how much influence did this movie have on the indie film movement?
i've heard it did big things for indie cinema. i'm wondering if anyone can name some of those things.
share For one major thing, this was the first of these little indie films to get nominated for all four top major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. (It won Best Actor).
It also became a "crossover" hit. One of those films that they're not sure will even be seen much before it's been released, but then starts out on strong reviews and early word of mouth, and then (after opening first in just a few art houses in major cities) crosses over from art house theatres to mainstream multiplexes, and makes lots of money. Understand, this is fairly common now, but it was not before this film.
I think it just kind of "mainstreamed" the indie art film a bit.
And, of course, it was one of the first "gay cinema" films to cross over and even win an Oscar. That's why I did NOT consider "Philadelphia" and "Brokeback Mtn." as groundbreaking as some people thought. William Hurt won Best Actor in 1985 for playing gay, and this movie went up for Best Picture, at a time that that truly had never happened before.