Austin Power

In 1991, director Richard Linklater burst onto the scene with Slacker, a unique and vibrant film that announced him as a major talent. Now, more than twenty years after its debut, the film — set in Austin, Texas, over a 24-hour period — still stands as one of Linklater’s greatest,...

By Cory Casciato

November 7, 2013

Audio By Carbonatix

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In 1991, director Richard Linklater burst onto the scene with Slacker, a unique and vibrant film that announced him as a major talent. Now, more than twenty years after its debut, the film — set in Austin, Texas, over a 24-hour period — still stands as one of Linklater’s greatest, even though his impressive body of work includes such classics as Dazed and Confused and A Scanner Darkly.

“I revisited the film three or four years ago and was really surprised at not just how well it holds up, but how fresh it still feels and how prescient it is,” says Pablo Kjolseth, executive director of the International Film Series, which has acquired the only existing 35mm print for tonight’s special screening.

Boasting an unusual structure that switches perspective to follow a new character every few minutes, Slacker is experimental in a way that’s never dull or over-thought, delivering a flowing, stream-of-consciousness experience unlike any other while capturing a vibrant slice of life from another era. “It’s really fun to see the Austin of 1991,” Kjolseth notes, adding that the city has “gone through so much since then that it acts as a time capsule as well.”

Slacker screens at 7 p.m. tonight in the Muenzinger Auditorium on the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus. Tickets are $7, or $6 for seniors and CU students with ID. For more information, visit internationalfilmseries.com.
Wed., Nov. 13, 7 p.m., 2013

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