The Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and Early 1970s - Essay Example

The Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and Early 1970s Introduction The decade of the 1960s and into the early 1970s marked a period of turbulence and change in the American socio-political landscape. Among the events giving way to this landscape were the civil rights movements, the hippy culture, radicalism among students, the new left, feminism, the gay rights’ movements, the anti-Vietnam war movements, the Kennedy assassination, the Watergate scandal, the US withdrawal from Vietnam and the oil crisis among other events (King 2002, p. 14). The period of the 1960s and early 1970s was also the Cold War era and many Americans feared a nuclear attack (Neve 1995, p. 221). Arguably these events were quite dramatic and imposed on American culture in a very short period of time. This paper attempts to demonstrate how these events were depicted in Hollywood cinema and contributed to what is commonly referred to as the Hollywood Renaissance. I. The Hollywood Renaissance One of the most striking features of the Hollywood Renaissance was Hollywood’s departure from an attempt to idealize American life and culture. Instead, a majority of the films produced during the era of the 1960s and 1970s appealed to America’s conscience and adapted a social expression. The arts in general gave voice to the socio-political underpinnings of the times and attempted to contribute to change. Man (1994) observed that Hollywood cinema depicted “common themes” that: ...included the breakdown of traditional values, socio-political oppression, the psychology of sex and violence, moral ambiguity, alienation, solipsism, paranoia, and disillusionment (p. 1). During the 1960s and the early 1970s, filmmakers had greater creative freedom in that the studio system faded out and filmmakers had the ability to be more critical of social issues and could be more innovative (Ryan and Kellner 1988, p. 6). The Production Code was also eliminated during this period and a rating system much like the current system was started. As a result, filmmakers were able to take on topics and issues that were not previously permitted (Ryan and Kellner 1988, p. 6). Kramer (2005) identified three common themes that characterize the films attributed to the Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and the early 1970s. First, the films of this period were described as a “large number of challenging films” (Kramer 2005, p. 2). Secondly, a majority of the most successful films were produced by a select number of young film directors many of which had graduated from film schools such as Francis Ford Coppola who had graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles. Finally, the “intense formal and thematic innovation” that marked the films of the 1960s and early 1970s ended with the production of block-bluster films such as Steven Spielberg’s 1975 Jaws and George Lucas’ Star Wars of 1977 (Kramer 2005, p. 2). Nystrom (2009) explained that this new class of directors and producers began to perceive its audience as youthful and intellectual (p. 26). This was the main factor that influenced the culture depicted in film production during the 1960s and the early 1970s. The prevailing view was that the audience was such that it was no longer enough to simply entertain. This new audience was open to the examination of ideas and issues. Michael Laughlin, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) reportedly said that: Our generation has gone beyond mere entertainment. We are too well educated, too intelligent to be just entertained (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). Buck Henry screenwriter for The Graduate made a similar observation. Henry noted that during the era of the Hollywood Renaissance: Heroes can now be intellectual, which they never were in American films. Perhaps it’s because, until recently, the audience was so profoundly anti-intellectual itself. But the younger generation identifies with the melodrama of ideas (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). Paul Williams, director of Out of it (1969) and The Revolutionary (1970) linked the Hollywood Renaissance to more intellectual audiences and the new genre of film directors and producers. Williams observed that the “film audience has grown more educated” as have “the studio people” to such an extent that “directors don’t have to deal with aborigines any more” (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). This perception of a more sophisticated audience was obviously borne out of the radicalism prevailing in American culture during much of the 1960s and in the early 1970s. The civil rights movements, the anti-war protests, feminism and the American consciousness during that period indicated that young America was no longer pursuing idealism in terms of the American Dream, but were challenging the underlying political culture that stifled the American Dream. This paper now turns attention to the 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop with a view to determining how this perception of the new audience in light of the turbulence and change during the 1960s and the early 1970s were reflected in the films of that period. II. Two-Lane Blacktop A. Synopsis Two-Lane Blacktop is set in 1971 (Mendik 2002, p. 23). The two main protagonists are two aimless young men identified only as the Driver and the Mechanic. The two young men are conducting hot-rod racing as a means of earning money as they travel across the US. The purpose of this trip is not altogether clear. As they travel across the US they meet a female referred to only as the Girl. Both the Driver and the Mechanic establish transitory relationships with the Girl (Two-Lane Blacktop 1971). A majority of the film is about the two young men’s race across the US with another man referred to only as the GTO. The race is organized following a little confrontation between the GTO and the Driver and the Mechanic at a fuel station. Although the GTO attempts to portray himself as a purposeful man, as the film progresses it is soon revealed that the GTO is no more purposeful than the Driver and the Mechanic (Two-Lane Blacktop 1971). Throughout the course of the film, the GTO’s relationship with the Driver and the Mechanic changes from hostile and competitive to more of a father figure. The film depicts a series of subtle bonding scenes between the three men at various locations including diners, gas stations and in their respective vehicles. At times the GTO tries to establish a relationship with the Girl but to no avail. Eventually the film comes to an end without really reaching a conclusion as it ends with an on-going race on an underused landing strip at an airport (Two-Lane Blacktop 1971). B. Analysis Mills (2006) observed that Two-Lane Blacktop’s director Monte Hellman, “was inspired by French New Wave films” (p. 144). Badley et al 2006) explained that the films produced in France from 1958 and 1964 by a number of young directors gave way to the term the French New Wave. These films were produced by filmmakers who had entered the industry from film school rather than those who had worked themselves up in the film industry. The new genre of filmmakers wanted to change the film industry and did so by producing “a stunning array of unconventional stories told in bold new styles” (Badley et al 2006, p. 41). A majority of these films targeted the young audience and as a result focused on issues prevalent at the time and this included sex themes with an emphasis on “seduction and betrayal” (Badley et al 2006, p. 41). Many of these films were made on a relatively small budget and depicted actors without the traditional cosmetic touch-ups and were filmed with “hand-held cameras” in many instances (Badley et al 2006, p. 41). Dimare (2011) explains that the French New Wave genre featured filming techniques that involved: Long and continuous takes, jump cuts, natural lighting, improvised dialogue and/or plot and direct sound recording (p. 958). The most common themes in French New Wave films were dramatic and typically centered on human relations and crises. Characters were emphasized in terms of the loner (alienation), the antagonist, the protagonist, and “antiauthoritarian and marginalized figures” (Dimare 20100, p. 958). A close examination of the film Two-Lane Black Top reveals the close parallel between the French New Wave and the Hollywood Renaissance. To begin with film proves that a motion picture can be produced on a low budget and still engage attention. Filming techniques brought with it a sense of reality and being there. There is no real need to be extravagant and flashy to impact an audience, particularly an audience deemed to be intellectual or intelligent. In line with both the French New Wave and the Hollywood Renaissance genres, there is also a poignant sense that the race like its characters is a journey to nowhere. Just as the race seemingly has no purpose or meaning, the characters are similarly meaningless and directionless. These characters are non-conventional countercultural heroes in that they appear to be rebelling against the meaning of life rather than a particular issue in then contemporary America. The irony is, neither of the characters’ lives appear to have any real meaning. According to Mills (2006) Two-Lane Blacktop takes an unconventional approach to the pre-existing road film genre that preceded it. One such film was the earlier film Easy Rider which was action packed and adventure driven. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) instead not only focuses on male bonding but invites attention to the virtually mute and somewhat mysterious female who has an impact on the men (Mills 2006, p. 144). What emerges is a new type of female protagonist. As Mills (2006) explains: She is the foil that reveals the inability of her male companions to escape the shallowness of their own reality, which is racing cars. Her quiet presence is enough to push the men to recognize their emotional shortcomings and their failure to ask for what they want (p. 144). Ironically, the Girl enters the scene as a subordinate and the impression is therefore that she is not a feminist. However, her demeanour and her passivity, rather than depicting a second class citizen, depicts a female who systematically reconstructs the power of masculinity or rather redefines it. In this regard, Two-Lane Blacktop offers a social and cultural alternative to the preconceived notions of masculinity and femininity. Although the men instruct the Girl to take the backseat, she responds in a way that attacks the masculine power trip they are seemingly on (Two-Lane Blacktop, 1971). Somewhat a love triangle develops between the Driver, the Mechanic and the Girl. Mills (2006) draws attention to how the dynamics of the love triangle are used to highlight the relatively more significant character of the Girl as opposed to the Driver and the Mechanic. According to Mills (2006): The men mutely hint at their private desires – but the Girl is the only one who acts....this young hippie “floater” wants to do something, even though what she wants is never clear (p. 144). Therefore although the film attempts to broach the undercurrents of male bonding, it also draws attention to a potential cultural issues where young men are perhaps shallow and less inclined toward ambition than young women. Although the underlying theme is one in which youth in general are directionless and rebellious, the Girl’s lack of direction and ambition is less problematic than the young men in the film. She is submissive to the male power trip, but at the same time her relatively passive role implies that she is more evaluative than her male counterparts and in the end, when she leaves the men to take off with a stranger on a motorbike, the impression is, she was not influenced by the Driver and the Mechanic after all. She indeed had a mind of her own. As Mills (2006) puts it: In the end, the Girl tires of each man’s shortcomings and leaves all three of them – without speaking a word, of course. She joins a young man in his motorcycle, a “younger” form of mobility meant to contrast with the “older” values symbolized by the GTO (a Detroit production car) and the superstock Chevy (a remnant of the hot-rod movies made by directors like Corman) (p. 146). Mills (2006) explains that the enigmatic and rather “apathetic” female such as the Girl in Two-Lane Blacktop is characteristic of the Hollywood Renaissance films (p. 146). For instance, Sissy Spacek played a similar passive, yet mysterious role in the film Badlands (1973). In this regard, the female typically plays as minimal a role as the landscape and therefore compliments the theme of “alienated beauty of the verite cinematography” (Mills 2006, p. 146). As with a large majority of the films of the Hollywood Renaissance, Two-Lane Blacktop political theme is ambiguous and quite difficult to pinpoint. The point to remember is that the director as auteur under the influence of both the French New Wave movement and the Hollywood Renaissance takes on cultural, political and social issues in non-conventional ways than previously. There is no alignment with a particular view. There is no idealization of a relationship, gender role or political leaning. Many of these ideas and concepts are left open to interpretation. Some films even went so far as to present “reactionary notions of gender and romance” (Mills 2006, p. 146). While there was a subtle attack on masculinity and a subtle reappraisal of femininity, feminist writer Sherry Sonnett Trumbo of the New York Times took the view that films like Two-Lane Blacktop did not pay tribute to females. Trumbo wrote that characters like: The driver in Two-Lane Blacktop give their male audience a model and a starting point for leaving the System...but where is the move about a woman going through the same processes? Where is the movie that shows us what alternatives and possibilities are open to us as women? (Mills 2006, p.146). Trumbone’s point is salient in the Two-Lane Blacktop. Although the Girl’s passive presence and stronger determination and evaluation is displayed, she remains dependent on men. Throughout the film, her only means of escape is to hitch a ride with the Driver and the Mechanic. Whereas, we see the Driver and the Mechanic escaping on their own. Similarly, in the end, the Girl frees herself of the Driver and the Mechanic but immediately hitches a ride with another male on a motorbike. The implication is that she is not able to escape on her own. She is tethered to life and life’s journey by virtue of male direction and assistance. Another salient theme that emerges in Two-Lane Blacktop that challenged then contemporary America’s consciences was the value of material possessions over human beings. For instance the Driver and the Mechanic even the road itself becomes more important. More importantly, the 1955 Chevy takes on more importance than the characters themselves. For instance, the Mechanic notes: She don’t seem to be breathing right. While on the road they brood: Morrisonesque, Mansonesque (Two-Lane Blacktop 1971). Throughout the film, there is continuous attention to the engine of the 1955 Chevy which is outfitted with a sophisticated engine. The engine appears to be a checked and tuned up to a point of obsession. Mendik (2002) assumes that the engine’s sophistication is meant to compensate for the shallow males (p. 24). The film, as is typical of the Hollywood Renaissance genre is meant to leave much open to interpretation. Two-Lane Blacktop accomplishes this by virtue of sparse dialogue. The female is decidedly a woman of very few words and the men are single-minded of purpose. When they talk, which is quite clipped and relatively race, they focus on cars and driving and even then, quite a bit of the dialogue is lost in the racket of the sounds of the engine. Conclusion The Hollywood Renaissance came at a time when there was little left to capture the minds and the consciousness of 1960s’ and early 1970s’ America. Reality was serving up a more exciting and challenging experience that Hollywood could deliver. It was perhaps this new reality that gave way to a perception on the part of Hollywood directors that the young audience was intellectual. The young audience was indeed more realistic having regard to the turbulence of the era and the political and social realities that they were confronting. Certainly the traditional adventure and/or action film would not have appealed to mainstream America. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) not only recognized that then contemporary America could not relate to a mindless action or adventure film, but gave viewers a film that was open to interpretation. It allowed for the intellect to interpret action and demeanour and sparse dialogue in an abstract way. In other words, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) challenged thinking America by offering diverse and different perspectives on masculinity and femininity. However, this was done in a subtle way rather than directly. The approach therefore allowed the audience’s imagination to play a part in the film rather than the imposition of the auteur’s own imagination. Bibliography Badley, L.; Palmer, R. and Schneider, J. Traditions in World Cinema. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2006. Dimare, P. Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia. New York, NY: ABC-CLIO, 2011. King, G. New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction. London, England: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2002. Kramer, P. The New Hollywood: From Bonnie and Clyde to Star Wars. London, England: Wallflower Press, 2005. Man G. Visions: American Film Renaissance 1967-1976. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994. Mendik, X. Necronomicon Presents Shocking Cinema of the Seventies. London, UK: Noir Publishing, 2002. Mills, K. The Road Story and the Rebel: Moving Through Film, Fiction, and Television. US: Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University, 2006. Neve, B. Film and Politics in America: A Social Tradition. London, England: Routledge, 1995. Nystrom, D. Hard Hats, Rednecks, and Macho Men: Class in 1970s American Cinema. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2009. Ryan, M. and Kellner, D. Camera Politica. Bloomington, IA: Indiana University Press, 1988. Two-Lane Blacktop 1971 (Film). Read More