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Easy Riders & Slackers |
by Thomas Marchese
The correlation between 70s Hollywood and 90s American independent film.
In the dying days of 2009, as the first decade of the twenty-first century was giving way to the second, I was suddenly overcome with nostalgia. Memories of my teens and twenties began flooding my mind, and I went on a trip down memory lane by watching the films and listening to the music that dominated my spare time during those formative years. While a large part of my adolescence and early adulthood occurred during the 90s, and I was, and still am, a fan of the indie films, alt rock and indie music of the decade, I was more preoccupied at that time with the films and music of the 70s.
My film and music diet consisted of Mean Streets, The Last Picture Show, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Swingers, Kids, Soundgarden and Our Lady Peace, to name a few. For a period in the mid 90s, I would religiously watch the special episode of Siskel & Ebert that profiled Hollywood films of the early 70s, from my VHS copy recorded off television. This program made me obsessed with that era in film, and I watched all the classic titles mentioned on it, as well as some others I had learned about.
During my recent nostalgia trip, I dug out that old VHS of the Siskel & Ebert episode and watched it. Much time had passed since I had last seen it, but the program still retained its insightfulness and enlightenment after all these years. As I watched, I began to realize that 2010 was going to be a key anniversary year for both the 70s & 90s. The 70s would celebrate its middle-aged Ruby anniversary by turning 40, and the 90s, still a young pup with its China anniversary, turning 20.
While I was awestruck and rather overwhelmed by the passage of time, I also began to ponder on how similar both decades were cinematically. I never saw the correlation between the two during my teenage/twenty-something cinephile years in the 90s, or even in the just past decade. However, the more I thought about it, the more similarities I began to notice between 70s Hollywood and the 90s American indie scene. The correlation is that both decades, for the most part, produced American cinema that was quirky, offbeat, dark, and especially, character driven. This trend in both the 70s and 90s was as a result of the socio-political/economic climate of those times.
As most cinephiles know, 1970s Hollywood has been lauded and celebrated as the last Golden Age of Tinseltown. The period was chronicled in the bestselling book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, by Peter Biskind, and the Independent Film Channel documentary A Decade Under the Influence. The era came about as a result of changing times.
In the late 60s, the legendary Hollywood studio founders and chairmen, like Jack Warner and Darryl Zanuck, retired and sold the studios to corporations, who seriously lack knowledge of the art and craft of filmmaking, and only know the business attitude and approach of supply and demand. Basically, "If this is the sort of thing people want to see now, we make it, give them what they want and make our money back with interest." However, despite the more business oriented approach the studios were adopting under this new corporate regime that continues to this day, it ended up being a positive in the end.
Corporations always have their eye and ear to the street for the latest underground trend being nurtured and developed by the youth of the moment, to bring it into the mainstream and cash in. Such was, and still is, the case with the "new Hollywood" that was emerging. The studios were very conscious of the growing counterculture/hippie movement that was occurring in the late 60s. The movement was perpetuated by the American children of the postwar generation, dubbed "Baby Boomers". The Boomers were gravitating toward films coming out of Europe, in particular the French and Czechoslovakian New Waves and the post Italian neorealists, as they felt that these films perfectly captured their state of mind and the world they lived in, despite being made in other countries.
These foreign film movements were also exuding an influence on the budding filmmakers of the time, studying in film schools. Film production was now part of post secondary education at colleges and universities in the United States and worldwide, and some of these American institutions would produce some of the best and most successful American filmmakers, not just of the 70s, but of all time, such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.
Sensing a possible hot new trend in cinema, Hollywood would in 1969 release two landmark films that foreshadowed what was to come cinematically in the approaching decade: Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider. The commonalities both films share are that both were modestly budgeted, highly off-the-wall and unconventional products and reflections of the counterculture, and had the European sensibility the Boomers craved. They also set the archetype that would dominate 70s Hollywood films: the antiheroes. Disaffected and disillusioned Americans whose lives are in some sort of flux and/or turmoil.
Both Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider were box office smashes, with MC overcoming the controversy of its X rating due to its (VERY tame by today's standards) sexual content and taking Best Picture at the Oscars that year. With these two bona fide successes, Hollywood was now on the prowl for films of their ilk to reap even more financial rewards.
1970 became the year of "the little movie that could". The studios released some modestly budgeted films that contained the new cinematic sensibility, which were box office gushers and became all-time classics: M*A*S*H, Five Easy Pieces, Woodstock and, yes, Love Story. M*A*S*H's director, Robert Altman, would become one of the key figures of 70s Hollywood and one of the greatest American filmmakers. These films kept the studios from going bankrupt and recoup the costs of big budget debacles they released in 1970, such as The Adventurers, Catch-22 and Zabriskie Point, with the exception of the big budget biopic epic Patton being spared, going onto both critical and commercial success, as well as sweeping the Oscars.
The Hollywood Golden Age of the 70s was now officially underway. Although the counterculture/hippie movement was beginning to wane, as the Boomer hippies were becoming adults, there was still a demand for cinema that explored the cynicism, disillusionment and internalization occurring in the U.S. due to events of the time such as the Kent State massacre, the Vietnam War, inflation and later recession, Watergate, etc. This prevailing state of mind was what led to the 70s being labeled the "Me Decade". Classics produced during that tumultuous era include Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Last Detail (1973), The Conversation (1974), Annie Hall (1977) and The Deer Hunter (1978), to name a few.
What is interesting about 70s Hollywood was that it was the only period in Hollywood history where directors, for the most part, like their European counterparts, whom they idolized, were permitted to be absolute auteurs. Now, it is rather odd to think that corporate owned studios would have a mostly hands-off approach and turn filmmakers loose, especially when their modus operandi is to make money, not art. That was because the studio chiefs, like Robert Evans of Paramount Pictures and Richard Zanuck, son of Darryl, of 20th Century Fox, were actual film producers and not corporate executives. The corporations owned the studios, but did not manage them. Unfortunately, with corporations amassing tremendous power in the 80s, there came the need to exert control over every aspect of the filmmaking process, even if they were unfamiliar with it, and that continues to this day. People like Evans and Zanuck were replaced by corporate appointed executives.
As the 70s progressed, filmgoers began to tire of the downbeat tone permeating most of Hollywood cinema, and wanted fare that would distract and uplift them from the funk of the times, as opposed to reminding them of it. The beginning of the end of the 70s Hollywood Golden Age began in 1975 with the release of Jaws, and continued with the subsequent releases of Rocky and Star Wars over the next two years. These films created the whole "blockbuster" genre with their innovative marketing and frothy/fluffy stories. Basically, B-movies made with big budgets (with the exception of Rocky) that earn huge returns with huge interest at the box office. Not to say that those three films are not good, (Rocky & Star Wars are two of my all-time favourites), but, at their heart, they are just lightweight popcorn fare.
The Me Decade 70s gave way to the "Reganomic" money hungry 80s, and the decade would be dominated by mostly glossy, lightweight and heavily marketed MTV style escapist movies, churned out by the now exclusively corporate run Hollywood. Some of the 70s auteur directors would thrive in the 80s, such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, while others produced work of uneven quality, like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, and some, like Robert Altman, just remained, for the most part, on the fringes.
The good times of the 80s came to a screeching halt on October 19th 1987, which would become known as Black Monday, when a worldwide stock market crash occurred, bringing an end to the decade's economic boom and the beginning of a recession that would last into and for most of the 90s.
Two years later though, a movement in American film, that would define the following decade, would begin to take root.
It was déjà vu all over again at the end of the 80s. As 1969 foreshadowed what was to come in 70s Hollywood cinema, 1989 foreshadowed what was to come in the 1990s. With the economy in a shambles, the cynical disillusionment and internalization from the tail end of the 60s and the 70s had come full circle and returned.
Hollywood was still bringing in the big bucks with their mega budget fluff, but amidst all of that, a new film going audience was beginning to emerge. The children of the Baby Boomers were now the same age as their parents were twenty years earlier, and found themselves in somewhat of a similar social and economic climate. This generation would be dubbed the "Generation X/slacker" generation, and they too longed for cinema that reflected the world they lived in.
Way below the Hollywood radar in the 80s, the American independent film movement had progressed somewhat and acquired a very loyal cult following. The indie scene's progress was due to two factors. First, the Sundance Film Festival, which was co-founded and chaired by movie star Robert Redford, had begun in 1978, their mandate being to exclusively showcase (first solely American and later international) independently made films. Second, the founding of film distribution company Miramax by brothers Bob & Harvey Weinstein, in 1979, with their mandate to exclusively distribute American independent and foreign films.
Basically, both Sundance and Miramax, in addition to the new crop of American indie filmmakers, picked up where American independent film guru and icon John Cassavetes left off, and elaborated on it. Independently financed, low-budget, do-it-yourself film production, but now there was somewhat more tangible opportunity for the filmmakers to have their work seen by an audience than ever before.
The work being produced by this band of filmmakers, which included John Sayles, the Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmusch and John Waters, all of whom had films screened at Sundance in the 80s, at times harkened back to the classics of 70s Hollywood.
While the American independent film scene had its devout fan base in the 80s, it was by no means a lucrative endeavour. That would all change though in 1989, when an independent first feature made by 26-year-old filmmaker Steven Soderbergh titled sex, lies, and videotape, a film that brings to mind the work of French filmmaker Eric Rohmer and American filmmaker Bob Rafelson (who was at his peak in the 70s), screened at Sundance, taking the Audience Award, and also screened at Cannes, taking the Palm d'Or. Miramax promptly acquired the film for distribution.
Also in competition at Cannes that year was the third feature made by African-American filmmaker Spike Lee, entitled Do the Right Thing, another low-budget independent film, that was garnering much attention for its political statement and style. The film was acquired by Universal Studios for distribution.
Both sex, lies, and videotape and Do the Right Thing were critically acclaimed and rather commercially successful, despite limited theatrical releases. These small films managed to hold their own in a year that was practically wall-to-wall Hollywood blockbusters, Batman being the leader of the pack. They also managed to score Oscar nominations for both Soderbergh and Lee for Best Original Screenplay.
As the 80s came to an end and the last decade of the 20th century was to begin, the American indie film scene was suddenly elevated significantly in stature. But it was still by no means a force to be reckoned with, as far as Hollywood was concerned. That would change in the 90s.
Thanks to sex, lies, and videotape, the Sundance Film Festival had become one of the world's major film festivals, attracting not just those of the indie scene, but also the Hollywood elite, especially distributors looking for the next sex, lies, and videotape and Do the Right Thing.
1990 saw many American independent films that screened at Sundance receive distribution (some of which were through Miramax, who had now become a major distributor), and they included such indie classics as Longtime Companion, To Sleep with Anger, Metropolitan and The Unbelievable Truth. These films were made by a new crop of independent filmmakers that were suddenly achieving noteworthy exposure and success in the new decade, and some have remained staunchly independent to this day. Directors such as Hal Hartley, Tom DiCillo, Gregg Araki and Richard Linklater, whose 1991 indie classic Slacker, together with Canadian author Douglas Coupland's novel Generation X , were the monikers that were used to dub the current jaded and disillusioned youth generation.
These maverick 90s American filmmakers took their cue from, and were somewhat influenced by, the legendary Hollywood auteurs of the 70s, a couple of whom had career renaissances in the decade, like Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman.
As their Baby Boomer hippie parents before them, the Generation X slackers had cinema that they could relate to, reflected their state of mind and the times they lived in, and were contributing to the movement's growth with their support.
While American indie film was enjoying a wave of success that it had never been privy to previously, for the first couple years of the 90s, it was largely a cult commodity that had not crossed over to the mainstream. Perhaps it would've been best this way, as in most cases when something from the underground crosses over to the mainstream, while it is highly successful, it also loses its integrity and quality. That is precisely what happened with the one-two punch of Quentin Tarantino and the 90s indie classics he wrote and directed: Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994).
Tarantino's freshman and sophomore efforts created an overnight sensation in American independent cinema, Hollywood and internationally. A self-proclaimed "film geek", his style was heavily influenced by the 70s Hollywood masters, as well as the Europeans, applying his own unique spin with disjointed chronological storytelling, gratuitous violence, and realistic and pop culture referencing dialogue, all of which would become his trademark.
Reservoir Dogs was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and a big success on the indie circuit. Pulp Fiction tripled on that film's success with worldwide critical acclaim, $100 million plus gross in North America and $200 million plus worldwide, winning the Palm d'Or at Cannes and the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Thanks to Pulp Fiction, American independent film was now a lucrative mainstream commodity. Miramax, together with a new batch of indie distributors that would arise from this success, such as Sony Pictures Classics and Fox Searchlight, were acquiring indie films, from both the U.S. and around the world, for distribution in droves. While the quality varied, what was most omnipresent were Pulp Fiction clones, which were not just relegated to the indie scene. Hollywood was also producing films that shamelessly ripped-off Tarantino's trademark style, with very few being good and successful, like Get Shorty (1995).
As the 90s progressed, American independent cinema continued to maintain its post Pulp Fiction mainstream success, and producing two more praiseworthy filmmakers who would also make two 90s indie classics: Paul Thomas Anderson with Boogie Nights (1997) and Wes Anderson with Rushmore (1999). The 90s American independent film scene would be documented by Peter Biskind in a follow-up book to Easy Riders, Raging Bulls titled Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film.
Unfortunately, as with 70s Hollywood, 90s indie cinema would also fall under the weight of its success, as well as changing times and sensibilities.
As the decade drew to a close, the tough economic times that dominated it were lifting, and as their Boomer hippie parents had, the Gen X slackers were growing up and becoming responsible adults. American independent filmmakers that were just starting out were more commercially minded than artistic, concerned more with having a big hit than making a quality film. As a result, American indie films had lost their unique edge and were more in the vein of what Hollywood produces. This trend continued into the first decade of the millennium, with most of the independent films made during that time lacking the quality and artistic attributes those in the 90s had. While some of the 90s indie filmmakers maintained their indie sensibility, others, like Soderbergh, Lee and Linklater, to some degree, went mainstream.
For most of the first decade of the 21st century, the Sundance Film Festival became more and more commercial and mainstream, almost completely losing touch with its independent roots. Towards the end of the decade, the festival made a strong effort to return to form and currently continues to do so. The Weinstein Brothers would leave Miramax over a dispute with Disney, who bought the company in 1993, in 2005 and form The Weinstein Company, which continues the mandate they established at Miramax.
But, as was seen with the karma of American 90s independent cinema harkening back to 70s Hollywood, what went around may be coming around again in the current decade. American independent film had a bit of a renaissance in 2009 with such films as Lymelife, The Hurt Locker and (500) Days of Summer, which were reminiscent of both 70s Hollywood and 90s indie, and the latter two being highly successful.
Predictions are that this decade will see a much needed creative and artistic rebirth in American independent film. I, for one, certainly hope so. But for now, I'm going to continue celebrating the 40th and 20th anniversaries of the 70s and 90s, and enjoy a little more nostalgia by watching a double bill of Harold and Maude (1972) and The Ice Storm (1997), with The Who's Quadrophenia and Soundgarden's Superunknown playing in the background.
Thomas Marchese is a screenwriter, film reviewer and essayist. He writes for the websites Compressed Data and WILDsound. Thomas lives in Toronto, Canada.
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