60s ended with the deaths of social icons, the start of the Vietnam War
New honesty was brought to film along with experience of personal film from the 60s
Film schools and understanding of film history gathered momentum and confidence
1967-1979: New American Cinema
Mockery films thought it was too late to salvage society, so they made fun of it
Duck Soup (1933) dir. Leo McCarey there is a grand entrance waiting for a leader, but he comes i from the wrong side, making the whole scene look ridiculous
Frank Tashlin believed society was fake, and manic, and immature
Artists and Models (1955) dir. Frank Tashlin his films used bright colors like a circus, mimicked the story of a Chaplin film
The films of the 70s were often about an upside down reality
A character went upside down as he flew to what could have been his death
Lines delivered w ere metaphorical for the themes the whole film encompasses
In a tense encounter, two actors copied each others delivery of lines, making it seem a big comedic while holding the tension
In a medical scene he has at least 10 actors all talking at the same time, and he mixes all the dialogue for a chaotic sound, while the tone in the room was still lighthearted
The Graduate (1967) dir. Mike Nichols was a film that everyone in the young generation could connect to
Scared but empty feeling of not knowing whether you were going to war
Not feeling as part of the generation before the, and lost in their lives
Used the lighting going on and off to give the scene pacing to avoid boring moment of just dialogue
The Last Movie (1971) dir. Dennis Hopper a fake film causes locals to go wild, they see a western being made in their town and when the crew leaves, they take the props and recreate the fake violence, but real
He accidentally records a conversation between two lovers, and becomes obsessed with the mystery on the tape
About getting lost in the fragments of other’s behavior that your lose you sanity and way of life
Scorsese was one of the most successful directors of the 70s
Mean Streets (1973) dir. Martin Scorsese is about the streets of New York, the idea was to make a film about sainthood in modern times and the character becomes obsessed with it
Shot documentary style, except boxing scenes, which were shot for chaos (wide lenses, fast cuts, extreme lighting
Put in all the details of poverty that films screened out, asked questions with no answer in his film to make the audience empathize with his protagonists
To show how people find themselves after being lost their whole lives, they find grace through the touch of someone they love
Black directors had to wait a long time for their breakout in directing, the only films shown were European, Hollywood, etc.
People were astonished when they saw third world films, because it was like “realizing your neighbor exists”
Cabaret (1972) dir. Bob Fosse used closeups and pan as people stand up to show the intensity of Nazi Germany
The Godfather (1972) (introduced in Episode 6) dir. Francis Ford Coppola shot like a Rembrandt painting, no extreme angles or colors, no high lighting, shallow focus which constrained actors, very dramatic and dark look to the whole frame
Contrasted the typical isolated 70s film, showed a web of relationships and how they all affected one another
Chinatown (1974) dir. Roman Polanski used sunlight in a dark moment to show that the corruption was ll encompassing
Filmed with wide angle lenses, bright lighting, while the movie was about much darker things