Rewinding and Watching Tape

Second Viewings and Perspective

It’s amazing what you can find on streaming services when you’re coping with winter doldrums. I found Tape a few nights back while clicking around for a bit. I remembered seeing it around ’05 and liking it. I figured it was worth a second viewing. Tape is a reminder that indie movies have as profound an impact as any Hollywood blockbuster, and rewatching a movie can help with our perspective.

Richard Linklater’s Tape is an adaptation of Stephen Belber’s play. Making the the transition from stage to screen often results in major changes involving multiple sets, larger casts, and other Hollywood ‘fixes,’ but Linklater decided embrace the stage play dynamic and confine the entire action of the movie to a hotel room. This hotel room is the perfect set for the three actor cast. Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman deliver outstanding performances under Linklater’s direction. Tape premiered in 2001, a year that brought us Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Training Day (an Ethan Hawke movie that made a little more of a splash upon release). Tape didn’t have the budget, sets, and special effects of these three, but it does deliver one hell of a message that is as powerful as any of those Hollywood blockbusters.

Tape begins innocently enough with a couple of old high school acquaintances reuniting after ten years time and distance. The audience is occupied with exposition concerning the hows and whys people remain friends over the years until the major conflict is revealed. Linklater’s direction stays true to the feel of a stage play but does take advantage of some cinematic techniques to reveal both conflict and message. Linklater’s creative use of camera angles may seem a bit odd at times but they do add to the overall feel of the movie. The director and actors present us with a message addressing issues of sexual assault, memory, and culpability.

There is a particular long view associated with rewatching a movie after a considerable length of time. I think of what I took away from Tape twenty years ago and what I took away few nights back with a couple decades of hard earned life experience. It reminded me of where I was, how far I’ve come, and where I am today. We grow and develop as individuals over time, and returning to certain works of art throughout our lives can develop our perspective of self and the world around us.