Johnny Suede
Tom DiCillo, Switzerland, France, USA, 1991o
Johnny, a down-and-out New York singer and occasional guitarist, hides his insecurity by styling himself like the rock'n'rollers Elvis and Ricky Nelson. When his girlfriend dumps him, he meets the self-confident Yvonne and forms a band with his best mate. Gradually, Johnny realises that there are more important things in life than coolness and a pair of smart suede shoes.
Johnny Suede is an aspiring musician with rock star potential. At least in his imagination. In reality, he lives in a New York apartment with peeling walls, a discarded hair dryer, and neglected potted plants. And he has less of the talent than the pose of a star: a powerful quiff—modelled on his idol Ricky Nelson—and chic suede shoes that literally fall from the sky at the beginning of the film. He is the projection screen for his own dreams and for those of a few young women who fall for him—or he for them. Tom DiCillo's 1991 directorial debut consistently rejects the classic rags-to-riches narrative and is deeply rooted in early 1990s American independent cinema. It thus belongs to the Sundance generation that recoded US cinema at the time. With its mixture of ironic distance, melancholic romanticism, and formal playfulness, it stands alongside the earlier films of Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley. Co-produced by Ruth Waldburger and her Swiss company Vega Film, the film features 27-year-old Brad Pitt, who was on the verge of his big breakthrough, in the lead role and Nick Cage in a supporting role. And with a few quirky songs performed by Suede on his guitar. Simply cult.
Till Brockmann