Slacker, made in 1991, is one of the nine films screened under the auspices of the Austin Film Society. Today, director Richard Linklater introduced it at the Great Hall as a sort of experimental, or punk-rock movie that he had never expected to “go out” and have any cultural influence, let alone to be awaited by a full cinema in the Czech Republic 30 years after its creation.
Linklater shot the film in Austin, Texas, where he still lives. In the 1980’s, the city faced numerous issues, including a lack of job opportunities. Slacker is a portrait of the over-educated and under-employed generation of the 1980’s Reagan era, whose members are often impersonated by ordinary people, non-actors whom Linklater met on the street. This chain of interactions skipping from one character to another distinguishes the movie from most films of the period, which were based on a continuous plot. “At that time, I believed that film production had become somewhat boring and that there was room for a new type of narration. Slacker was meant as a reflection of ordinary life and a statement of the underground generation, disinterested in the mainstream society values”, the founder of the Austin Film Society concluded.
