THE AMERICAN NEW WAVE OF CINEMA

             

          In the late 1960’s, the film industry was indecline. Television was a huge staple in the home and people would rather stayhome then go to the cinema. Box office stars of the 40’s and 50’s could barelysell tickets. Take Marlon Brando for instance, he was one of the biggestperformers of the 50’s. He had box office gold written all over his face.Winning an Academy Award in 1954 for his powerful performance as ex-boxerturned “bum” Terry Malloy in Elia Kazan’s “On The Waterfront”.  His method acting was intoxicating towatch and people flocked to see his film. Unfortunately that power didn’t last;by the late 1960’s Brando was labeled as box office poison. That is until a newfilmmaker by the name of Francis Ford Coppola thought he would be perfect inthe lead role for the 1972 film “The Godfather”.

The same can be said for other aspects of the filmindustry. We all know of the great epic films of the 50’s to the early 60’s. Filmslike “Ben-Hur”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, and “The Fall of the Roman Empire” havedazzled audiences since they premiered. But after only a brief peak period, epicfilms could not fill seats. It wasn’t until the late 70’s when epic films wouldreach the same fame as they did in the earlier days with such films as “TheDeer Hunter” and “Apocalypse Now”.

I would say the film “revolution” as I like to callit began in 1969 with the release of the films “Midnight Cowboy” and “EasyRider”. Both films were original, gritty, and very low budget but impactedaudiences more than the high budget films of the past. Both films in my opinionushered in adult themes previously unseen in Hollywood; themes such as the darkside of the American dream and disturbing subject matter.  This was the beginning of the younginnovative filmmakers that will continue to dominate American cinema for thenext 40 years.

I know of many people that consider 70’s cinema asthe trashy age of cinema. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Cinemabefore then was very glossy Hollywood style entertainment. Even most seriousfilms  had a high budget glossyHollywood quality to them. The 70’s ushered in a more realistic feel to thefilms, which was something fresh and new.

This new generation of filmmakers were filmschool-educated, counterculture-bred, and young. This group, dubbed the “NewHollywood” by the press, changed the business from the producer-drivenHollywood system of the past, injected movies with a jolt of freshness, energy,sexuality, and a passion for the art of film itself.

I found out through wikipedia that Todd Berliner has written about how 70’s filmsdeviate from classical narrative norms more than Hollywood films from othereras. Their narrative and stylistic devices threaten to derail an otherwisestraightforward narration. Berliner argues that five principles govern thenarrative strategies characteristic of Hollywood films of the 1970s:

1. Seventies films show a perverse tendency tointegrate, in narratively incidental ways, story information and stylistic devicescounterproductive to the films’ overt and essential narrative purposes.

2. Hollywood filmmakers of the 1970s often situatetheir filmmaking practices in between those of classical Hollywood and those ofEuropean and Asian art cinema.

3. Seventies films prompt spectator responses moreuncertain and discomforting than those of more typical Hollywood cinema.

4. Seventies narratives place an uncommon emphasison irresolution, particularly at the moment of climax or in epilogues, whenmore conventional Hollywood movies busy themselves tying up loose ends.

5. Seventies cinema hinders narrative linearity andmomentum and scuttles its potential to generate suspense and excitement.

I find his observations very interesting to readbecause it simply lays out the answers for why the films of that time were soground breaking and good.

I made a list of filmmakers that I think bestrepresent the group that brought this new style to us. It was really hard tonarrow it down but I got my list down to at least five. They are Francis FordCoppola (The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now), Martin Scorsese(Mean Streets, Taxi Driver), William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The FrenchConnection), George Lucas (THX-1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars), and DennisHopper (Easy Rider).  I actuallyfelt bad when I made this list because I left many filmmakers out that I feelhad an equal influence on film at the time. With many of these films came ahuge group of new actors that we consider legends today, including Robert Deniro,Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, and manymore.

This new Hollywood of the 70’s was anything buttrashy. To me this was the best decade in the history of film. This era is whatsaved the film industry and brought money back into the cinemas.

I’m going to leave you with one last thought and aquestion. Today we are witnessing another decline in Hollywood because of theretiring or dying off of the innovators of the 70’s. Other than the stillactive filmmakers that I have previously talked about and a few newerfilmmakers, everything else is pretty much junk. So let me ask you this: do youthink we are on the verge of another film “revolution”? I think so.