For my contextual study I will be conducting research into the effect the culture of the 1960s-1970s had on cinema at the time. In my research I will be focusing on social, economic and environmental change which all had an impact on cinema. I will also look into what caused the demise of the New Hollywood new wave. I will be looking at work produced by some of the most influential directors of the time in order to show what truly started and developed the film movement. I will be looking at work produced by Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese and Arthur Penn, I will be looking at some of their most know and contextual work including Bonnie and Clyde, Taxi Driver and of course The Graduate.
The audience in the US had changed, "it was an audience politicised by war, who's consciousness was changed by the use of drugs and it was an open audience" (A Decade Under The Influence, 2003), studios were collapsing as they couldn't understand what films people wanted to watch after the time of the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, the growing counter-culture. Studios were disconnected with their audience, as they tried to devise a plan to regain their following foreign and art house films filled the gap and in the process inspired a generation of young directors (Malouchou, 2020). Technological advancements in the 60s meant that high definition colour films, wide formats and fidelity magnetic sound had become the new standard for film quality. Cinema's attendance had declined rapidly, this was mainly influenced by the change in audience, whilst in the 40s cinemas were mainly visited by families in the 60s a large proportion of the audience was males who were between mid-teens or mid-twenties. This new audience didn't want to watch family-oriented films, or classic western films (Chapman, 2003), moral was low and people didn't believe the glamourous traditional style of Hollywood cinema was relatable therefore it began to bore the audience out the door.
People wanted something they recognised, that was part of them that wasn't so distant from their reality (A Decade Under The Influence, 2003), this is why films like "The Graduate" were such a hit, they involved a narrative about things that the young people understood, it spoke about the uncertainty of what is to come in adulthood, it reflects the sexual promiscuity of the time, it reflected the materialistic world that everyone saw around them. Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg and many others were all young directors that site the "The Searcher" as a inspiration in their productions. This movie widely influenced culture of the time and inspired young filmmakers to start a rise of a new wave of motion pictures. Not everyone had the same perspective of the film, Joseph Mcbride a famous film critic of the time went as far as to say "The Searcher is a cult movie for the new generation" (Kuperberg, 2008). Directors such as Scorsese took great influence from "The Searcher", the director even mentions lines from the movie in multiple of his productions, most famous one being "Taxi Driver". Scorsese was only a child when he watched the film he refers to is as "visual poetry", it told a story without words, this is an approach he continued in his film, he used sound, visuals, shot types and mise en scene all to mediate a product to get the response he wants out of the audience. The idea of an anti-hero was really inspiring at the time, a good example a film influenced by this narrative is "Bonnie and Clyde", "with the Vietnam war raging Penn didn't want a sanitised film" (Kuperberg, 2008), the film had to be bloody and gory, the protagonists were ruthless bank robbing killers, however, they represented a message of anti-establishment and this resonated with their audience. Penn was persistent that the film must be shot outside rather than in the studio, he wanted the production to feel real he wanted the anti-heroes to send a message to their audience, they wanted them to know they could fight the authority, they could push their civil rights movements and fight for the people without voices, they could even protest to stop the war.
1960s America saw many events that inspired change such as JFK becoming president and later being assassinated, the first man walked on the moon, Martin Luther King Jr. inspired the civil rights movement, it had become apparent to Americans that the Vietnamese war was pointless, which fuelled the counter-culture movement and the use of drugs (Wheelhouse, 2016). As the State Supreme Court set a law against Studio Companies holding the exclusive rights on which theatres would show their movies, young filmmakers were able to rise and show their new, edgy productions to the world (Bomboy, 2019). The new range of movies being showed reflected ideas and messages that people wanted to see. They was very artistic as well, they broke away from the traditional film style and found new inspirations, one of them which strongly inspired change was French and European cinema.
Scorsese's focus on the mental health of war veterans was an important topic of the time, he portrayed a veterans descent into madness in his film "Taxi Driver", in this the repetition of lines, and the choppy editing style reflected how Bickle was slowly going insane. The most famous example of this is in the famous scene were Bickle repeats the phrase "You talkin' to me", the repetition reflects the character's obsession, it serves to "mark Travis as unhinged" (Grist, 2000). Travis stares into the mirror as he says this phrase, I believe this is a key moment when the audience realises that they have misplaced faith in Travis, he isn't the man to "clean up the filthy city" as he says he will instead he is a deranged lunatic that has lost sight of reality. This reflection is important, Scorsese wants to show the audience what war does to a person, he came out mentally unfit and isolated, it shows the audience that nothing good came from the Vietnam War. The film even brakes the fourth wall in some scenes which is very non-classical edit, Travis turns towards the camera and says in a voice-over "Listen you fuckers, you screwheads, here is a man who would not take it anymore, who would not let...", the voice over pauses and then he continues "a man who stood up against the scum, the cunts..." The use of repetition in this scene furthers the idea that Travis is descending into madness, it also ensures the audience that Travis is talking directly to them by using direct eye contact. The shot is in slow motion which separates the scene from the rest of the movie, it is as though Travis insane rambling is a talk to the audience grouping them with those who are content to sit and watch the fire which is society burn (Wilson, 2016). The use of this shot is important as Travis puts the audience in the placement of the people in the film who didn't care to help fix problems, he is directly showing them the errors of their ways.
Mike Nichols reflects the materialism of the 60s in his film, the film doesn't present Ben as against the war, or as a hippie in fact throughout the movie the war is never directly mentioned. Instead we see that Ben is surrounded by people from his parents' generation who reflect the materialism in society and the idea of empty relationships. At one point a member of his parent's generation is able to sum his whole future up with one word, "plastics", they are turning ben into a younger version of themselves that has no regard for the world around them, all that is important in the upper classes lives is money and possessions. In Bens' birthday scene we see his parents turn him into a scuba divers which resembles the plastic scuba diver in his fish tank which is entrapped, this reflects how Ben is trapped and forced to conform with a society he is uncomfortable with. Throughout the movie Bens' father refers to him as "boy" showing he still sees him as a child even though he is in his 20s, he is represented as a child in the movie to show how Ben rejects adulthood by putting off making the next step in his life (Punch, 2018). Throughout the movie the strongest use of symbolism is through the portrayal of water, the use of water suggests that Ben feels as though he is drowning or being suffocated by the older generation. On his birthday when he is in the the pool when he tries to get out the water, his parents push him back down. This further suggests that he is being forced to conform with a society he is uncomfortable in (Williams, 2017). In many shots throughout the movie the "pool looms in the background" (Punch, 2018), often it encompasses the majority of the screen suggesting that the idea of conforming is too big to run away from, everywhere he looks the idea of conforming is forced onto him either by his parents, the Robinsons or even himself.
Overall, American new Hollywood wave films reflect so many different aspects of the culture of its time creatively. They don't just rely on the emotion of the actors they use the camera shots, movements, use of audio, use of symbolism and mise en scene to tell a narrative which resonated with an audience of the time. One common thread that many new wave pieces share is their use of an anti-hero. All the movies I have spoke about all involve a protagonist who in some way or another is a villain. Bonnie and Clyde are the earliest and most famous example of vigilantes, although they did bad things they was valued because they shared a message that you can fight the authority. Taxi Driver is the same, Travis Bickle is offensive in so many different respects, he is racist, homophobic and has no understanding of social conduct however, he shared a message which was important, which is that you shouldn't idlily watch as the world gets worse and worse, you need to act. Although Ben doesn't seem like a villain in some respects he is, he had a affair, he ruined Elaine's wedding and he ran off with her into an uncertain world in which he couldn't predict their happy future. Although he did all these bad things, everyone still loves him as he represents the change in the younger generation that will bring hope.
References
Available at : https://www.boxofficepro.com/a-century-in-exhibition-the-1960s-the-collapse-of-the-studio-system/0
Grist, L., 2000. The Films of Martin Scorsese, 1963 – 1977 (Book)
Available at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-B-vLUIzo#
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