This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Englert Theatre’s nonprofit status. Coincidentally, it also marks the 20th anniversary of the 2004 independent film Napoleon Dynamite.
A commemorative screening of the movie was held at the Englert last month, Nov. 7, and also included a conversation with cast members Jon Heder (Napoleon), Efren Ramirez (Pedro) and Jon Gries (Uncle Rico). It was anything but a simple exchange of words. Filled with scene recreations, musical performances, and the use of a very real-time machine, it was a beautiful and comedic revisiting of a film that has clearly touched many hearts.
“What you see is what you get,” said Heder, in anticipation of audience questions after the screening. But what exactly are we seeing and getting 20 years after the release of Napoleon Dynamite?
Filmed in Preston, Idaho, every quaint location brims with subdued charm. Front porches are spaces on which to reminisce, engage in awkward conversation and fling a piece of steak at a teenager’s face. Production Designer Cory Lorenzen notes that he purchased most set decorations in the town itself, so the film’s purposefully outdated interiors still feel lively and atmospheric.
The film has a special affinity for couches; whether they’re hilariously too small for the long-legged Dynamite brothers or the only seating offered in a principal’s office, they stand as opportunities to view the mundane as ornamental. It was only apt then that the actors sat not on chairs but on a cozy couch positioned in the center of the stage.
And that wasn’t all the stage had to offer. In the spirit of looking back, there was also a piñata, a tetherball set, footballs, a bowl of tots and, of course, a time machine. Laser-light graphics were cast in the background to accompany the colorful blinking lights of the contraption, which would send us back in time to the 2000s.
As understated as the plot is, the film offers a quiet meditation on striking the balance between overindulgent nostalgia and sentimental reverence for the passing of time — even if it happens a bit slower in small towns. Uncle Rico wistfully remembers his high school football days in the early ’80s, even going as far as to purchase a “time machine” online to go back and make some changes. It’s played for laughs, but it’s a feeling some people in the audience, now 20 years older, may find themselves relating to.
Napoleon Dynamite does not pretend that high school is a perfect place for everyone — sometimes you get yanked by the neck or shoved against a locker — but the film reminds us of the blips of magic to be found in those confusing adolescent years we can’t ever get back.
One indelible shot occurs when Napoleon, Pedro and Deb (Tina Majorino) are all at the dance. Having been abandoned by his date, Napoleon stands with his friends away from the dance floor. The camera positions itself behind them, their backs in view as they gaze at the precipice of their youth. It’s a gorgeous and poignant moment. But, the teenagers don’t confine themselves to the sidelines, and Napoleon and Deb travel to the dance floor, “Forever Young” playing in the background. Despite being outcasts, they deserve to have their own special attachments to high school.
The energy of the audience perfectly matched the occasion. With so many dressed up and engaging with the screen, you would think we were watching a live cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. People cheered when the pocket tots were revealed. Giggles began even before famous lines were uttered onscreen, and folks clapped when Napoleon performed his iconic dance.
One audience member across from me even performed the dance from her seat, her hands in sync with the scene. Throughout the screening, her infectious laugh was among the loudest, so I spoke to her after the show, curious about her relationship with the film. She shared she had seen the film upon its release in theaters when she was 23, the age I am now, and that it was nice to be able to revisit it and have a joyous time, particularly following the results of the election. History finds a way to repeat itself in ways big and small.
In line with the theme of time, it was wonderful to see how easily the actors fell back into their characters. Heder often answered audience questions in character; when someone asked how he learned to play tetherball, he scoffed in Napoleon’s cocky, breathy voice, “It’s just a natural talent.” Ramirez effortlessly found ways to weave his quotes from the film into the conversation and even brought out cupcakes for those celebrating a birthday in the audience, since Pedro famously “builds” a cake for his crush in the film. Gries also showed off his guitar-playing skills, bookending the beginning and end of such a great night.
Writer and director Jared Hess has mentioned how inspired he was by his little brothers to write this script, and Napoleon Dynamite is an ode to boyish youth. This is ultimately what made it so special to see the many families in the crowd. One mother stood up to share her own story, shouting out her young son sitting beside her, with whom she was pregnant when she first saw the movie, and who is now old enough to pursue his own career in film. In the same way the camera lovingly revisits the cast of characters in the final scene of Napoleon Dynamite, so too was there a palpable affection for adolescence, family and art in the audience that cool November night.
