It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988)

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writer:

Richard Linklater (concept)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Train | Independent Film

Cast

Richard Linklater
James Goodwin
Dan Kratochvil		(as Daniel Kratochvil)
Linda Finney
Tracy Crabtree
Linda Levine
Lisa Schiebold
Erin McAfee
D. Montgomery
Scott Van Horn
Daniel Johnston
Tammy Gomez
Keith McCormack

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Company:

Detour Filmproduction

Trivia:

This film is featured on second disc of the Slacker (1991) DVD released in 2004 by the Criterion Collection.

Movie Connections:

Features The Killing (1956)

Only for fans, but worthwhile for fans

It's pretty much a guarantee that only dedicated Linklater fans are going to see this, since it's only available as part of Criterion's $35 Slacker package. That being said, it's a pretty interesting picture. It is obviously inspired by Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger than Paradise," also a film about the prevalence of verbal miscommunication, and is better than that film. Linklater makes it clear that he is allowing the audiences to make their own assumptions about the story and character(s), in that he uses long takes and focuses on action that is unrelated to the "narrative" of the picture. It ultimately is a reaffirmation of the deep-seatedness of Linklater's experimental nature, and while not exactly entertaining, is a worthwhile sign of things to come.