Neo-70s Renaissance

[King Prendergast]

Many have no doubt noticed the recent influx of American films which seem to be conscious throwbacks to the second "golden age" of Hollywood, the mythic days of the 1970s, the days of paranoia and panavision, grit and grime, dark shadows and amber light, the days of Coppola, Lumet, Pollack, Pakula, Conrad Hall, Gordon Willis, and Owen Roizman. How many films can you name from the last 5 years or so that you see as part of this trend. Lets list them and their obvious influences. For example Syriana was a take on the complex political films like Three Days of the Condor. Michael Clayton was an obvious throwback to the ambiguous morality of Sydney Lumet's films of the 70s such as Network. We Own the Night was a descendant of The Godfather, The French Connection, Serpico, and Prince of the City. Zodiac, my favorite of the bunch, is All the President's Men: The Serial Killer Verison.
Lets come up with some more neo-70s revivals...

[miless]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a send-up to the 70's revisionist western (like a cross between Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Malick's Days of Heaven), although it does have a decidedly modern take on the tale.

[King Prendergast]

This one may seem very obvious but Soderbergh's Solaris is an update of Tarkovsky's Solaris, but also filtered through aesthetic tropes of American sci-fi and 70s cinema in general. It should be noted that Soderbergh seems to be the one spearheading this 70s revival with many of the key participants, Tony Gilroy, James Gray, David Fincher, having a Soderbergh connection. His upcoming Che films will no doubt have a strong 70s vibe. Can't wait.

[frostyak]

In some ways, I got that feeling from Batman Begins.

[Belmondo]

Okay, I'm in. I'll bring the chicks, you get the coke. Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999. Got a bunch of young Turk director buddies with new ideas plenty of attitude. Corman let them borrow a camera over the weekend and they claim to know what they're doing. The studio system is dead and so is the production code, so roll camera, take your clothes off, say "fuck" as often as possible, and duck for cover because that blood splatter seems to be going everywhere.
And knock off that "Renaissance" crap. We're still here and we're still making great movies.

[domino harvey]

God only knows. 2007 was such a great year and it's because studios are starting to give untested talents slightly freer reign, much like in the 70s, so it's not coincidental that we're finally seeing films of that ilk. Compound that with trying to shake off another Vietnam and all the ducks are in a row for a repeat of sorts

[Awesome Welles]

Isn't it just a particular batch of directors? 2007 was certainly a great year but Paul Thomas Anderson's films have harked back to the seventies before and not just in the period set...

[flyonthewall2983]

If the music business went along the same lines, then we'd really have something...

[King Prendergast]

Okay, I'm in. I'll bring the chicks, you get the coke. Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999. Got a bunch of young Turk director buddies with new ideas plenty of attitude. Corman let them borrow a camera over the weekend and they claim to know what they're doing. The studio system is dead and so is the production code, so roll camera, take your clothes off, say "fuck" as often as possible, and duck for cover because that blood splatter seems to be going everywhere.
And knock off that "Renaissance" crap. We're still here and we're still making great movies.

what does this mean, exactly...

Certainly PTA's films from the beginning have been inspired by certain 70s films Altman in particular, but the sudden swell in the 70s aesthetic seems to be a new phenomenon

[miless]

If the music business went along the same lines, then we'd really have something...

well, at least among 'indie' music, the 70's are making a resurgence. Even Prog-rock is coming back in style (look at Battles).

[Polybius]

These are all very positive development for me.

It should be noted that Soderbergh seems to be the one spearheading this 70s revival

I think his interest in, and knowledge of, cinematic history manifested itself in a Bogdonovichian manner (for good or ill) in The Good German.

[domino harvey]

I've always considered Soderbergh a very Bogdanovich-esque director just in how both filmmakers are clearly cinephiles of the highest order.

[Polybius]

Luckily Steve's married to a beautiful woman who actually realizes that she's not an actress.

[pianocrash]

Half Nelson struck me as a riff on a film like One On One, both character driven studies of people stuck in the unfortunate situations by their need to succeed and unwillingness to compromise themselves. I know that Robby Benson is merely a footnote when it comes to the free-wheeling 70's, but the essence of that film is something rare, and is worth a revisit. And maybe Sugar will be more singular in that similarity, this year.

Another film that immediately comes to mind is Todd Field's Little Children, a film that, I think, drew a fair amount of vitriol for playing too close to the now standard dislocation-at-home dodge & parry, one that began to take shape as a result of the loosening morals of that particular era. While others saw it as preening awards-bait, I couldn't help but wish for a less hostile reception, maybe if it had been released during, I dunno, Easter weekend, 2006.

[bradass]

This is something I've been thinking about for a little while too. Auteur-driven cinema seems to be more present in the mainstream than it has for quite a while. The Oscar win for No Country for Old Men is somewhat reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde - a abruptly violent and bizarrely successful film taking Best Picture. With Scorsese finally winning last year, it almost seems like a passing of the torch. The question is, which directors will be leading this neo-New Hollywood movement? I might just be overexcited, but I have a feeling that Nolan's The Dark Knight is going to be a watershed.

[flyonthewall2983]

Brick to me had this really cool vibe that was a like a low-fi Dirty Harry or French Connection, but set in High School. For that alone, Rian Johnson is definitely a worthy mention and it'll be interesting to how this applies to his next film.

[domino harvey]

Well, and this is probably the least of that post's problems, Brick isn't a studio film

The Oscar win for No Country for Old Men is somewhat reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde - a abruptly violent and bizarrely successful film taking Best Picture.

Except that Bonnie and Clyde lost Best Picture to In the Heat of the Night.

[Polybius]

I think my feelings about Anderson are well known and I won't rehash them.

James Cox's Wonderland is another contender. I haven't seen any of his other films but that one is an underappreciated gem. Very well made (apart from Dylan McDermott's ludicrous beard) without being showy, at least to my eyes.

[a.khan]

Interesting topic. Off the top of my head...

Gray's "The Yards"
Ratliff's "Joshua"
Frank's "The Lookout"
Spielberg's "Munich"

[King Prendergast]

Marie Antoinette, which is something of a guilty pleasure, is a mashup of Malick and Barry Lyndon.

These are all very positive development for me.

It should be noted that Soderbergh seems to be the one spearheading this 70s revival

I think his interest in, and knowledge of, cinematic history manifested itself in a Bogdonovichian manner (for good or ill) in The Good German.

This is a good discussion of The Good German.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

James Cox's Wonderland is another contender. I haven't seen any of his other films but that one is an underappreciated gem. Very well made (apart from Dylan McDermott's ludicrous beard) without being showy, at least to my eyes.

Yeah, this film stayed with me long after I watched. I usually can't stand Val Kilmer but he was pretty damn good in this one. Also nice to see Lisa Kudrow in a serious role fer a change. I also enjoyed Josh Lucas' freaky performance, always on edge, full of twitches and drug-fueled bravado.

[Polybius]

James Cox's Wonderland is another contender. I haven't seen any of his other films but that one is an underappreciated gem. Very well made (apart from Dylan McDermott's ludicrous beard) without being showy, at least to my eyes.

Yeah, this film stayed with me long after I watched. I usually can't stand Val Kilmer but he was pretty damn good in this one.

That's exactly how I felt. Every ten years or so, he bothers to show up and turns in a top notch performance.

I also enjoyed Josh Lucas' freaky performance, always on edge, full of twitches and drug-fueled bravado.

"I got my guns back!!"

Lucas and the always dependable Tim Blake Nelson are both really great, a couple of my favorite crusty guy character actors (M.C. Gainey and Ted Levine) turn up and we get a full tilt dose of Eric Bogosian. Good, good stuff.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

That's exactly how I felt. Every ten years or so, he bothers to show up and turns in a top notch performance.

True! Altho, he's had a decent run in the past few years with this film, Spartan and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Go figure.

Lucas and the always dependable Tim Blake Nelson are both really great, a couple of my favorite crusty guy character actors (M.C. Gainey and Ted Levine) turn up and we get a full tilt dose of Eric Bogosian.

Definitely. I always dug Bogosian's work ever since Talk Radio. And you are certainly right about Gainey and Levine. It was so cool to see Gainey get a semi-regular role on Lost and Levine always pops up in small but memorable roles - Heat, Crime Story, etc.

There's a fascinating article over at the Atlantic about how this film and ones like Syriana are bringing back the '70s paranoid thriller.

[King Prendergast]

There's a fascinating article over at the Atlantic about how this film and ones like Syriana are bringing back the '70s paranoid thriller.

This article stole the idea of this thread! But its the bastard working at that glossy middlebrow rag The Atlantic that gets paid for it while we are far out ahead of societal evolution. Anyway, the article recapitulates many of the points made here and lists many of the films already cited, while adding the neo-70s revival of horror films, which I don't don't care a wit for. I would have mentioned American Gangster as the author does if I didn't think it was a horrible film. Strangely the author focuses on Iraq as the main force behind this 70s revival, while pointing out the similarities and differences with Vietnam and the 70s, with nary a mention of the policies of the home-front. I would argue that the Orwellian police-state tactics of the Bush administration post 9/11 has more to do with this neo-70s influx. The eroding of personal liberties, pervasiveness of surveillance, and stifling of dissent of the past 7 years seems to be of greater concern than our Mesopotamian crusade, it has produced better movies in any event. Spielberg's Minority Report and Tony Scott's Deja Vu are two brilliant critiques of the rise of a surveillance society in the digital age. They both also feature wonderfully subtle, yet complex, meta-cinematic sequences which explore film theoryish aspects of editing, narration, and point of view.

[King Prendergast]

Good interview with James Gray which touches on the neo-70s movement. http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/featu ... esgray.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;