To celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary in 2013, Dazed and Confused received the Star of Texas award from the Texas Film Hall of Fame.
Director Richard Linklater accepted the award after being introduced by Quentin Tarantino, who reiterated his appreciation of the film as his favorite of the 1990s.
The event featured a reunion of several cast members including Joey Lauren Adams, Wiley Wiggins, Christin Hinojosa, Nicky Katt, Mona Lee, Catherine Avril Morris, Anthony Rapp, Marissa Ribisi, Michelle Burke Thomas, and Mark Vandermeulen.
Inverse John Hughes
At the event, Linklater said that his original intent was to create an inverse John Hughes film: “The drama is so low-key in Dazed & Confused. I don’t remember teenage being that dramatic. I remember just trying to go with the flow, socialize, fit in and be cool. The stakes were really low. To get Aerosmith tickets or not? That’s a big thing. It was really rare when the star-crossed lovers from the opposite side of the tracks and the girl gets pregnant and there’s a car crash and somebody dies. That didn’t really happen much. But riding around and trying to look for something to do with the music cranked up, now that happened a lot!”
Director’s commentary, Dazed and Confused, Criterion Collection DVD.
