Return of they Myths 1977-American Independent Cinema
As we delve into fall this week brings us to
American Independent Cinema
and perhaps a film that you have not seen, but some filmmakers, films and ideas you are somewhat or VERY familiar with. Please approach this module with an open mind in order to fully absorb what it has to offer.
In terms of this week's screening, it is Charles Burnett's To Sleep With Anger, an early starring role for Danny Glover and quite a powerful film.
To Sleep With Anger
1)As one of the leading figures of the L.A. Rebellion,
2) a loosely defined movement of filmmakers who were pioneering
3) new forms of African-American on-screen representation in the 1960s and ’70s,
4) Charles Burnett has long been heavily associated with Los Angeles.
5) But as his South Central–set masterpiece
To Sleep with Anger illustrates,
1) his style and subject matter have also been influenced by his identification with his family’s roots
in the South and the traditions that developed in the black community there before the Great
Migration.
2) In Burnett’s sublime portrait of a middle-class family turned upside down by a mysterious drifter
(Danny Glover),
3) the director evokes the tensions of being caught between urban life and the mystical beliefs at the
heart of rural southern black culture.
4) A new interview program on our recently released edition delves into the story of the film’s making
and the inspirations behind it,
5)and you can watch a preview of the piece in the excerpt
(Links to an external site.), in which Burnett, Glover, and actor Sheryl Lee Ralph talk about how they
brought the folkloric elements of the film to life.
- Criterion Collection
Small other snippet from To Sleep with Anger from Criterion
A slow-burning masterwork of the early 1990s, this third feature by Charles Burnett is a singular piece of American mythmaking. In a towering performance, Danny Glover plays the enigmatic southern drifter Harry, a devilish charmer who turns up out of the blue on the South Central Los Angeles doorstep of his old friends. In short order, Harry’s presence seems to cast a chaotic spell on what appeared to be a peaceful household, exposing smoldering tensions between parents and children, tradition and change, virtue and temptation. Interweaving evocative strains of gospel and blues with rich, poetic-realist images, To Sleep with Anger is a sublimely stirring film from an autonomous artistic sensibility, a portrait of family resilience steeped in the traditions of African American mysticism and folklore.
Above was the class intro to the intro by Denah
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
1)Identify the characteristics and major figures of the American Independent film
movement.
2)Understand the economic history of the Hollywood blockbuster and identify its
thematic and stylistic characteristics.
The Independent American Cinema
1) The films that Mast and Kawin identify as the Independent American Cinema
don’t resemble the films that are commonly referred to as “indie”
by today’s mainstream media directed by filmmakers such as Wes Anderson.
2) Instead, Mast and Kawin address avant-garde or experimental films produced
in America between the 1920s and the 1960s.
3) Filmmakers like
a) Maya Deren,
b) Marie Menken, and
c)Kenneth Anger
Began to make avant-garde works in the 1940s and continued to work for decades.
4) The 1950s saw the first films of Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner, and Ken Jacobs.
5) In the 1960s, filmmakers like Nathanial Dorsky, Bruce Baillie, Hollis Frampton, the Kuchar
Brothers (George and Mike), Jonas Mekas, and Chick Strand began to attract attention.
a) These experimental works resembled poetry more than narratives.
b) They had virtually no commercial aspirations and
c) some felt that they represented the narcissistic scribblings of irrelevant filmmakers.
d) I couldn’t disagree more. I feel they are vital works of art.
6) Many Americans have not heard of these filmmakers,
but I argue that they all have had a tremendous impact on visual culture.
7) Many of the filmmakers we deem “independent” today were highly influenced by these earlier
avant-garde filmmakers (David Lynch is a clear example).
8) Many of these works are pure visual form. They are films that are completely unconcerned with
Hollywood in any way.
I just found this and thought it was interesting -- i love David Lynch - my words
Jean-Luc Godard About David Lynch 
“I really do not like [David Lynch 's films] at all. Lynch's dreams are all about him. In my opinion, in his films, there are beautiful images, from a photographic point of view, and yet the image has disappeared. On the enigma of dream, dream life, I prefer to read Edgar Poe.”
Return of the Myths: 1977-
1) In the late 1970s, the American cinema returned to producing films
a) that embraced the cultural mythology of America,
b) typically from the nostalgic point of view of childhood.
2)These films ushered in the age of :
a)the blockbuster,
b) the sequel,
c) the Dolby soundtrack,
Blockbusters 1970's 1980's
1)The first blockbuster that would influence the marketing campaigns
for subsequent films of the late 1970s and 1980s.
2) These films didn’t often explicitly tackle political or psychological material,
but they certainly addressed such issues implicitly.
3) This period of filmmaking
(which began with the films of directors like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg)
has continued into the present era.
4)The period was not an extension of the Hollywood Renaissance
but an entirely new period that was technically advanced and devoted to entertainment.
5)These films were technologically innovative,
but rarely pushed the boundaries of convention.
6)In other words, they didn’t take formal risks that could alienate their audiences.
Blockbusters 1970's - 1980's
1) The film business shifted to a blockbuster mentality in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
2) Producers were more willing to spend a lot of money to make a lot of money. $$$$
3) According to Mast and Kawin, a blockbuster is a film that grosses over $100 million dollars.
4) There are other factors to take into consideration when determining the economics of film
production:
a) the cost to produce,
b)streaming sales, and
c)The foreign market.
5)Theaters typically have to give a large percentage of the box office back to the studios
(they make their money on concessions).
Independent Production
1) Many of the subsidiaries of the major studios such as
Sony Pictures Classics and Fox Searchlight produce several films every year that cost
over $1 million.
2) This raises the question of what we consider independent film and how we identify it?
Does it matter?
How does it effect how we value films?
Technological Advances
1)The Dolby noise reduction process was introduced in the 1970s,
which drastically improved the sound quality of films.
2)The Steadicam came into widespread use during this period and was introduced in 1975.
3)The Steadicam combines the mobility of a handheld camera
with the smoothness of a camera mounted on a dolly.
4) Stereo sound also became the industry standard by 1980.
Star Wars (1977)
1)led a complete revelation in technology.
2)It used Dolby Noise Reduction and
3) a Dolby SVA (Stereo Variable Area) soundtrack,
4) a computer to control the camera, and
5)advanced special effects.
6)It established a mythology and
7)led the industry to concentrate on big films designed for younger audiences.
8) It also exploded the action figure market and
9)set the industry standard for merchandising and marketing.
Mast and Kawin describe the cultural attitude of these mythic films as conservative.
1) People who wished to find a meaningful (and profitable) place within conventional society replaced
the anti-establishment types of the Hollywood Renaissance.
2)The films of the 1980s reflected a movement away from social rebellion.
3)They wanted to believe in something and not be angry.
4)The cultural climate of America was highly capitalist at the time.
5)People wanted more and bought more.
6)You may have heard the 1980s referred to as the decade of excess.
7) These mythic films generally had high production values and impressive special effects.
8) Superheroes or superhero-like protagonists were the stars of the era:
a) Superman,
b)Rambo, and
c)Ripley from
d)Aliens.
9)Also, working-class overachievers like Rocky and the heroine Alex of Flashdance
became popular.
10)Many protagonists were police officers or military personnel:
a) Robocop,
b)Lethal Weapon,
c) Top Gun.
11) Mythic villains were also part of the formula of these films.
12) Some were immortal and unstoppable: Halloween (1978) for example.
- Reading: Mast & Kawin, Chapter 17 "The Return of the Myths: 1977- (pp. 585-625) in A Short History of the Movies
- Read/Watch Module 15 Pages/Clips
- Watch To Sleep with Anger
- Complete Discussion: The Return of the Myths: 1977-
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