Let's Say It's Hot

One of the bitterest ironies of contemporary American film is that Sundance is big and getting bigger, not because the films are getting better or more important but because independent cinema has evolved into little more than a handmaiden of Hollywood. Writing in The New Yorker recently, David Denby ventured that Sundance is "the center of youthful desire in the film world." But while Sundance is youthful, both in years and in its fetishization of directors who are barely post-pubescent, in the last few years it has become more desperate than hopeful, and, like Hollywood, defined as much by its failures as its successes -- successes that are, finally, inevitably, measured at the box office. Sundance is the most important festival in the United States, but is it necessary for American movies? Is it healthy? Indie-film guru John Pierson has suggested that one way to save the festival is to rid it of its various competitions, which, he argues, impede creativity. Cutting back on the number of guests and films might also help, but both scenarios are unlikely. There is simply too much already at stake -- cable channels, a theater chain, entertainment magazines, a ravenous celebrity culture.

Over the last several years, Sundance has developed a curious sort of public cachet. "Sundance," my neighbor said on my return, her face brightening. "How was it?" It wasn't particularly good, as numerous attendees have already reported, but invariably no one believes you. People want Sundance to be significant, though less out of some unarticulated fealty to all the movies they will most likely never see than because of a widespread sense that Sundance matters -- not the films or the filmmakers, but the actual festival. The reason is that, for better and often worse, Sundance has come to stand not merely for the promise of independent cinema, as Denby suggested, but for the enduring dominance of the American movie industry, both here and abroad. Which is why next year, while I'll again return to Sundance, I'll be looking forward to Rotterdam.