Louis CK is my favorite comedian right now. I think he's right up there with George Carlin and Richard Pryor, with the three of them switching places constantly for me. However, there is something about him that sets him distinctly apart from not only Carlin and Pryor, but from comedians and performers in general: His Auteur Film-Making.
His show Louie, in terms of film-making technique, is the best thing on television right now, far surpassing anything else, (yes, even The Walking Dead) and it is definitely worlds ahead of anything playing in theatres. Even though he's said he wouldn't ever even call himself a " movie director", the truth is that he's the only one doing anything worthwhile with the art of film.
In his show he displays a unique, experimental vision, and a loving appreciation for the art, using techniques of old directors to say new things about the world around us, our daily lives in modern American society. He also throws in some dirty humor, which is just great.
His cinematic style is very much like Godard and The French New Wave...
mixed with the surrealism of David Lynch...
and Woody Allen.
Those are the obvious influences, anyway. But even before his show, these three directors had an undeniable presence in his short films throughout the '90s, perhaps to a more obvious, exaggerated extent.
It's really interesting to see how all three of these influences have tended to show up in his work, and how the sizes of their respective influences fluctuate in Louis CK's filmography as he grows as an artist.
Godard and New Wave Influence:
Above is a scene from Godard's, "Breathless." which is lauded as a pioneer in the New Wave movement and a quintessential example of the genre. Sorry, I couldn't find this scene with subtitles, (YouTube got rid of all "official" clips for this movie) but if you can look past the fact that you don't understand a word, and let the scene just flow into you, the similarities between this and Louis CK's current artistic state are uncanny. The way the camera follows the two actors, and how the shot is framed as if it was improvised and handheld (because it is). Then, there's the jazzy music to soundtrack not only the scene and it's events, but the urbanity surrounding it. And it all surrounds an unbroken string of dialogue, realistically structured and portrayed. (Atleast, I think it was realistically structured. I don't remember the actual words spoken.)
It's very easy to see all of the aforementioned qualities in Louie. The show itself has been described by CK as, "... very vignette-y... very vérité." Characteristics that defined the French New Wave. The handheld camera and jazz music are as iconic to Louie as they are to the whole New Wave movement. To really see the similarities, check out this clip from Louie:
It's amazing isn't it? The scenes are set up almost identically. That was on accident, I didn't plan for the example to be that good. Interesting too, how the New Wave movement was meant to reveal truths about society in the '60s, and Louis CK uses the techniques of that movement to reveal harsh truths about society today.
It's very convenient as well that he takes up this style, because it serves MANY purposes that the show has benefited from. Initially, it was very convenient for monetary reasons. From the start, French New Wave was notable for how cheap it was. Only a camera or two was needed, natural lighting was used, they shot on location instead of on sets, and most films were improvised the whole way through, with no script ever being written. The nature of the style was very ideal for Louis CK, as FX initially gave him very little money. (Only $10,000 for the pilot, reportedly.) The only thing he's done differently for the most part is write out scripts (genius ones) but even then I understand that there's a decent amount of improvisation, probably to let the actors draw genuine, raw, spontaneous emotion.
But also, for the amount of truthfulness and honesty that is inherent in CK's standup, it seems only natural that his show should be in a style of film that is historically related to those two qualities. The rawness of the style makes his poignant perspective and statements all the more compelling. Had this been shot on a studio set, with 5 or 6 cameras, constant cutaways, cheesy mood music, and contrived, pretentious, unnatural writing, the entire idea would have been lost in the flashy sensationalism. But because he uses this simplistic approach, and because it's so cheap, there's VERY little risk on FX's part, and they let him do what he wants. There's no layer of executive B.S. to dilute his vision, so it feels real, rich, and unfiltered, making it perfectly relatable to genuine, fleshy, flawed humans.
Another thing sets Louie apart from other TV shows thanks to this style: The realistic behavior of the characters. French New Wave was about displaying truth, not only of life as an entity, but of human psychology. Likewise, almost everyone in Louie displays a very complex set of emotions, and they react to these feelings within them in a way that feels genuine. Being the observational comic that he is, Louis CK takes ideas, motives, and quirks from real life people and applies them to his characters. Everybody in the show is layered and three-dimensional, and it makes for very authentic programming. Even Louie himself is complex, and even an anti-hero, spending time with his daughters in one episode, smoking weed in another, giving money to a homeless man (then defending that choice) at one point, and sort of trying to rape his friend Pamela in one. But he almost never judges anyone in the show. I don't mean the character, I mean that in the show itself and how it's presented, nobody is inherently bad (or good, for that matter). But he does question the choices of people. It shows this very mature level of understanding that is very rare in not only television, but in almost any medium of art, at any level.
I wonder if he did, in fact, develop this style out of necessity or if it was always his vision to make it this way. I say this because his previous work was considerably different in it's approach.
David Lynch and Surrealist Influence:
Before Louis CK had his show Louie, he directed a series of short films in the 1990's. One of his best, and most well known, is a short called, "Ice Cream," that actually helped Louis CK land a job on Conan O' Brien's show. (I ask that you watch to atleast 4:25 to get a real feeling for the piece.)
It is a very stylized, surrealist film in many ways. The black and white photography with the '50s/'60s-sounding stock music creates a universe apart from our own, while somewhat mimicking the style of many movies from Classic Hollywood. But the actors behave in very awkward, unnatural ways, clashing with the comfort of the nostalgic aesthetic, making the whole thing feel... funny. The characters show very little emotion or interest in circumstances where they should be very engaged. Other times they burst out in a fit of energy, at seemingly random, unexpected moments. And still other times... They just do flat-out strange, inexplicable things. This weird, erratic behavior makes for some freaking funny stuff. Now compare what you've seen from "Ice Cream" to this scene from David Lynch's surrealist horror classic, "Eraserhead":
Many of the characteristics from "Ice Cream" and other films from CK's early work come from this movie. The strange, unpredictable behavior of the actors, black and white photography, and sound design (albeit in a different way) lend themselves here, not to comedy, but to famously disturbing, unsettling horror. With how similar these films are, it's easy to see that the line between horror and comedy, when using these techniques, is ridiculously fine - or even, paradoxically, blurred in some cases. It gives you this appreciation for how CK was able to take this conventions, - built specifically to make the viewer feel uneasy and creeped out - and turn them around for some hilarious, inventive comedy. It shows that he really does appreciate and understand Lynch's work, because he's able to bend Lynch's personal rules in such a way as to completely alter their purpose.
Personally, I think that this surreal style for Louis CK is alot more interesting. It's more fun to look at. I bet it's more fun to make too. The black and white, stock music, and more planned out cinematography is just... it FEELS better, y'know. It makes for a more unique, inventive experience.
Louis CK has actually publicly professed his love for David Lynch and Eraserhead, (Lynch actually appeared on the show in Season 3) and even manages to throw some of these surreal Lynchian elements into Louie from time to time. One scene that comes to mind is where Louie is in a subway, watching a young man play a beautifully emotional song on a violin. A little while into that scene, a dirty, old, heavy homeless man walks into the subway, strips almost nude, and proceeds to bathe himself, the cleansing of his grotesque, smelly body soundtracked by the beautiful violin. It's hilarious, and of course, it is much more funny to SEE than to read. Sadly, I couldn't find a clip of it, so hopefully next time you catch his show you might see it.
Woody Allen Influence
This influence is a little harder to pin down, because unlike Godard and Lynch, Allen never has taken the forefront of Louis CK's style, but instead has just been planted deep within there all along. It's like, if Louis CK's style is a sweater, Lynch and Godard contribute the cloth, but Allen is the stitching. There's this charismatic feeling to CK's work that no doubt is derived from a feeling from one of Allen's early films. I think that Allen's influence on CK is more on his writing, and is probably most prevalent in the underlying ideas of what's happening on camera. Check out this clip below, atleast for the first two minutes. Don't worry, it's in English this time.
This chemistry between the two characters, whether you want to call it "romantic" or not, is heavily borrowed in Louie, and Louis CK uses some similar aesthetic techniques to achieve that effect, although to see some of these scenes in action, it's hard to say where the dividing line is between Allen-influence and Godard-influence.
(The lady in these episodes even looks like the lady from Manhattan. Coincidence?)
I wish I could find clips so you could really see what I mean. His writing in these scenes, too, is very much like Woody Allen's. Lots of snappy, quirky back-and-forth between the characters, except unlike Woody Allen's characters, these characters don't have a trace of pretentiousness in them. It still feels very realistic. This warm, sentimental stuff is probably what Louie does best, as the mixture of styles just seems made for this sort of thing. It's hard to describe. The handheld, improv-y feeling is still there from Godard. But the shots are composed in a more romantic, Allen-y way, and the Jazz music would be present in either style.
But besides that, Louie looks at New York in a very romantic, admiring light, which is also very present in Allen's work, ESPECIALLY during romantic parts. While superficially the scenes are about the PEOPLE in them, the handheld, near-focus look gives the viewer a dreamy view of New York.
There's also a montage-y way that Allen likes to show off New York that I noticed Louis CK takes inspiration from as well.
Watch just the first 25 seconds of the second video to see what I mean. Also watch the rest of it if you want to be entertained! (Featuring, a young Amy Poehler!)
Final Thoughts
There really is a bit more that I have to say in regards to how Louis CK's film style with regards to his influences, but sadly I couldn't find photo or video examples for alot of what I had in mind. Some of this stuff is hard to show when your only resources are YouTube and Google Image Search. Anyhow, I feel like I got the gist of it. In all, I think he's one of the only geniuses in the world of film today, and I really hope that there could one day be a Major Motion Picture directed by him. His style is very refreshing in the modern wasteland that film has become. His comedy is refreshing in an era of meta-humor written by guys in their 20s. His genuine voice is refreshing in these modern times of widespread artificiality.
I have no doubt that as time goes on, he will be recognized as not only a very important comic, but a very important film director, one that was crucial to keeping the medium's integrity alive. But that can only happen if WE, the fans of good media, make it possible.
So go! Watch his show! Buy the DVD! Buy his short films! Write your local Hollywood mogul a letter DEMANDING that Louis CK direct a picture, whether Louis CK wants to or not! We want to see Louis CK in a dress ON THE BIG SCREEN! If you have any thoughts on this post, or something you want to say about Louis CK's filmography that I didn't, hit the comment section! Thanks for reading my ramblings!
*NOTE* IDK if I have any devoted readers yet, but on the off-chance that I DO, I'm sorry this post took SEVEN MONTHS to come out. I got caught up lots of school stuff, and my free time just disappeared. I'll try my hardest to write more often, and to keep improving as I write. To make up for it, I tried to be very careful about writing this one, and it actually took me much longer than any other post, with around four writing sessions. But it was lots of fun and made me remember how much I love this. So if you read this whole thing, I appreciate it like you wouldn't believe, and I hope that you keep reading my stuff. Thanks alot. - David
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