Session One The Hollywood Renaissance Dr. Richard Nowell Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture Masaryk University ¨16:10 – 17:40 ¨Screening: Easy Rider (1969) ¨ ¨17:40- 17:55 ¨Break ¨ ¨17:55 – 19:15 ¨The Hollywood Renaissance ¨ easy_rider.jpg ¨In what ways does Easy Rider exemplify the characteristics of the Renaissance films? ¨ ¨In what ways does Easy Rider depart from these characteristics? ¨ ¨How does Easy Rider compare to Bonnie & Clyde as an “exemplary” Renaissance film? ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ 1. 1. ¨ ¨The Hollywood Renaissance as a distinct chapter of American Cinema ¨ ¨The key characteristics of the Hollywood Renaissance ¨ ¨How the Hollywood Renaissance has been positioned within American cinema history ¨ ¨ easy_rider.jpg graduate.jpg bonnie_and_clyde.jpg taxi_driver_ver2.jpg mash.jpg last_picture_show_ver3.jpg chinatown.jpg godfather_part_ii.jpg american_graffiti_ver1.jpg close_encounters_of_the_third_kind.jpg ¨ ¨“New” Hollywood: late-1960s – mid-1990s ¨ ¨ Hollywood Renaissance: 1967 – 1976 ¨ ¨ Blockbuster Era: 1975 – 1993. ¨ ¨Global\Conglomerate Hollywood: mid-1990s – paramount-blue.png universal-1975.png 20090823000250!Screenshot_20th_Century_Fox_Logo_in_1975.jpg wccro3.jpg United_Artists_logo_1970s.jpg mgm-logo-kenny-jones-radio.jpg columbia_logo_1970s-sunburst.jpg ¨ ¨Golden Age from: 1967-1976 or 1967-1979 ¨ ¨1. Formally innovative Hollywood films ¨ ¨2. Thematically radical or progressive Hollywood films ¨ ¨3. Tonally downbeat – imbued w/ cynicism and ambivalence ¨ ¨Young directors “wrestled” power from studio management ¨ ¨Response to seismic industrial and social upheaval ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨In what ways do Easy Rider and Bonnie & Clyde exemplify the textual characteristics of the Renaissance films? ¨ ¨In what ways do the two films depart from these characteristics? ¨ ¨How does Easy Rider compare to Bonnie & Clyde as an exemplary “Renaissance “film? ¨ ¨ 1. 1. ¨ ¨ ¨In what sense has it been suggested that the Renaissance was symptomatic of the socio-political character – or the so-called Zeitgeist – of late-1960s America? ¨ ¨Oftentimes framed as reflecting socially unstable times: ¨ ¨Radicalism and anti-authoritarianism increase ¨ ¨Vietnam War condemned by liberals ¨ ¨Second Wave feminists marched for women’s rights ¨ ¨Activists called for civil rights for black Americans ¨ ¨Youth increasingly mistrustful of adult authority ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨In what ways can this account be seen as problematic? ¨Social conditions alone do not cause production trends ¨ ¨Industry gatekeepers shape production based on commercial potential; if it won’t sell it won’t be made or released ¨ ¨Hollywood Renaissance films were targeted to specific audiences; reliable theatergoers with expendable income ¨ ¨1. Middle-brow audiences attending imported Art Cinema ¨ ¨2. Youth sympathetic to romance of the counter-culture ¨ ¨ ¨What US social changes have been claimed to directly impact Hollywood’s operations, thereby supposedly giving rise to the Renaissance? ¨Suburbanization ¨ ¨Baby Boom ¨ ¨Television/other leisure pursuits ¨ ¨Failure of new film technologies ¨ ¨Failure to fully secure youth ¨ ¨Explains industry struggle NOT choice of movies released ¨ ¨These developments conditioned all of Hollywood output suburbs.jpg downtown.jpg post war tv.jpg ¨ ¨What major post-war industryial changes are said to have led to the Renaissance? ¨Post-war decline of theatrical market ¨ ¨Paramount Decrees end “vertical integration” and “block booking” ¨ ¨Divorcement/divestiture leads to industrial Re-organisation ¨ ¨Rise of outsourced production brings new people and a diversity of ideas into the Hollywood system ¨ ¨End of block booking: all films must be commercially viable ¨ ¨Explains the structures in which Hollywood Renaissance movies were made but not WHY they were made ¨ ¨The Hollywood Recession ¨ ¨Lavish historical epics and musicals lose money ¨ ¨Generates budgetary austerity and output limits ¨ ¨Explains appeal of lower cost films ... ¨ ¨... but NOT the Renaissance films specifically ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ sound_of_music_ver2.jpg hello_dolly_ver1.jpg tora_tora_tora_ver1.jpg doctor_zhivago.jpg ¨The Renaissance comprised two overlapping trends – ¨ Formally innovative films ¨ Counter-culture films ¨ ¨Speculative attempts to generate capital ¨ ¨Consistent, early commercial success inspires imitations ¨ ¨Short-lived based on commercial under- achievement ¨ ¨Evince the challenges of corporate subcultural targeting ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Abandonment of the Production Code enables adult content and themes in movies ¨ ¨This content allows youth market and liberals to be targeted ¨ ¨Imported youth-oriented Art Cinema performs quite well i_am_curious_yellow_poster_01.jpg blow up.jpg ¨Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate (both 1967) ¨ ¨Blockbuster hits thanks to American youth market ¨ ¨Framed in the press as thematically radical and formally innovative – exaggeratedly so The Graduate Poster Bonnie and Clyde Poster - Click to View Extra Large Image úConfirm profitability of thematically radical and formally innovative films. ú úGenerates a surge in production of similar films ú Easy Rider Poster - Click to View Extra Large Image two_thousand_and_one_a_space_odyssey.jpg mash.jpg ¨ ¨Most later youth-cult films flop ¨ ¨Campus press calls for boycotts on corporate exploitation ¨ ¨Near abandonment of youth-centred films ¨ woodstock_ver3.jpg strawberry_statement.jpg magic_garden_of_stanley_sweetheart.jpg taking_off_xlg.jpg conversation.jpg godfather_part_ii.jpg ¨ ¨Failure of youth-centered films sees supposed shift to youth-centered production ¨ ¨Management claims to abdicate creative control to filmmakers ¨ ¨Film school-educated, influenced by European Art cinema ¨ ¨Draws on Auteur Theory – visionary directors transcend capitalist structure to imprint personal vision across films ¨ ¨Also part of Art cinema marketing strategies!! ¨ http://quotationsbook.com/assets/shared/img/1689/408px-Francis_Ford_Coppola_2007.jpg http://28.media.tumblr.com/3CmCN1qfljov447gv55JBeqKo1_500.jpg conversation.jpg http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/images/directors/02/scorsese2.jpg http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Martin_Scorsese-1.jpg http://thisdistractedglobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/Mean%20Streets%20poster.jpg http://www.gothamjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/img/2009/01/sisters-poster.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vZjCznSifxQ/SQTYpRIkeiI/AAAAAAAAAoA/hKM8B96UUyQ/s400/Brian_DePalma_03.jpg http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/Brian_De_Palma_4.jpg George Lucas Picture http://www.achievement.org/achievers/luc0/photos/luc0-035a.gif American Graffiti Poster george-lucas.jpg The Last Picture Show Poster - Click to View Extra Large Image http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTc5MjcyMTg3NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMDg3ODU2._V1._SX450_SY340_.jp g http://manolomen.com/images/peter-bogdanovich-with-bandanna.jpg ¨ ¨The Graduate: Mike Nichols (b. 1931, Berlin); ¨ ¨Bonnie and Clyde: Arthur Penn (b. 1922); ¨ ¨Easy Rider: Dennis Hopper (b. 1936); ¨ ¨MASH: Robert Altman (b. 1925); ¨ ¨Chinatown: Roman Polanski (b. 1933, France). ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Movie Brats contributed few touchstone Renaissance films ¨ ¨Most touchstone films directed by older, non-US, filmmakers ¨ ¨A marketing sleight of hand ¨ ¨Masked conglomeration strengthening management’s control ¨ ¨Targeted liberals with democratization of Hollywood practice ¨ ¨Targeted youth with tales of generational conflict ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Overplays Aesthetic and thematic difference ¨ ¨Most Renaissance films made to established genre frameworks ¨ ¨The Renaissance homogenizes and erases output ¨ ¨The Renaissance films were marginal industrially ¨ ¨ - less than 1% of output ¨ –rarely attracted large audiences ¨ ¨Radical and/or innovative films were not confined to 1967–1976 ¨ ¨ ¨But production limits were designed to pressurize exhibitors! ¨ ¨Hollywood continued to make calculated blockbusters ¨ ¨Many Renaissance movies were high cost movies themselves ¨ towering_inferno.jpg godfather_part_ii.jpg exorcist_ver2.jpg ¨Reflected tastes of middle-class journalists and academics ¨ ¨[Not “popular” hits consumed by a mass audience] ¨ ¨Enabled interested parties to accumulate cultural capital ¨ ¨Enabled critics to participate in belated American new wave ¨ ¨Enables film to be discussed as part of prestigious social histories ¨ ¨These latter functions have endured to the present day ¨ ¨Was there a Hollywood Renaissance in the first place, or was it mainly a clever marketing strategy? ¨ ¨Have historians failed to interrogate the Renaissance because they prioritize change over continuity? ¨ ¨Are left-liberals overly protective of the idea of creative mavericks usurping power from businessmen that they sometimes end up masking the actual balance of power in the creative industries? ¨