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Smithereens (15)

Part of: The Grime and the Glamour season

Photo still from Smithereens film of woman in sunglasses taking a Polaroid photo

This fresh, thrilling debut feature by director Susan Seidelman follows the triumphs and trials of a New York wannabe, determined to make it big.

Wren (Susan Berman) is a teenage New Jersey punkette freshly arrived in the big city.  

It doesn’t matter that Wren can’t sing, write songs or play an instrument: she’s desperate to make the East Village punk scene, and will latch on opportunistically to anyone who can help her get ahead. Casting aside her nice Montana boy Paul, she sets her sights on punk rocker Eric (former Television guitarist and Voidoids frontman Richard Hell) who turns out every bit as flaky and self-obsessed as she is. 

A film of great, jittery energy, with a blistering soundtrack by The Feelies, Smithereens captures a properly authentic, seedy, downtown vibe, from the dingy locales, right down to the charity shop fashions and dirty Converse. 

US 1982 Dir Susan Seidelman 93 min, 35mm presentation

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