• How prominent was the director?

• What was industry looking for?

• How did this reconfigure investment in film(s)?

INTERNATIONAL FILM  MOVEMENTS 1958-1970 Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesTODAY ❖ Czechoslovakia (Czech) New Wave • ❖ Third Cinema ❖ Indian Cinema • Bollywood • Parallel CinemaCZECH NEW WAVE ❖ Reacted to the Communist regime in place since 1948 ❖ CNW directors felt the regime was brutal & oppressive • Socialist-Realism  ❖ Directors studied at: • Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague  (FAMU)CNW AESTHETICS ❖ Long unscripted dialogue ❖ Bleak/absurd humor ❖ Casting of non-professional actorsCNW DIRECTORS ❖ Milos Forman • The Fireman’s Ball (1967) ❖ Věra Chytilová • Daisies (1966) ❖ Jan Nemec • Diamonds of the Night (1964)THIRD CINEMA ❖ Third World politics (1945 - ) • Countries w/ colonial pasts in Africa, Latin America, South America • Countries NOT aligned w/… • U.S. and its Cold War allies • USSR and its Cold War Allies  ❖ Third Cinema • Coined by Argentinean filmmakers Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino • Primarily a Latin-American movementTHIRD CINEMA ❖ Reject: • Hollywood “mass art”, European “art cinema” • Capitalism  • Neocolonialism • Technical sophistication  • Films that do not portray the struggles of everyday peoplesTHIRD CINEMA ❖ Goals • Politically enlighten • Expose exploitative conditions • Help create the conditions for revolution • Use film as a voice for the masses (everyday people) • Create films free from censoring bodies  ❖ Hour of the Furnaces (1968) ( 0:00 – 1:20)INDIAN CINEMA ❖ World’s most prolific producer of films ❖ Films in many languages: • Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, and Tamil ❖ Popular in other countries, due to cross-culture relevancy  ❖ Post 1948 (freedom from British rule) • Indian cinema takes off • Parallel Cinema (India’s “independent film”)BOLLYWOOD ❖ Bollywood = Hindi films (based in Mumbai)  ❖ NOT synonymous with Indian Cinema ❖ Today: One of world’s largest film production centersBOLLYWOOD AESTHETICS ❖ Theatricality/Music/Dancing (classical, historical, folk) ❖ Picturisation • Hero & heroine sing & dance a duet • Staged with lush natural surroundings or grand opulent environments ❖ Item Number • Song and dance sequence often unrelated to the plot • Often performed by an attractive young girlBOLLYWOOD AESTHETICS ❖ Picturisation • Om Shanti Om (2007) ❖ Item Number • Double Dhamaal (2011)PARALLEL CINEMA ❖ An independent film movement in India ❖ Runs “parallel” to mainstream Indian and Bollywood films ❖ Heavily influenced by Italian NeorealismPARALLEL CINEMA ❖ Primary attributes:  • Serious content and tone • realism and naturalism • Use of symbolism to express sociopolitical concerns • rejection of picturisationPARALLEL CINEMA ❖ Satyajit Ray • Apu trilogy:  • Pather Panchali (1955) • Aparajito (1956)  • Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959) • Two (1964)CONTEMPORARY  KOREAN CINEMA Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesKOREAN CINEMA ❖ Korean War: 1950 - 1953 ❖ 1967: established screen quota • minimum number of screening days of domestic films each year  • protect the nation’s films • South Korea: 146 days ❖ 1999: economic boom in Korea ❖ 2006: screen quota reduced to 73 days ❖ 2007: Free Trade Agreement w/ The United States • more opportunity for investment in Korean filmsS HIRI (1999) ❖ Budget: Appriximately $3-$4 million  • Largest ever budget at that time • Grossed: $26.5 million ❖ Sold more than 6 million tickets • More than the approximate 4 million who saw Titanic ❖ Kickstarts the Korean blockbuster trend, impacts narrative…NARRATIVE ❖ Korean films historically used an episodic narrative structure • Think of it this way… • A comedy film made of 12 short sitcoms ❖ Shiri • Fast-paced, contemporary narrative • More classical Hollywood than Korean episodic • Borrows: deadlines, causality, redundancy • This deviation helped make Shiri – and subsequent blockbusters – “events”KOREAN BLOCKBUSTERS ❖ After Shiri… • Joint Security Area (2000) • Friend (2001) • Silmido (2003) • Taeguki (2004) • The Host (2006) ❖ Korea now has its own blockbuster economyKOREAN BLOCKBUSTERS ❖ Adopts some Hollywood conventions • Tighter narratives (classical style) • Heavy reliance on genres: action, sci-fi, war, disaster ❖ Distinctive Korean approach • Appeal to a sense of shared history (The North-South divide ) ❖ Historical events (Korea) as pre-sold identities (U.S.)DIRECTORS ❖ Bong Joon-ho • The Host (2006) • Snowpiercer (2014) ❖ Park Chan-Wook • Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance  (2002) • Oldboy (2003) • Sympathy for Lady Vengeance ❖ Kim Jee Woon • The Good, The Bad, The Weird  (2008) • I Saw The Devil (2010)RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ❖ Hollywood studios begin to make local Korean films • 2014: Warner Bros. , Fox ❖ U.S.-Korean co-productions • Snowpiercer (2014)BLOCKBUSTERS Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesORIGINS ❖ Think back to… • End of block booking • How did this reconfigure investment in film(s)? ❖ New Hollywood Cinema • What was industry looking for? • How prominent was the director? CHARACTERISTICS ❖ High economic investment • Technology (special effects) • Film as a commercial product • As opposed to artistic expression ❖ Spectacularity • A “must-see” movie • Film becomes more of a cultural event • Driven by heavy promotion, marketing, and merchandisingTENT POLES ❖ Blockbusters intended to support the economy of an entire studio • Cucco: 1/5 films • Maltby: ½ films ❖ Important means of bringing in ancillary $$$ • Merchandise  • TV syndication rightsHIGH CONCEPT ❖ Plots/stories easy for studios to market (easily summarized) ❖ Characters/narrative easily understood by audience ❖ Often made/edited based on audience research ❖ Imagery that summarizes/sells the film (next slide) ❖ Franchising (sequels, spin-offs)COMPAREHIGH CONCEPTPRE-SOLD IDENTITIES ❖ Subjects/stories already familiar to audiences ❖ Other media • Books (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter) • Comics (Superman, Batman, Avengers) • Television (Mission: Impossible, Miami Vice) • Games (Battleship, Resident Evil) • Other (Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers) ❖ Film itself (remakes, reboots)DISTRIBUTION  ❖ Saturation Booking • No more slow build • Largest number of theaters in the opening weekend ❖ Opening Weekend • Concentrate advertising costs • Minimize debates about the film’s “quality” • Reduce danger of competition • WindowingOTHER DEVELOPMENTS ❖ Transnational • More imagery, less words = more translatable to other countries • Tendencies of science-fiction/action films ❖ Role of TV • Trailers  • Promotion • Syndication JAWS ❖ What is the high concept? ❖ Is it a pre-sold identity? ❖ Did it become a franchise? ❖ Is it a film or a movie? Art or entertainment? JAWS ❖ Promotional strategy • $1.8 million in marketing; $700,000 on TV ads  • Two 30-second ads each night in days leading up to release • Ad firm spend 6 months designing the poster • Merchandise (towels, books, water sleepwear, etc.) ❖ TV spot ❖ Highest-grossing film of all time, at time of its release STEVEN SPIELBERG  ❖ Saved the film from utter disaster ❖ Demonstrated films can be financially successful & reflect a level of  quality ❖ Jaws helped pave the ways for Star Wars… ❖ …and no shortage of criticismBLAXPLOITATION Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesEXPLOITATION FILMS ❖ “Exploits” current trends or lurid subject matter • Often synonymous w/ “B” movies ❖ Drive-ins/Grindhouses ❖ Roger Corman (director/producer) • Dementia 13 (directed by Francis Ford Coppola) • Targets (directed by Peter Bagdonovich) • Boxcar Bertha (directed by Martin Scorsese)SIDNEY POITIER ❖ The Defiant Ones (1958) ❖ A Raisin in the Sun (1961) ❖ Lillies of the Field (1963) ❖ In the Heat of the Night (1967) ❖ Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? (1967)SIDNEY POITIER ❖ James Baldwin (writer and essayist) • Believes Poitier’s portrayal in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner is  complicated • On one hand, more representation of black people on screen • BUT, Baldwin suggests Poitier’s role in this film is to placate white  audiences rather than speak to the black experience • Black audiences believe Poitier was being used against them to  reassure whites. • Poitier – despite being a leading man – is rendered sexually inertBLAXPLOITATION ❖ Generally occurs between 1970-1979 ❖ Can be considered a subgenre of Exploitation Films ❖ Initially targeted young, urban blacks ❖ Becomes relatively popular  ❖ Often produced by Hollywood studiosCHARACTERISTICS ❖ Location: economically depressed, urban neighborhood • When set in Northeast (NYC) or West Coast (LA) ❖ Slavery and interracial marriage/breeding • When set in the South ❖ Music • Funk, soul, up-tempo jazz, (use of the wah-wah bar)“FORMULA” ❖ Central character:  • Pimp or gangster (sometimes both), “macho” man • Menacing, distrustful female ❖ Revenge motif ❖ Antagonist: • White people and the oppressive systems they representMAJOR WORKS ❖ Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) ❖ Shaft (1971) ❖ Superfly (1972) ❖ Cleopatra Jones (1973) ❖ Foxy Brown (1974)GENRE MASHUPS ❖ Blacula (1972), Blackenstein (1973) • Science fiction ❖ Black Mama, White Mama (1972) • Women in prison  ❖ Black Belt Jones (1974) • Martial arts/Chopsocky ❖ The Black Six (1974) • Motorcycle GangsPARODIES ❖ Abby (1974) • Pokes fun at The Exorcist (1973) ❖ The Black Godfather (1974) ❖ Black Shampoo (1976) • Spoofs Warren Beatty’s Shampoo (1975) ❖ Coonskin (1975) • Parodies Disney’s Song of the South (1946)INTERPRETATION ❖ two predominant (and opposing) perspectives on blaxploitation: 1. it empowers blacks • Stars, creative personnel, black neighborhoods (social reality) 2. It furthers stereotypes associated with blacks • Pimps, hustlers, tricksters, oversexed, violentDECLINE ❖ Coalition Against Blaxploitation (CAB) • NAACP, SCLC, NUL • Since 1972 ❖ Repetitive, formulaic  ❖ Crossover films • Attract whites who wouldn’t otherwise be drawn to “black” filmsAFTER 1970S ❖ Blaxploitation influence continues to crop up: • I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) • Jackie Brown (1997) • Black Dynamite (2009) • Animated series (2012)ITALIAN NEOREALISM Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesITALY PRE-WWII ❖ Mussolini takes power in 1922.  ❖ Realizes the power of propaganda and tries to rebuild the Italian  film industry.  ❖ Establishes a national film school in 1936. ❖ Mussolini-subsidized films are very successful. WWII & ITALIAN FILM ❖ WWII begins: national cinemas that defined each country collapse.  ❖ Italy’s early surrender manages to save much of the country’s  production facilities. Others were not so lucky. WWII STATS IN EUROPE ❖ Killed 48 million ❖ Created 21 million refugees ❖ 35% of permanent dwellings destroyed ❖ 330 theatres in England destroyed ❖ 60% of film production facilities in Germany destroyed ❖ French film industry decimatedEARLY DEVELOPMENTS ❖ Cinema magazine  • run by Mussolini’s son  • Thus, its writers were prevented from writing about politics ❖ Cinema writers  • Critical of Telefoni Bianchi  • (films that tended to be socially conservative) • Among the Cinema writers was…CESARE ZAVATTINI❖ 1942 –calls for a new type of cinema.  ❖ Zavattini wanted a cinema which would  • destroy contrived plots • remove professional actors  • establish contact with social reality ❖ Neorealism was created out of Zavattini’s ideas and was quickly  heralded as the new cinema.  NEOREALISM❖Three basics tenets: • Portray real or everyday people, using nonprofessional actors in  real settings • Examine socially significant themes • Promote the “organic” development of situations--the “real flow  of life”--in which complications are rarely resolved NEOREALISM❖Zavattini: • “Identification with the common man in the crowd.” • “Take dialogue and actors from the street.” • “Reality in American films is unnaturally filtered.” ❖Compare w/ Classic Hollywood Style • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NWkq4HiQcg VITTORIA DE SICA ❖ Frequent collaborator w/Zavattini • Shoeshine (1945)  • The Bicycle Thief (1946) • Umberto D. (1954) • Two Women (1961) • Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) • The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)ROBERTO ROSSELLINI ❖ The Fascist period (1941-1944): • Rossellini's formative period as a film maker was under fascism  (Mussolini’s reign). He started his directorial career with three  fascist propaganda features: • La nave bianca (The White Ship) (1941) U • Un piloto ritorna (A Pilot Returns) (1942)  • L'uomo della crocce (The Man with the Cross) (1943)ROBERTO ROSSELLINI ❖ Postwar trilogy (1945-1947):  • Rome, Open City (1945), one of the most important - and  immediate - antifascist films, considered by many the beginning  of Italian neo-Realism.  • This direction was emphasized in his following Paisà (1946) and  Germania, anno zero (1947), is considered the most powerful  anti-war film of his trilogy. ROBERTO ROSSELLINI ❖ Paisan – 1946 ❖ One of the most expensive films – most expensive film of 1946.  ❖ Combined professional and nonprofessional actors again. ❖ Authentic representation of the common people.  ❖ Later films: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFEt_EqqUqANEW HOLLYWOOD  CINEMA 1968-1980 Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesHOLLYWOOD: 1950S ❖ 1950s Hollywood – significant drop in attendance, revenue ❖ Contributing factors:  • Paramount Decision (1949) • Emergence of TV in 1950s • Many costly studio films are huge flops • Emerging technologies (Cinemascope, 3D) fail to attract new  moviegoers1955-1975 ❖ Vietnam War (1955-1975) • Gulf of Tonkin (1964) ❖ Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) • Civil Rights Act (1968) ❖ Women’s Liberation (1960s – 1970s) • Birth Control Pill (approved by FDA for contraception in 1960) ❖ Gay Liberation (1960s – 1980s) • Stonewall Inn (1969)NEW HOLLYWOOD CINEMA ❖ Studios are desperate to turn things around economically ❖ They also notice shifts in culture and film • More college-educated people (and more artistic tastes) • Increasing awareness of foreign films (Italian Neorealism, French New  Wave, Japanese Cinema) • Emerging “counterculture”  ❖ Hollywood studios latch onto artistically-minded directors ❖ Hollywood also wants a film movement to call its ownMOVIE BRATS ❖ Francis Ford Coppola ❖ Martin Scorsese ❖ Brian de Palma ❖ Robert Altman ❖ Hal Ashby ❖ Woody Allen ❖ Mike Nichols ❖ Dennis Hopper ❖ George Lucas ❖ Steven Spielberg MOVIE BRATS ❖ Influenced by • French New Wave • Italian Neorealism ❖ More Creative Control • Economic downturn in Hollywood • Hollywood attempting to define itself creatively  • Surge in college attendance  • Shift towards 18-29 year olds as key demographicNEW HOLLYWOOD CINEMA ❖ Themes • Youthful Alienation/Rebellion • Anti-heroes (and Moral Ambiguity) • Drug Culture • Sexual Liberation/Exploration  • Rejection of Mainstream Norms (i.e. Hippies) • Cynicism/Distrust of Authority (government, military) • Graphic Violence • Open-Ended Resolutions KEY FILMS ❖ Bonnie and Clyde (1967)  • Directed by Arthur Penn • Final scene ❖ The Graduate (1968) • Directed by Mike Nichols • “Just Drifting”  • Final scene KEY FILMS ❖ Easy Rider (1969) • Directed by Dennis Hopper • “They’re scared of what you represent to them”  • Final Scene  ❖ Midnight Cowboy (1969) • Directed by John Schlesinger  • “A person’s gotta make a living…”  • Final scene BBS PRODUCTIONS ❖ Originally Raybert Productions • Founded by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider • Stephen Baluner then becomes a partner  ❖ Developed The Monkees TV Show ❖ Films include: Easy Rider, Last Picture Show, Five Easy PiecesEXPLOITATION FILMS ❖ “Exploits” current trends or lurid subject matter • Often synonymous w/ “B” movies ❖ Drive-ins/Grindhouses ❖ Roger Corman (director/producer) • Dementia 13 (directed by Francis Ford Coppola) • Targets (directed by Peter Bagdonovich) • Boxcar Bertha (directed by Martin Scorsese)EXPLOITATION FILMS ❖ John Waters • Pink Flamingos (1972) ❖ George Romero • Night of the Living Dead (1968) ❖ **On Tuesday – Blacksploitation* JOHN CASSAVETTES ❖ Worked as an actor in order to… ❖ Self-finance/produce many of his films • A Woman Under the Influence (1974) ❖ Preferred hand-held cameras; shooting documentary style • Encouraged improvised dialogue ❖ Employed wife and friends as actors and technicians DECLINE OF NHC ❖ Risky nature of director-driven ventures • Perceived “excess” in artistic vision  ❖ Movie brats go from counterculture to mainstream • (Lucas = Star Wars; Spielberg = Jaws) ❖ Emergence of blockbuster film economy • Merchandising, focus on opening weekendPOSTWAR JAPANESE  CINEMA Film 2700- A History of Motion PicturesHISTORICAL ERA ❖ Approximately 1920 – 1960 • During this period, important trends in the film industry & culture: • Star System (& celebrity culture) (Feb.8) • Established a precursor to today’s ratings system (Feb. 8) • Classical Hollywood Style  • Film Noir (FEB. 15) • The Cold War (MARCH 6) • World War II (1939 – 1945) • Italian Neorealism (1944 – 1952) (FEB. 27) • Postwar Japanese Cinema (1946 – 1960s) (TODAY)JAPAN: WWII ❖ Japan = part of the “Axis Powers” • Alongside Germany and Italy ❖ Dec. 7, 1941: bombing of Pearl Harbor • Prompted by U.S. blockade of goods (especially oil) to Japan • U.S. declares war on Japan and enters WWII ❖ Aug. 6 & 9, 1945:  • U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki • August 15: Japan surrendersJAPAN: WWII ❖ Late 1945: U.S. begins to occupy Japan ❖ Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) • Goal: remake (Westernize) Japanese society ❖ SCAP reforms: • universities created • a new constitution implemented • women were granted the vote • contemporary divorce and inheritance laws put in placeJAPANESE FILM ❖ Japanese film industry DEVASTATED during WWII ❖ SCAP takes a particular interest in the film industry • Encouraged:  • pro-democracy • More progressive views towards women • Anti-militiarism • Banned films they deemed too nationalistic or feudalistic ❖ SCAP works w/ 3 long-standing Japanese studios to stabilize  industry; as industry stabilized, new studios emerged