Todd Solondz
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Todd Solondz was born in Newark, New Jersey. One of his earliest jobs
in the film industry was when, as a young man, he worked as a messenger
for the Writers' Guild of America. During this time, he wrote several
screenplays.
Solondz's first color film with sync sound was the short "Schatt's Last
Shot" (1985). Solondz played a high schooler who wants to get into
Stanford, but cannot because his sadistic gym teacher fails him. He
also has no luck seducing the girl he desires. It was a student film,
and is still screened at NYU, where Solondz made it.
Solondz's first feature was Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989), a piece
about a writer (Solondz) writing a play and sending it to Samuel
Beckett.
Solondz found great critical acclaim with his second feature, Welcome
to the Dollhouse (1995), a film about the cruelty of junior high
school, parents, adult figures, and suburban life. The film won awards
at Sundance, Berlin, and countless other festivals for its cruel
realism, bitter humor, and unflinching portrayal of adolescence.
His third feature effort, Happiness (1998), was a wildly edgy and
provocative film. The film revolves around a group of people who are
miserable in their conventional lifestyles and pursue happiness in
various forms of perverse sexuality. It featured a murderer, a rapist,
a pedophile, and a man who harasses others with sexually obscene phone
calls The film incited major controversy and was dropped by its
original distributor, only to be picked up by another company. One of
the particularly controversial aspects of the film was the element of
the child psychologist as a repressed pedophile. In the film, he
molests his son's friend at a sleep-over; but the character was
sympathetic and deftly presented. Once again, the film was lauded with
numerous awards and strong critical praise.
Solondz made it clear he was not softening up with his next effort,
Storytelling (2001), which was about the artistic process. The film is
divided into two halves, "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction." "Fiction" centers
on a character in a creative-writing class, and "Non- Fiction" on a
desperate filmmaker making a documentary about a depressed, listless,
unmotivated teenager. "Fiction" concerns how fictional stories can be
used to distort rather than illuminate reality, which is displayed via
the exploits of the protagonist, a college student in a creative
writing class. The film was in danger of being rated NC-17due to a
racially charged sex scene. Solondz's response to the threat of the
NC-17 was quite clever (and a bit tongue-in-cheek). Instead of trimming
the scene, he simply blocked the image of the copulation with a large
orange box. The film got an R rating. "Nonfiction" was loaded with
social commentary. Topics covered in this part included a listless
teenager and his overbearing family, homosexuality's current parallels
to the scarlet letter, drug use, gun control in the home, and one's
capability to murder.
Solondz's next film was Palindromes (2004), which was also
controversial, due to the fact that the protagonist was played by eight
people of differing size, race, and gender.
Solondz has established himself as a consistently engaging and unique
filmmaker, as opposed to just one more cookie-cutter conformist
director making his movies on the Hollywood assembly line. He is a real
writer and filmmaker, agent provocateur, and a force with which to be
reckoned.
in the film industry was when, as a young man, he worked as a messenger
for the Writers' Guild of America. During this time, he wrote several
screenplays.
Solondz's first color film with sync sound was the short "Schatt's Last
Shot" (1985). Solondz played a high schooler who wants to get into
Stanford, but cannot because his sadistic gym teacher fails him. He
also has no luck seducing the girl he desires. It was a student film,
and is still screened at NYU, where Solondz made it.
Solondz's first feature was Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989), a piece
about a writer (Solondz) writing a play and sending it to Samuel
Beckett.
Solondz found great critical acclaim with his second feature, Welcome
to the Dollhouse (1995), a film about the cruelty of junior high
school, parents, adult figures, and suburban life. The film won awards
at Sundance, Berlin, and countless other festivals for its cruel
realism, bitter humor, and unflinching portrayal of adolescence.
His third feature effort, Happiness (1998), was a wildly edgy and
provocative film. The film revolves around a group of people who are
miserable in their conventional lifestyles and pursue happiness in
various forms of perverse sexuality. It featured a murderer, a rapist,
a pedophile, and a man who harasses others with sexually obscene phone
calls The film incited major controversy and was dropped by its
original distributor, only to be picked up by another company. One of
the particularly controversial aspects of the film was the element of
the child psychologist as a repressed pedophile. In the film, he
molests his son's friend at a sleep-over; but the character was
sympathetic and deftly presented. Once again, the film was lauded with
numerous awards and strong critical praise.
Solondz made it clear he was not softening up with his next effort,
Storytelling (2001), which was about the artistic process. The film is
divided into two halves, "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction." "Fiction" centers
on a character in a creative-writing class, and "Non- Fiction" on a
desperate filmmaker making a documentary about a depressed, listless,
unmotivated teenager. "Fiction" concerns how fictional stories can be
used to distort rather than illuminate reality, which is displayed via
the exploits of the protagonist, a college student in a creative
writing class. The film was in danger of being rated NC-17due to a
racially charged sex scene. Solondz's response to the threat of the
NC-17 was quite clever (and a bit tongue-in-cheek). Instead of trimming
the scene, he simply blocked the image of the copulation with a large
orange box. The film got an R rating. "Nonfiction" was loaded with
social commentary. Topics covered in this part included a listless
teenager and his overbearing family, homosexuality's current parallels
to the scarlet letter, drug use, gun control in the home, and one's
capability to murder.
Solondz's next film was Palindromes (2004), which was also
controversial, due to the fact that the protagonist was played by eight
people of differing size, race, and gender.
Solondz has established himself as a consistently engaging and unique
filmmaker, as opposed to just one more cookie-cutter conformist
director making his movies on the Hollywood assembly line. He is a real
writer and filmmaker, agent provocateur, and a force with which to be
reckoned.