If you watch only one Noah Buschel film, make it The Missing Person . Starring the late, great Michael Shannon as John Rosow, a private investigator on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles, this film is the Rosetta Stone for understanding Buschel’s aesthetic.
: Despite making the boxing drama Glass Chin , Buschel doesn't necessarily consider his favorites to be sports movies; he famously asked if On the Waterfront (his lifelong obsession) counts as a boxing movie since it features an ex-contender, even though no actual boxing occurs in it. noah buschel
Keywords: Noah Buschel, independent film, The Missing Person, Michael Shannon, Glass Chin, Sparrows Dance, American cinema, slow cinema. If you watch only one Noah Buschel film,
As a Director of Photography (DOP), Samul has been instrumental in creating the specific visual aesthetic associated with Buschel’s "aimless" and "drifting" cinematic seasons. Philosophical and Aesthetic Approach While biopics are usually formulaic, Buschel’s take was
Buschel broke onto the scene in the mid-2000s with Neal Cassady (2007), a biopic about the Beat Generation icon. While biopics are usually formulaic, Buschel’s take was fragmented and impressionistic. He wasn’t interested in the greatest hits of Cassady’s life; he was interested in the vibe . This set the tone for his career: Noah Buschel is less concerned with narrative propulsion than with atmospheric immersion.
: He often uses non-naturalistic lighting and unique framing to remind the audience they are watching a constructed performance.
Perhaps his most fully realized work as a director, this film stars Michael Shannon as a private detective hired to tail a man. The film subverts the noir genre. Instead of glamorous intrigue, we are presented with the tedium of surveillance. It is a film about loneliness, starring an actor (Shannon) who excels at playing men at war with themselves. It showcases Buschel’s trademark deadpan humor and his ability to find profundity in the mundane.