For my formal film studies project, I chose to watch three counter-culture films from the 60-70s. I chose
The Graduate(1967),
Easy Rider(1969), and
Foxy Brown(1974). I chose these three films because they were turning points in cinematic history that faced controversial issues such as freedom, affairs, drugs, civil rights, racism, and worries about the future. These three films were all mainly independent films, which was a new uprising in the late 60s and 70s.
The first movie I watched was
The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin, Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, and Katharine Ross as Elaine. This film follows Benjamin in his endeavors to find himself after completing college. His father wants him to go to graduate school, but he's incredibly worried about his future. Mrs. Robinson, a family friend, asks Benjamin to drive her home one night and then proceeds to seduce him. From then on, the two of them are having an interesting affair. Mr. Robinson insists that Ben takes his daughter, Elaine Robinson, out on a date, but Mrs. Robinson absolutely does not want that. Benjamin ends up taking her on a date and eventually falls in love with her. He follows her back to college even after Mrs. Robinson lies to her daughter and says that Benjamin took advantage of her. Elaine, still infatuated with Benjamin, first tries to avoid him, but finds herself coming back to him. Benjamin goes in and crashes her wedding, and the two of them run off in the end. This movie is famously known as the counterculture film of the era. It uses a lot of cinematography (Mike Nichols was the cinematographer) through lighting and shot composition on the characters, especially Benjamin. The entire film mainly consists of shots of Ben. The shots of Ben are mainly close-ups and either long or short shots. They are shot to convey his psyche throughout the film, which is majorly anxious and frantic. This movie is known as the countercultural film of the era due to its realism. It is the first movie to address the distortion of superficial living, and focuses on the life of Ben, who feels so isolated and alone. Specific scenes where the cinematography was especially emphasized was during the cocktail party thrown for Ben after returning from college. The camera is close and following Ben, which emphasizes the claustrophobic feelings he's having as relatives and people are smothering him.
Another huge element of this movie that makes it different than anything before is the soundtrack. Mike Nichols used Simon & Garfunkel's song "The Sound of Silence" many times in the movie during filming, and then chose to leave it as The Graduate's main song, along with "Mrs. Robinson," which became a huge hit after this movie was made, although the song never actually is in the movie.
The second movie I watched was
Easy Rider. This movie starred Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholsan, and was also directed by Dennis Hopper and written by him and Peter Fonda.
Easy Rider is about two "hippie" bikers that are biking across the country to find freedom and eventually reach New Orleans for Mardi Gras. There are a lot of drugs, countercultural issues, intolerance, and sexual content involved along the way on this personal oddysey in which the partners try to find freedom. On the journey they encounter a lot of bigotry, hatred, and intolerance, towards their non-conformity. This is especially present when they try to get into motels to stay at during the night, but can't. Also when they encounter rednecks and degenerates insulting them in a small diner in the South. There isn't much of a specified "plot" in this film. It tends to be more of a chaotic, experimental film that tries to grasp many political and social issues. It deals a lot with defining freedom, and what it truly means to be free. It then proceeds to challenge what the American Dream truly is and how one can ever be free with the boundaries that society and the establishment have put up around you. George Hanson, played by Jack Nicholsan, a liberal alcoholic lawyer who becomes the most notable friend of the partners on their journey, makes this freedom concept very clear to Billy one night
about why they aren't tolerated. George says to Billy one night at the fire on their way to New Orleans, "Oh, yeah, that's right. That's what's it's all about, all right. But talkin' about it and bein' it, that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, 'cause then they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em. " This quote and part in the movie is my favorite. This makes it the ultimate counterculture film of this era and I personally really liked this movie. The jump-shots and other cinematatography elements make this movie really interesting and different. They used a lot of different cinematography that I haven't seen in movies before. According to Dennis Hopper, all shots were shot outside using natural lighting. He said outdoor shooting was intentional because "God is great gaffer." The most interesting use of cinematography in the film I thought was the way they portrayed Mardi Gras when they finally arrived. The filming throughout the streets was grainy and almost documentary-style. They used a low-budget, and tried to portray the gritty realism there. I liked how they did it. I also like the interesting way they shot the cemetery scenes where the partners and two prostitutes trip on LSD with them. It was just music and a lot of flashing scenes and noises, then more repeated shots, jump shots over and over agin. It definitely fit the trippy vibe they were going for. Another huge countercultural element of this film was the usage of a classic-rock soundtrack, which is similar to
The Graduate.
The next film I watched was a lot different than the other two:
Foxy Brown. This film was a "B" film, while the other two were both "A." This film addresses race, as it is predominately an African American film. Pam Grier plays the lead role as "Foxy Brown" and is described as "a whole lot of woman." This movie was much different than the other two, as it was a lot lower budget, and didn't directly address the counterculture scene as much. Foxy Brown is portrayed as a sex symbol and does many provocative things throughout the film that would not be considered acceptable. The main storyline is she takes the role as a "high class prostitute" to get revenge on the mobsters that murdered her government agent boyfriend. It deals a lot with justice, and the whole idea of getting revenge on her own is very anti-establishment. The villains in this film, coincidentally are white, which is a subtle racial testing movement. Overall, I didn't like this movie as much, but it still was interesting,
