An Unmarried Woman

An Unmarried Woman, directed by Paul Mazursky, was a change of pace for our 70’s film class. More of a “chick flick” of sorts, it was an enjoyable film. Being a man, it gave me a bit of insight into a woman’s world and how Erica, played by Jill Clayburg, deals with being on her own after divorcing her husband of 16 years.

This was a relevant movie for the 70’s because women’s liberation was also really coming to the forefront in the world and this was a movie about a woman getting out there and achieving her independence.

One of the strongest moments of the film for me was when she is riding home in the cab with her “date.” She all but lets him know she is not in a place where she is looking to get involved with a man right now. When he attempts to kiss her, her reaction brought chills down my spine and you could feel that she was just so emotionally distraught. That guy picked he wrong woman to make a pass at.

Which brings me to another point. I thought it was interesting that she used the term “pass.” These days I would refer to it more as hitting on a woman and had not heard the term to make a “pass” at someone it quite a long time.

I liked the end of the film where Erica was torn if she should go with Saul, played by Alan Bates, or if she should stay behind and concentrate on her own life. The fact that she stayed behind was the right choice because it really gave credibility to her as a independent woman and what she represented to the times.

Dog Day Afternoon

This was the first time I had seen Dog Day Afternoon (directed by Sidney Lumet.) I thought it was interesting that the title of the film in no way gave me any inclination to what the film was about or it’s content and meaning, in my opinion. But I enjoyed it.

Al Pacino’s portrayal of Sonny was outstanding. I really thought it interesting that only halfway through the movie do we learn that Sonny is gay, or bi-sexual. Once I learned that, I could hear it a little more in his voice. I liked Sonny’s character and the way he dealt with the police. The way he used the crowd outside to keep the police at bay was smart. It was also relevant to the times as he brings the crowd to a chant of “Attica! Attica!”

The 70’s were also a relevant time for homosexuality as it was when the subject started to come to the forefront and out of obscurity where it had been before. It really had more meaning too after hearing Jeff Kliment’s presentation about his tribulations as a gay man during his younger years. I thought it interesting that when he was living in Chicago, before moving to San Francisco, that homosexuality was still very much not in the public eye. And also that he found he was able to connect to the outside world of others like him when he found a bookshop that was geared towards homosexuality.

Saturday Night Fever

Here’s a movie that I know I’ve seen before as a kid, but have not seen in such a long time that it was practically a brand new movie for me. I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it because typically I’m not a fan of dance movies. But this isn’t a typical dance movie and I did enjoy it.

Saturday Night Fever, directed by John Badham, is a coming of age movie about a Brooklyn youth named Tony Manero (played by John Travolta.) His days consist of working at the paint shop, hanging out with friends and dancing at 2001 Odyssey and he is fine with that–until he meets Stephanie (played by Karen Lynn Gorney.) He is attracted to her dancing ability and wants to know her better, but she is searching for something more from life and she’s not sure if he’s part of the picture.

This is particularly important because all his friends and the girls around him around Tony look up to him and want his approval, like Annette (played by Donna Pescow) and Bobby C. (played by Barry Miller). Annette wants so badly to get close to Tony in any way she can–through sex or dancing–but he doesn’t want to get too close because she thinks she is trying to get serious with him. Then there is Bobby C., who looks up to Tony and his friends, but is more reserved than the rest. Bobby gets this girl pregnant and he doesn’t know what to do. He looks to Tony for his guidance, but Tony pretty much blows him off as well. The only person who Tony wants is Stephanie and she keeps him at arm’s length, which frustrates Tony.

Through the movie Tony becomes more disillusioned with his station and life. He realizes he is in a head nowhere job at the paint store and his friends are headed nowhere. Finally the breaking point comes after the dance contest. After watching the other Hispanic couple on the dance floor, he thinks that they were better than he and Stephanie. He loses it, even though Stephanie and he won, because he always thought he was he best dancer. And if he wasn’t the best, there was nothing left for him. Then the death of Bobby seals the deal and he goes to Stephanie and let’s her know that he’s ready to move on in life and wants her friendship to help see it through.

Shaft

Shaft was my first Blaxploitation movie. I found it interesting hearing about the times and how these movies were some of the moneymakers for the studios, while traditional films were not holding up in the theaters.

In the opening, we see Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree, walking the streets and he seems to be at one with his environment. Unlike Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, Shaft is at home with where he is. Also like Taxi Driver, the city is a character in itself. It is filled with creatures of the night that give the movie color and life.

Shaft is definitely a rebel who plays by his own rules, although he still has a loose connection with the law in Vic Androzzi, played by Charles Cioffi. I really liked the Vic Androzzi character. I like the understanding he has with Shaft and knows that Shaft has to do things by his own rules, but let’s Shaft know there are always still rules.

I feel like this movie has leveled the playing field between blacks and whites. Shaft is able to beat the Italian mob and essentially tell the police where they can stick their rules. In other words, Shaft is able to stick it to the man. But it’s not just Shaft who gives black people power. Bumpy Jonas, played by Moses Gunn, is also a black man to be reckoned with, even though Shaft deals with Bumpy’s men. Bumpy’s character leads us to believe that he has so much money, that he doesn’t care what it takes to get his daughter back from the mob.

Taxi Driver

Here is a movie I’m surprised I hadn’t seen yet. I mean, who doesn’t know the phrase “You talkin’ to me?” But I was looking forward to finally seeing Martin Scorsese’s Taxi driver and it didn’t disappoint.

I think one of the main characters in the film is the city itself. During much of the film, we are shown the perspective of Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro, and how he views the city. The people on the street, ladies of the night, pimps, and hoodlums–it makes him feel dirty and all he wants is someone to come and wash it clean. I have felt the same thing many times myself. Sometimes I see the evil in people all over the world and wish that something would come and just clean all the evil and cruelty away.

Travis starts off as a relatively normal person, but eventually the world he lives in drives him to extremes. When he starts buying guns and plotting to kill Senator Charles Palantine, played by Leonard Harris, you’re not 100% sure exactly why because the only interaction between him and the senator seemed to be good and the senator was nothing but attentive to what he had to say. It could be that Travis wanted to save Betsy, played by Cybill Shepherd. Or it could be he starts to see the senator as what’s dirty in the city, or maybe his failure to clean up the city.

I really felt bad though when Travis takes Betsy to the dirty movie on their date. I was surprised when she agreed to meet him for coffee and was happy that she gave him a chance. So for the whole thing to be blown due to a bit of ignorance was disappointing. But I guess it was necessary, as it seemed to be the starting point to his unraveling.

The Big Shave

This was such a surprising short film. I wasn’t sure what the point to Martin Scorsese’s The Big Shave was at first. OK, a guy shaving. He looks normal enough. What’s the…..oh! Oh my lord! I usually have a strong tolerance for gore in movies, but even this made me squirm in my seat a little.

After seeing it, I understood why Scorsese used the alternate title Viet 67. Much like Vietnam, it started off clean and simple and thought you knew what was going on. But then it got bloody and out of hand, it wasn’t so simple anymore. It was a mess and the reasons that seemed so clear before were now blurred.

Also I thought it was a good point to talk about the juxtaposition between what was happening on screen and the music that went along with it. Usually the music to go along with something so brutal would be much more dramatic, but the music in the film was old timey and happy. It just added to the confusion of what was happening on screen.

Jaws

This is the first movie I’ve already seen before. In fact, I’ve seen it several times. Now that I think about it, probably a hundred times with how often it has been run on television. But it’s still very watchable. Why is that?

I think the trio of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw was some top-notch acting. I found it interesting in the readings from Easy Rider, Raging Bulls, that Richard Dreyfuss had turned down the role of Matt Hooper three times, but then after seeing himself in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and thinking how terrible his performance was, that he called and begged Speilberg him for the job. The dynamic between the three, especially when they are on the boat after the shark, is captivating.

Then there’s the music. One of the most classic theme’s in movie history. Duh-dun. Duh-Dun. Once you’ve seen the movie, you’ll never forget what that theme is from. But there’s more to it than that and it really should be no surprise. John Williams is one of the most renowned composers of our time. As I watched the film this time around, I realized that there is a certain musical style to a Speilberg film. Upon doing some research it made more sense. I discovered that John Williams has done the music for all but two of Speilberg’s films (the two movies were Duel and The Color Purple.)

I think one of the things that makes this film is the suspense. They movie slowly unravels and you are a good way through the film before you even see a fin, more or less the whole shark. You are left guessing for a while what this man-eater looks like and how big it is. They also do a good job using the camera to give you a view from the shark’s angle. When the shark is swimming through the water, hunting for the next victim and you see the swimmer’s legs, you just want to jump into the movie and scream for them to swim the hell out of there!

I also liked the irony of the ending. The great shark hunter, Sam Quint, is eaten by the shark and the non-islander, Martin Brody, is the one who ultimately serves the shark his last supper–a compressed air tank.

Speaking of the tank, the film did a great job of foreshadowing by showing the tank in a few scenes, but never really realizing how important the tank would really be.

The Conversation

Finally! Here is a movie that we audio-geeks can get into. The Conversation, starring Gene Hackman, is based around the character Harry Caul. Harry is in the business of surveillance and is the “best on the West Coast,” according to his associate.

The movie opens with Harry and his associates trying to capture a “big, fat recording” of two characters walking around a square in San Francisco, but because each surveillance point cannot capture the full conversation without some interference. It is not until Harry returns to his lab to compile the recordings from the different angles into one coherent recording that we get to hear the full conversation that took place. For me, as an audio person, this was fascinating to watch. Not only how Harry spliced the recordings together, but the equipment he used was really a blast from the past. Sometimes we get so spoiled with computers and modern technology, we need to be reminded how it used to be done.

When Harry returns to his apartment and we see the lengths he goes through to secure his apartment, you start to see the irony of how someone who is in the business of peering into others lives is such a private person himself.

When Harry and his associates return from the convention to Harry’s lab and he and the woman wander off by themselves, I started to notice something. The way the camera pans over them the same way over and over again reminded me of a surveillance camera. You can see this method used in other parts of the film as well, like at the end after Harry has torn apart his apartment and is sitting playing his saxophone, the camera angle moves back and forth much like a surveillance camera would. This motif of repetition is a theme that Coppola says he wanted to explore in this film. The theme of repetition is also used in the film as the recording is played over and over again throughout the film, each time a little bit of discovery is made. We start to have an idea of what the ultimate outcome of Harry’s work will be.

We see the guilt eating away at Harry for an incident in his past and that he doesn’t want this job to be the cause for someone to get hurt again. He starts to have second thoughts about turning in the recording to the director, but is deceived and the recordings stolen from him that he guarded so closely. Desperate to keep the woman from getting hurt, he checks in to the hotel where he thinks she may be murdered. But in typical 70s film fashion where things are not what they seem, he soon discovers that the victim was not going to be the woman, but the director himself.

At the end of the film, Harry is playing his saxophone, when he receives a phone call telling him that they know that he knows the truth behind the death of the husband and that they will be watching him. They then prove it by playing a recording of Harry playing the saxophone from just moments earlier. Harry rips apart his apartment trying to find out how they bugged his apartment, but after literally ripping his place apart, cannot figure out how and the “best on the West Coast” is now a victim himself. We are left with Harry playing his saxophone, but for the first time, he is playing without the stereo. His privacy and paranoia has left him truly alone.

The Parallax View

I have to be honest, even after watching The Parallax view, I was left confused. I wasn't sure if it was me and I missed some key things along the way or just wasn't getting it, but all the pieces weren't neatly fitting together for me. So had to go to the internet and refresh myself on what it is exactly that I just saw.

Upon doing a bit of research, I found that I did see all the major points to the story and am a bit more clear how all the events strung together. So what was keeping me from putting it all together? I think it was a lack of a resolution. And I think maybe that was the goal of the movie, there is no resolution. You either accept what you are given and move on, or you stop and ask "What really just happened here?" Maybe I was expecting them to wrap it all up into a nice tidy little package, tied with a bow and served up on a silver platter like some of the films of today. But that clearly isn't the style of some of the films of the 70s. Not only that, but they make you wait for it.

You are never really told why the Senator in the beginning was assassinated in the first place, so already the story is shrouded in mystery. Then when the panel come-on and declares it the work of a one gunman, which we all see it clearly isn't, the hole of mystery deepens even more. So OK, it was the work of a lone gunman. Everybody accepts it and goes on. So why start killing all the witnesses? Why now, so much time later? OK, The Parallax Corporation, they're in the business of finding and training assassins. Who is hiring these guys? The shroud of mystery continues.

The montage scene was a intense scene. When it started, it seemed pretty black and white with imagery and word making sense. But then when the words and images start twisting and suddenly, there is no sensible relation between the two, you are left with one thought – nothing is what it seems. And this relates to this movie in a big, big way. Lone gunman? Nope. Town sheriff? Nuh-uh. Typical corporation? Not even close. You think you've got them fooled into thinking you're an assassin? Guess again, you're the patsy. Even the music of the film with its combination of patriotism blended with overtones of a suspense thriller. Nope, with The Parallax View, nothing is what it seems. I guess that's why they call it The Parallax View. Because when you're looking through the eyes of The Parallax Corp, you're not really sure what you're seeing, or not seeing.

My Dear Wife...I've Killed

In the story "My Dear Wife…I've killed", I was really taken back by some of the stories within the story. When he thinks the airport is under attack and he's "going to get it the first day," but it turns out the airport hasn't been attacked for months-what a mindf**k! Or how long it took for his request to get through the system and he was a desk jockey by the time it got back to him-his own desk and had to compose an official army response-to himself! I thought it so sad reading of the story of the kid, the dog handler, who was assigned to work with Charlie company and been shot to death. His dog didn't leave his side till he was "dragged away." So sad.

Also, this is actually the first time I really understand what napalm is. I thought it was just a type of bomb, but it's actually a substance that sticks to human flesh and keeps burning till it burns itself out-brutal!

When I hear stories about Vietnam, I often think back to the early 90's. I was in a band with a drummer, Jim Haggerman, who was a bit older than the rest of us and had been to Vietnam. He surely had problems caused by his time in the war. But one day he said to me something like, "You probably would have been alright over there. You're calm and have ahead on your shoulders and probably would have survived." I often wonder if that's true. Bullets and bombs don't care how smart or dumb you are. If you get in the path of one, your gonna get it. I miss Jim and wish I knew how he was doing today.

Coming Home

I really enjoyed Coming Home and feel it is movie we have watched so far. I think the first film I ever saw Voight in was a movie called The Champ, another 70’s film (1979.) Most recently he plays a bad guy in the television series 24. Obviously he is much younger in this film.

I thought Voight’s and Jane Fonda’s acting was both superb. Even when it was just at the way they looked at each other, the silence spoke a thousand words. Reminds me of the scene where the brother was talking to his sister outside the hospital and mention that they just had a conversation without speaking.

I thought the opening of the movie was very interesting, the way they kept on going back and forth between a healthy man running and a vet hospital where a majority of the vets were unable to walk. It was quite a contrast and you knew they were setting you up for something.

I think that Bruce Dern’s character doesn’t kill himself. I think he just strips himself of all the weight he is carrying and begins a journey to start over, fresh and free from the horror he brought back with him. Although it would be ironic, that the man who was not able to walk ever again was able to figure out a way to cope and the man who we see excited to go and still come back with the ability to live a normal life, take its toll enough to where he does kill himself.

In the end, the healthy, gun ho man we see running in the beginning is now broken and shattered by his experience in the war and the man who was unable to walk and bitter was now able to cope with his place after the war.

I liked the way the last scene ends with Fonda’s character opening the door and it says “out” the film ends immediately after that.

The Long Goodbye

Before even seeing the film, my first thoughts were that I was interested to see Elliot Gould in a role when he is a younger man. Upon doing some research, I found that I probably saw him for the first time when I saw Capricorn One as a kid, but I didn't know who any actors really were back then. I guess I am used to seeing him in more recent films as a bit older than when this movie was made.

As the movie opens, I immediately took a liking to Marlowe because he seemed to really care about his cat, in a Marlowe kind of way, even going to the store in the wee hours of the morning to get the cat his favorite brand of cat food! Love it.

Marlowe's laid back personality is something I can relate to. I have often been told that I am a very laid back individual and so is he. Maybe more so. I mean, he lives across the way from a group of girls who are half-naked most of the time and doesn't really blink an eye.

I was a bit tired the day we watched the film, so I wasn't at full speed and the plot seemed to lose me. But upon reviewing the plot synopsis, I can see what was going on. But Atlman, definitely took time to give the characters personality that one can't forget like Marty's breaking of the bottle over his girlfriends face or the drunken Roger Wade, who eventually walks into the ocean and ends his life.

There is definitely some charm in the wit of the movie. I really like Marlowe, his chain smoking and all, as he smart mouths detectives or when he gives the directions to the gangster who is supposed to be watching him at his place.

I'm not sure I'm analyzing this, but I thought it odd but hilarious that at one point in the film the camera focuses in on 2 dogs humping. ?Also it was a treat to get to see Schwarzanegger in an early role.

First Up...Jack

The 70's eh? Well, one thing I've got on most of the students at Flashpoint is that I was actually alive during the 70's! But since I was born in 1971, my experience in the 70's was Batman (Adam West-style), Spiderman (the old cartoons ruled!), The Monkees, etc. But I did have the chance to see some classics in the theater like Star Wars, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, and Grease to name a few. I literally think I saw Star Wars about 20 times at the theater (my dad was writing his thesis paper at the time and would send my mom off with us to the theater for some peace and quiet, we all won there!) As for Close Encounters, some kids who were leaving the theater pointed at me on the way out saying I looked like the boy from the film, which freaked me out!

But I'm sure the films we will be watching weren't exactly on the list to take a young man of age to see. Any commentary the film industry were trying to make then would have been lost on me anyways. But I do want to know, what was going on out there in that turbulent time?

Five Easy Pieces was not what I expected. I didn't know what to expect actually, but having seen Nicholson in numerous films, I thought I had an idea of what I'd see, but I was wrong. I was expecting a sudden plot twist that would send Jack into psycho-Jack mode. But what the film turned out to be was just a story of man who didn't know what he wanted, just not what he had. He was a man who didn't want to be tied down. Free to move where and when he wanted. I felt sorry for his girlfriend because she seemed to be really dedicated to him, but he treated her like dirt more often than he didn't.

I did particularly enjoy 2 parts of the movie. The ramblings of the hitch-hiker as she went on and on about how dirty everything was. I wanted to shoot her, but it was so funny how they edited that. The diner scene was fun as well and how he finally was able to get her to realize how silly the waitress was being by not allowing him to have toast, but she would have none of that would she!

One thing I did notice as a Recording Arts person was the sound was very inconsistent and poor in numerous sections of the film, even leading to a dis-agreement at the end whether Jack's character actually says he is headed to Alaska.

As I dove into the readings, I really had no idea what to expect as I never really delved into the film culture of any decade, so it did take me surprise to read about how much of the hippie type culture and drug culture found it's way into the offices of these movie companies. And it was interesting reading about the exploits of one Dennis Hopper. After reading all the kaos behind Easy Rider and the battle between Fonda and Hopper and how the movie was such a success in spite of all that, I am lookin forward to seeing this film quite a bit more.

Actaully, it seems that both Easy Rider and Bonnie and Clyde took people by surprise as the powers that be didn't quite expect the success that they achieved.