The screening was followed by a discussion about the film with its director Rob Reiner, whose other credits include the DGA Award-nominated features Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally..., and A Few Good Men, and DGA Director-Member Jake Kasdan.
The “Under the Influence” series features seminal films from the past, followed by a post-screening dialogue between the film’s director and an independent filmmaker who has been influenced by that work. Kasdan, whose credits include Orange County, The TV Set, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, is only one of many who can rightfully claim to have been influenced by Reiner’s now classic comedy that helped coin the term “mockumentary.”
Reiner’s feature directorial debut, This Is Spinal Tap chronicles the ill-fated comeback tour of “one of England’s loudest bands.” Reiner also stars in the film as Marti DeBergi, a filmmaker embedded with the band on tour.
Now a bona fide cult phenomenon, This Is Spinal Tap is celebrating its 25th anniversary and in 2002, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
