El Duderino, If You're Not Into the Whole Brevity Thing

If you've seen The Big Lebowski more than once, you've probably quoted it several thousand times. While the Coen Brother's have had a mainstream critically acclaimed hit in Fargo and had even greater popular success with O Brother! Where Art Thou? and its old-timey\roots soundtrack, the film that has found the largest following (bordering on religious for some) is the oddball extravaganza character study that follows the misadventures of The Dude. The following has grown large enough to justify an annual festival devoted to the movie. Started in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2002, Lebowski Fest was founded as a bowling\movie event. The idea being to simply get fans together to watch the film, quote the movie among others who will appreciate the humor, and bowl. What it has evolved into is nothing less than a phenomenon, and perhaps as large as the beginning of a philosophical\spiritual revival based on The Dude's “strikes and gutters,” take-life-as-it-comes attitude, and a kick-ass cultural event to boot.

A Natural, Zesty Enterprise

In Louisville it has become a four-day event with academic roundtable discussions, an art show, and multiple music events, and a cultural institution that the city has embraced. When the fantastic new outdoor amphitheater at Louisville's Waterfront Park was opened it was Lebowski Fest and the headlining My Morning Jacket that was there to open it and show off the new facilities. My Morning Jacket at the time were just on the rise with their first major record, It Still Moves, and the town had come to embrace them as an institution as well, and their performance, aside from being a thrilling experience, was communal bonding on a nearly spiritual level. Even though The Big Lebowski was set in LA, it was a defining moment in Louisville cultural history, a moment at which we could look around and say to each other “yes, this is what we are about and what we want to show off to the world.” Quirky and laid-back, this is Louisville and this is The Big Lebowski, so it's a perfect, if unexpected, fit.

Thank You, Donny.

In the respect that it has become a love-fest for Louisville culture, it is significant that Lebowski Fest continues to embrace local artists. Now that big headlining acts have played the festival (Jon Spencer's Heavy Trash is playing this year) it would easy for the organizers to drop the smaller local groups from the lineup, but they don't. If anything, the local bands have only taken on a greater role in the festival as a new annual tradition is the live broadcast featuring those local bands playing the music from the movie's soundtrack on Louisville's WFPK (listen here). Ultra Pulverize, a band I recently reviewed and interviewed here at iHigh, will play “Puttin' on the Ritz.” Lucky Pineapple will perform “I Am the Walrus” (not actually on the soundtrack but referenced in one of the movie's hundreds of quotable lines). “Hotel California” sung in Spanish (ala The Gypsy Kings' version) is a fan favorite, as is the song from the opening sequence of The Big Lebowski, “Tumblin Tubleweeds.” And just as the turnout for the Fest's main events continues to grow, the crowd that shows up at WFPK for that show has been filling the studio.

Part of the Lebowski Fest West poster. The posters from the events have become collectors items.

Lebowski Fest probably won't be around for decades, the crowds may begin to dwindle as the movie becomes more obscure amongst young people (and moves deeper into cult following territory) and the organizers may eventually grow weary of putting it together. Its hard to believe, but the number of quotes that one movie can provide is finite and eventually the enthusiasts may get tired of repeating the same lines over and over. Then again, the bums haven't lost quite yet. It could go on forever: Lebowski Fest could continue for years to come, introducing the film and its quotables to new generations of Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, creating a never-ending stream of enthusiasts to whom the torch could be passed. I guess thats the way the whole durned human comedy keeps perpetuating itself. What we can be sure of is that it is going to be happening this weekend (September 28-October 1) and it will probably be back next year. Beyond that, well, the Dude abides, man.

More Lebowski Fest:
- Official Lebowski Fest Site
- Listen to the Live Lunch Lebowski Fest Special
- Listen to a radio interview with the Lebowski Fest creators