannot because it goes against the system.”
Sayles’s involvement in the series kicked off with a screening of his most recent film, “Amigo,” Thursday night.

He introduced the movie, which explores tension between opposing forces in a small village occupied by U.S. troops during the Philippine-American War. Afterward, he took part in a brief Q&A.

“This is a movie that came out of an empty place on the screen,” Sayles said. “This is only the third American movie ever made about the Philippine-American War.”

Still very much absent from American art theaters, Sayles opened “Amigo” in the Philippines first, where it has done moderate business (“We opened the week between ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Transformers,’” Sayles said) and received mostly positive reviews.
With its brilliant ensemble cast and careful verisimilitude, “Amigo” is a befittingly excellent film about a dark chapter of American history that has gone mostly unmentioned in cinema.

Sayles also spoke at the screenings of “Matewan” and “The Brother from Another Planet” on Friday.

“Matewan” is considered by many critics to be Sayles’s finest movie, and watching the beautifully restored print the cinema was able to acquire from the University of California Los Angeles makes it easy to see why. It’s a visual feast depicting events surrounding the labor wars in West Virginia mining country in the early 20th century.  

The film was introduced by department of communication and culture professor Gregory Waller, who said he has taught the film in classes since shortly after its 1987 release. Waller is a longtime admirer of Sayles’s work.

“If you look at his career, not too many people are true independent filmmakers making films for wide release,” Waller said. “He has an enormous amount of integrity.”
“Matewan” played to a sold-out theater, and the post-screening Q&A session saw Sayles speaking more politically than at any other event of the weekend.

“It’s important that we remember why there are unions, and what it’s like when there aren’t,” he said to thundering applause.

During his time in Bloomington, Sayles also gave a lecture at the cinema, spoke at a graduate class and attended a luncheon with IU faculty and film students.
At the lunch, Sayles spoke about what he has learned after more than 30 years in the industry to the students at the table.

He emphasized that there’s more to making movies than knowing movies, and he encouraged the aspiring filmmakers to gather as many valuable life experiences as possible.

“Watching every Quentin Tarantino movie qualifies you to make Quentin Tarantino movies, but it doesn’t mean you know something about the world,” he said.