| In comparison with some parts of the world, the USA itself scores rather badly in the ‘strange’ stakes. Why that should be, I am not sure. Maybe Hollywood has something to do with it, or rather the more general element in the culture that puts a great deal of power into big groups who naturally create much the same things, never too adventurous for fear of frightening their presumed mass audience. At any rate, in America, strange cinema is definately a thing of independent directors and mavericks, who can be extremely marginalised. Only a few – like David Lynch and (Canadian) David Cronenberg – have made it to the centre of American film making. And, lets be honest, brillient though their work is, it is very far from being the strangest and most mind-stretching that cinima can offer. America is a place where curious gems can be found in the most unlikely places. |
