by Larry Richman
October 4, 2006 1:29 PM

"Mean Creek" has been on cable a lot lately, and it's one of my favorite films of the past 10 years. There is one scene which is a subject of much debate. If you haven't seen it, this won't make a lot of sense, but it's not a spoiler either, so don't worry. If you have seen it, you'll know what the scene is. It has no dialogue and is quite long. I actually wrote an entire article about this scene. Basically what I wrote is that it is one of the longest scenes without dialogue of any "mainstream" film in recent memory.

By mainstream (which I normally use only for "non-indie" films, and this is certainly an indie) I mean a film that has been widely seen, shown on cable regularly, and is talked about in contemporary culture. Film classes actually study that scene. Get a clock and time it sometime. Even after some dialogue is spoken, there's another long period of silence. It is very difficult for actors to convey emotion with simple gestures or expressions. That goes for any actor, no matter what age. But especially for actors in their early to mid-teens, it is an amazing achievement. I have sat down and watched that film when it's been on cable recently just for that scene.

The power of that scene comes from not only the acting, but obviously the direction of Jacob Aaron Estes and the work of DP Sharone Meir and the editing of Madeleine Gavin. It's just amazing.