In their rave reviews of Afterschool, J. Hoberman and Andrew O’Hehir both expressed delight with the scene where our alienated teenage anti-hero shows his “memorial film” for two classmates, revealing himself to be as fond of interminable, hamfisted Haneke imitation (or as Hoberman puts it, “truth”) as Afterschool’s own director. It was probably my favorite scene too, and not just for being the height of (seemingly unintentional) self-parody; it also reminded me of when Denholm Elliott’s failed arthouse director has to shoot a bar mitzvah in The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz (sadly out of print).
