DramaYear1983Duration1h 33mIMDb6.7

Smithereens

DramaMusic

A talent-challenged girl tries to promote herself to stardom in New York's waning punk music world.

Trailer

Cast

Susan Seidelman

Director

Susan Berman

Wren

Brad Rijn

Paul

Richard Hell

Eric

Nada Despotovich

Cecile

RJ

Roger Jett

Billy (Eric's Roommate)

KS

Kitty Summerall

Eric's Wife

JR

Joni Ruth White

Landlady

DO

D.J. O'Neill

Ed

JR

Joel Rooks

Xerox Boss

PS

Pamela Speed

Terry

TC

Tom Cherwin

Mike

ES

Edie Schecter

Christine

KR

Katherine Riley

1st Hooker

Amos Poe

Hustler in Bar

AM

Ada McSpade

Rasta

Cookie Mueller

Horror Movie Sequence

Ed French

Horror Movie Sequence

Alan Woolf

Pimp

Susan Seidelman

Writer

Ron Nyswaner

Writer

PA

Peter Askin

Writer

Comments

10 Comments

BoybaddMay 29, 2023

source: Smithereens

Lenda LetlakaNov 18, 2022

adzyimzNov 16, 2022

Smithereens

Fatima CoulibalyNov 16, 2022

This is a cult classic no wave New York slice of life kinda film. If you like early Jarmusch you'll did this. Siedleman directs this no-budget flick between the excellent Decline of Western Civilization punk documentary and just before the mainstream Desperately Seeking Susan. Wren is proto-"Susan", if you want a glimpse of the world the Madonna character came from you'll get a good idea here. If you want a look at the run down abandoned New York City of the early 80's you'll get a good idea here.

Tima MNov 16, 2022

"Smithereens" is the kind of worthless flick which just hangs out among the cable channels taking up space like a cheesy dime novel in the public library. A worthless bit of tripe and first effort for mediocre director Seidelman, the film is fraught with bad acting, bad sound, bad camera work, and poor quality in all aspects of the film. Many better films never make it to market and why junk flicks like this one do and never seem to go away is one of life's great mysteries. (D-)

TIMELESS NOELNov 16, 2022

Susan Berman plays young woman named Wren who hangs out in New York City's punk underground, but who is unable to translate her interest in the burgeoning music scene into a lucrative form of work. Director Susan Seidelman, who also conceived the original story with co-screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, understands this gritty milieu exceptionally well, and the film's low-end budget works for her scenario. Still, "Smithereens" isn't an edgy film, nor a particularly dangerous one. It gives us a rather inept heroine who's locked in a hopeless situation, with no avenues available for a personal or professional redemption. As a result, the finale represents a dead-end rather than the thoughtful or provoking portrait Seidelman clearly intended this to be. ** from ****

Kekeli19Nov 16, 2022

We know people like this: rootless, aimless, self-absorbed, and using. This is a realistic portrait of such a young woman who, when everything smashes to "smithereens," may or may not have an epiphany, in an ending reminiscent of the last frame in 400 Blows. Great directorial debut.

IKGHAMNov 16, 2022

I watched this film probably about 2 years ago at some very early hour of the morning. The Smithereens was one of those films which was strangely compelling in an empty sort of way, there is this incredibly overpowering early 80's economically, socially and artistically bleak skew on everything. This feeling alone makes the film worth watching, and the completely disconnected and irrelevant life of the main character evokes strange emotions of sympathy and intense loneliness. I can't tell you much about the story-line other than it is following the life of a young woman who is a bit of a miscreant and is getting nowhere incredibly fast. Desolation, vacuity and depression at its best!

Aliou-1erNov 16, 2022

i quite disagree with "dehlia"'s comment, this movie is anything but dull. It is an excellent film that does seemingly document the early new york style of punk/new wave rock and it's main character Wren who is as mentioned on a road to nowhere. The film comes off as a really excellent student feature, and it was the first film by the director of Desperately Seeking Susan and She -Devil. You can definitely see remnants of the Wren character in the character Madonna plays in "susan" and the film doesn't have a big sappy ending which is what makes it so interesting, it starts off like a comedy and then reveals itself as a more serious drama. It reminded me a great deal of the films of the French New Wave. Definitely worth seeing.

Muhannad almisuratiNov 16, 2022

There's something about black and white checkered miniskirts in 1982 that sums up an entire era. "Smithereens" documents a brief history of an archetype that many are familiar with: the Hip Urban Street Punk on a Path to Nowhere. What makes this film superb is that it treats the subject with a frank honesty rarely seen in such a genre. No happy endings, convoluted plot points or moral judgments are imposed upon Wren as she bumbles about New York trying to make her way. She is neither likable nor despicable. Belonging to no demographic, she creates her own. She has vague desires, but no goals. And as such an aimless character, the film's closing shot is quite perfect. "Smithereens" is an engaging, refreshingly stark 'documentary' that does not gloss over its themes with the glitz and glitter otherwise prevalent in the early 80's. It successfully encapsulates a time and a lifestyle rarely portrayed correctly, except maybe in "Sid & Nancy".

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