The middle of the 90s of the last century was marked by the appearance of several youth paintings. They were not just designed for a teenage audience, but they were a whole genre in cinema. Erotic subtext quickly found reflection in a critical assessment, but the audience took the picture, as they say, with a bang. “Party-goers from the supermarket”, “In pursuit of Amy”, “Everything is crazy about Mary” and, of course, “Don't threaten the southern central, drinking juice in your quarter” can be safely attributed to the number of bright representatives of the new genre. But nothing gained more love than American Pie.
History of creation
It is unlikely that Universal Pictures Studios imagined what would come of a seemingly simple scenario purchased from Adam Herz for $ 650,000 and handed over to debut directors by the Weitz brothers. However, the picture brought incredible success, which laid the foundation for the modern teenage tradition. In particular, the idea of graduating from a secondary school with an inherent graduation ball was particularly relevant. And as a result, an obligatory fact of the loss of virginity. Two important events in the life of each teenager harmoniously joined together, being reflected in many films to this day. Inspired by the dream, the main characters slowly but surely move towards the goal, falling into various comic situations. The film company, feeling success, was looking forward to a long sequel that spilled into several parts, and the actors of the American Pie woke up famous after the release of the tape.
Problems of young
So, in the center of a simple storytelling are four graduates of the school: Jim, Chris, Kevin and Paul. Before the ball, they make a bet, according to which each of them should lose his virginity. The problem and the main comic in the film is that they are inept in love affairs, and they are always unlucky. However, each of the four on this “starry" evening gets the desired result.
By the way, this is the same result for everyone: Chris is fascinated by vocalist Heather, Jim the flutist Michelle, Kevin slept with Vicki, who dumped him the next morning, Jim realized that he was used in sexual pleasures, and Finch spent the night with Steve's mother.
The audience liked such a different and critically evaluated finale, and the actors of the American Pie, like their characters, acquired something new in one night - world fame.
Adult problems
For greater naturalism, the creators used live shooting. The town of Long Beach in sunny California temporarily became a film set, and school episodes were filmed in the building of a real school district. In order for the picture to collect a good box office, the producers had to think about which scenes to leave in order to get an appropriate rating allowing teenage viewers. By the way, the carved scenes of “American Pie” were included in the full version published on DVD.
It turned out to be true and attracting novice directors and little-known stars. Actors of the film “American Pie” were selected from a variety of applicants. As a result, they fell in love with viewers not only of their youthful age, but also of a more mature generation, as statistics show.
Continuation
This can be expected from any box office Hollywood movie: the studios decide to continue, if the success of the first part is ensured. In this case, it was more than a success. So, with a budget of $ 11 million, the total world fees exceeded 235 million.
Profitable spin-offs were born with a similar plot and a close name, however, they served only as a poor attempt to collect cash, and did not have much success. But the sequels were successful: at the moment there are 8 parts. In the latter, under the symbolic name “Everything in the assembly”, the actors of the American Pie from the first part agreed to participate. By the way, she recouped the budget in similar proportions of her original predecessor.
“American Pie”: actors and roles
Jason Biggs embodied the image of the main character - a guy named Jim Levenshtein. He, like other actors, was previously unknown to the public. It is this hero who is looking for extremely unusual ways of sexual detente, and attempts at intimacy with girls often fail. Sports Chris Klein was ideally suited for the role of Chris Ostraiker. Brutal, assertive, he is loyal to the vocalist of the Heather school choir, and excessive straightforwardness repels the representatives of the opposite sex. Thomas Ian Nicholas already had the experience of filming, when he received an invitation to “Pie”. His hero - Kevin Myers is the initiator of the bet. Eddie Thomas, prone to theatrical productions, got the role of Paul Finch - this guy is confident in his male abilities, and his no less attractive old foe Stiefler becomes his competitor. Tara Reid, a frequent visitor to youth films of various genres, embodied the image of Vicki, the girl of Kevin. She is more and more disappointed in a friend, and after proximity runs away from him. Alison Hannigan is familiar to us from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her heroine Michel seems to many an uninteresting gray mouse. However, as soon as Jim begins to express sympathy for her, he quickly realizes that this is not so. Mena Suvari, known for the thriller Kissing Girls, played the naive chorus girl Heather. In general, this is a positive, sincere girl who managed to find a soul mate in Chris.
On the background
The team of close friends has become a kind of standard on-screen friendship, and their performers - idols of youth. Actors of American Pie, who are not part of the main cast, also contributed to the creation of a successful comedy, and their episodic roles were vivid and memorable.
The image of a typical school gouging Stifler became incredibly realistic for Sean William Scott. He often agrees to a similar role in which he feels confident. The actor himself has an impressive filmography, in which “Pie” was not the first work.
To dilute the images of adult characters, comedians with experience were recognized. So, the Canadian Eugene Levy during his career starred in many films of a similar (and not only) orientation. In the film, he plays father Jim, who recalls his youth and gives his son some tips. Jennifer Coolidge has incredible charisma - her transformation into Stifler’s mother, with whom one of the four’s friends has their first closeness, caused a pleasant audience resonance. The actress often plays in comedies.
Long love
The American Pie series can be called a successful franchise. Over a decade and a half of its existence, the number of fans has not diminished, and having become an example, it still inspires many studios still trying to do something similar. “American Pie”, actors and roles, the general atmosphere and themes of the first sex, as well as many funny episodes (including the cake that gave the name to the film) even today still have the power to overshadow almost any youth novelty.