The Skeptical Eye
Notes on the Cinema of the 70s, by Jürgen Müller & Jörn Hetebrügge. Excerpt from the book 'Movies of the 70s', by Jürgen Müller
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Such was the situation as the 60s drew to a close; until a few small movies, most of them produced independently, turned out to be surprise hits - simply by encapsulating the rebellious spirit of the age. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967), for example, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway blaze an anarchic trail through the mid-West, each bank heist and shootout a token of their mutual love and a gesture of defiant revolt. In Easy Rider (1969), Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper transverse the vastness of America, ostensibly to sell drugs, but in fact quite simply for the hell of it - to be on the road, to be free. These new heroes were not just excitingly beautiful and cool; they also embodied a truth irreconcilable with the truth of their elders. And this is what the young wanted to see at the movies: actors who gave a face to their yearnings. These films gave a decisive impulse to the New Hollywood. From now on, the studios would give young filmmakers a chance. And they knew how to use it; with Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin, Paul Schrader, and Martin Scorsese, the 70s produced a generation of "child prodigies" who defined a new kind of Hollywood cinema. These young movie-maniacs helped the American film industry to make an unexpected and lasting commercial comeback. For their films included some of the biggest box-office hits of the decade - The Godfather (1972), The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Star Wars (1977).
Naturally, one has to be careful when comparing the Wunderkinder with European auteurs in the tradition of the Nouvelle Vague, but the influence of the latter on the New Hollywood is readily apparent. In the 70s, American directors enjoyed a stronger position than any of their predecessors since the days of Griffith - and this in a film industry characterized by specialization. The decade marked a highpoint of directorial independence. Having begun with the death of the old Dream Factory, it ended with the invention of the blockbuster: an "event-movie" swaddled in a tailor-made marketing strategy, with which today's Hollywood continues to rule the commercial cinema practically worldwide.
The Comeback of the Classics
Following the lead of the French auteurs, young American cineastes discovered the great classics of US cinema. For not a few of these new directors, the older movies were their declared models, and they paid tribute to them in their own films. Peter Bogdanovich began his career as a film journalist, interviewing Hollywood legends such as Orson Welles and John Ford. When he himself took up directing, most of his films were homages to the Hollywood movies of the past.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Such was the situation as the 60s drew to a close; until a few small movies, most of them produced independently, turned out to be surprise hits - simply by encapsulating the rebellious spirit of the age. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967), for example, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway blaze an anarchic trail through the mid-West, each bank heist and shootout a token of their mutual love and a gesture of defiant revolt. In Easy Rider (1969), Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper transverse the vastness of America, ostensibly to sell drugs, but in fact quite simply for the hell of it - to be on the road, to be free. These new heroes were not just excitingly beautiful and cool; they also embodied a truth irreconcilable with the truth of their elders. And this is what the young wanted to see at the movies: actors who gave a face to their yearnings. These films gave a decisive impulse to the New Hollywood. From now on, the studios would give young filmmakers a chance. And they knew how to use it; with Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin, Paul Schrader, and Martin Scorsese, the 70s produced a generation of "child prodigies" who defined a new kind of Hollywood cinema. These young movie-maniacs helped the American film industry to make an unexpected and lasting commercial comeback. For their films included some of the biggest box-office hits of the decade - The Godfather (1972), The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Star Wars (1977).
Naturally, one has to be careful when comparing the Wunderkinder with European auteurs in the tradition of the Nouvelle Vague, but the influence of the latter on the New Hollywood is readily apparent. In the 70s, American directors enjoyed a stronger position than any of their predecessors since the days of Griffith - and this in a film industry characterized by specialization. The decade marked a highpoint of directorial independence. Having begun with the death of the old Dream Factory, it ended with the invention of the blockbuster: an "event-movie" swaddled in a tailor-made marketing strategy, with which today's Hollywood continues to rule the commercial cinema practically worldwide.
The Comeback of the Classics
Following the lead of the French auteurs, young American cineastes discovered the great classics of US cinema. For not a few of these new directors, the older movies were their declared models, and they paid tribute to them in their own films. Peter Bogdanovich began his career as a film journalist, interviewing Hollywood legends such as Orson Welles and John Ford. When he himself took up directing, most of his films were homages to the Hollywood movies of the past.
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Movies of the 70s
Flexicover, 19.6 x 24.9 cm (7.7 x 9.8 in.), 736 pages
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The birth of the blockbuster: The prodigies of the 1970s revolutionize cinema
Stills from 'A Clockwork Orange', UK 1971