Sundance 2003

A Decade Under The Influence

 (Docu)

Most Viewed: The Lovely Bones(1689 views) 'Burn Notice' gets renewal(1325 views) Swiss OK Polanski move to chalet(889 views) Pearce hops on to 'Hungry Rabbit Jumps'(731 views) 'It' is 3D's lost opportunity(690 views) Ninja Assassin(643 views)

One of two projects on the subject premiering in Park City, both "Decade" and Slamdance opener "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" by Kenneth Bowser showcase a remarkable body of work by a group of filmmakers that actually had something to say. "Decades" shines a harsh light on much of the thematically narrow navel-gazing that passes for independent cinema today, offering an even more withering comparison with the majority of studio product from the past two decades.

Docu opens with the Hollywood premiere of 1969's "Hello, Dolly!" -- one of a series of costly flops that drove the nail into the coffin of the old studio system in the late '60s. In the words of interviewee Paul Schrader, the industry had become "a decadent, decaying whorehouse." A new audience was emerging, politicized by Vietnam and Watergate, civil rights, the women's movement and the sexual revolution; an aud opened to new experiences by consciousness-expanding drugs.

The empty glitz coming out of Hollywood no longer connected with that audience, which instead lined up for films by foreign directors such as Godard, Fellini, Kurosawa and Bertolucci. Those directors in turn influenced a new generation of American filmmakers, who began bending the rules of classic Hollywood to tell more personal stories. They adopted an edgier style, a more questioning nature, a sexual frankness and distrust of the political establishment.

The docu backtracks at a certain point to acknowledge that'70s directors were not the first to impose their personality from within the Hollywood system, indicating Howard Hawks, John Ford, Billy Wilder and William Wyler as earlier auteurs. This digression makes the film seem a bit disorganized, almost as if the overview were coalescing in the editing room. But it adds a certain freewheeling spirit that feels refreshingly appropriate.

LaGravenese and Demme -- working with fellow interviewers including filmmakers Alexander Payne and Neil LaBute, studio exec Michael De Luca and writers Scott Frank, James V. Hart and Steven Schiff -- shun narration, letting the protagonists of the Hollywood nouvelle vague speak for themselves.

"Easy Rider" is singled out as perhaps the most important early milestone of the new Hollywood, as its commercial success opened doors for more risky filmmaking and countercultural themes in an industry generally slow to change. Roger Corman's B movie stable also is given serious attention, spawning directors like Peter Bogdanovich, whose "The Last Picture Show" still seems remarkably candid in its depiction of sex.

Subverting the genre as he did with the Western in "McCabe & Mrs. Miller," Robert Altman is credited in "MASH" with setting a new template for war movies, its irreverence tapping into changing attitudes in the U.S..

The docu shows how watershed movies like "All the President's Men," "Coming Home," "Network," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Taxi Driver" represented an unprecedented synchronization of Hollywood with the disillusionment and moral ambiguity of the times. Francis Ford Coppola describes the period as a time when artists no longer had to be factory employees but could create meaningful work that made a difference.

Considerable attention is devoted to "The Godfather," with Coppola elucidating his choice to follow a Shakespearean model in recounting the Mafia family saga. The film's enormous box office success, together with that of William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," marked perhaps the commercial peak of the Hollywood renaissance and was instrumental in molding a new studio release pattern.

"Decade" shows this was later consolidated with the arrival of megahits "Jaws" and "Star Wars," which ushered in the corporate age of the $100 million blockbuster. Together with the post-Vietnam hunger for optimism and hope, these films helped end the era of personal filmmaking.

While the docu underlines repeatedly that film in the 1970s was a director's medium, it also recognizes the contribution of writers such as Robert Towne, Paddy Chayefsky and Schrader. It also signals the advent of a different breed of actor, more human, less conventionally movie-star handsome -- among them Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould.

Male energy dominated the movement, but actresses including Faye Dunaway, Karen Black, Diane Keaton and Julie Christie nudged screen representation of women in new directions. Ellen Burstyn talks of breaking with stereotypes in Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," likewise Paul Mazursky with the Jill Clayburgh role in "An Unmarried Woman." Sydney Pollack addresses at length the powerful force represented both on and offscreen by Jane Fonda, recalling her dedication to a physically demanding role in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and her political activism, using her voice in a way other actors often were reluctant to do.

Given their sizable contributions to the era, arguably the most acutely felt absences among interviewees are Fonda and Nicholson (although actor Bruce Dern does an amusing impersonation of latter). Also missed is Warren Beatty, perhaps the prime exponent to combine matinee-idol looks with challenging roles in films like "Bonnie and Clyde," "McCabe" and "Shampoo."

Inevitably, no study of this kind can be exhaustive, a fact acknowledged in the end credits. The most glaring oversight among the directors is Sam Peckinpah, while John Cassavetes is too briefly mentioned. Most notable absentee among living directors interviewed is Bob Rafelson, especially given his contribution through BBS Prods. with Bert Schneider.

Film theorists may complain "Decade" doesn't go deep enough, but it functions admirably as an invitation to rediscover -- or discover for the first time -- a uniquely stimulating, creatively fertile crop of American movies.

Information and insights are consistently fascinating, delivered with humor and first-hand authority from lively multiple perspectives, and given a brisk rhythm by editor Meg Reticker. Clip quality varies wildly and may require some upgrading for theatrical release. End credits carry footage of co-director Demme, who died early last year and is remembered in a closing dedication from Coppola.

Camera (color), Clyde Smith, Anthony Janelli; editor, Meg Reticker; music, John Kimbrough; sound, Andy Kris; associate producers, John Miller Monzon, Vivian Connoly; researchers, Tania McKeown, Monzon; interviewers, Demme, LaGravenese, Alexander Payne, Neil LaBute, Scott Frank, Michael De Luca, Mark Riley, James V. Hart, Robert Mark Kamen, Steven Schiff. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (Documentary Competition), Jan. 19, 2003. Running time: 109 MIN.