Exploration in Film's Reality

Certainly for some it is hard when change comes. That is especially when that change brings in more reality to the picture. Taken literally, the picture, meaning movies, were changed dramatically during the turn of the century. Many of the people who had been in the film industry for almost always were either skeptical or outraged by any drastic changes in their beloved art work. But just as the art of film changed, so did music, books and even art itself. This introduced the oppositional forces that pushed our culture into a whole different light: realism vs. fantasy.

First, let us define realism and fantasy. Realism is a “practical understanding of life.”1 Fantasy is said to be a “mental image or dream” and an “impractical idea.”1 When one puts that into context with culture, there are some interesting points to bring up. What I am focusing on is film though, and it exemplifies our culture’s changes and history really well. In the beginning of film, modesty and innocence took on a big role at the movies. The times were not like Meet Me in St. Louis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSKvNcC6eo8 or The Philadelphia Story, http://www.spike.com/video/philadelphia-story/2672357 Though the audience might have known that, it wasn’t important to them. Movies were a distraction from hard times and almost always gave a happy ending that left the audience gaily satisfied. These stories kept being told, and soon enough, a new generation saw that they needed to make changes. This generation was mainly the baby boomers. Though they were not the only ones involved, there was a movement in the culture that could not be stopped. That was the change from fantasy to reality. They attempted to move beyond the films that told a sappy heartfelt story and show that life is not really like that. Ethan Mordden said, “In the 1960s however, writers, actors, and directors suddenly retire the traditional character models. They begin to observe rather that idealize the world. To put it roughly, for the first in fifty years the movies are about romance. Nothing happens in the 1950s. Then, from 1960 on, the movies are about reality.”1 These changes brought up and addressed a lot of social issues that showed resistance to assimilation and incorporation. Because these changes involved major rule breaking and lifting the rug from underneath some of the oldest film makers during that time and even the public, it was a hard and slow process. With a lot of ridicule and criticism, and also a lot of support, they were allowed to reveal the truth. Movies unveiled reality to society and took them for a ride they already knew. That ride, though less innocent, became a hit. If only it had become popular in the beginning, then the embarrassment, such as The Time of The Louisville Flood (Margaret Bourke-White, 1937), wouldn't be so shameful. 

New great movies that have explored the truth since this turnaround: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2963931417/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCxRO67gyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf0VqzuWedU

1 http://dictionary.reference.com/

2 http://teaching.arts.usyd.edu.au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/3080site/movies%2060's

Post-Classical and College

Hollywood is always bound for change. For better or for worse, movies will always evolve. The evolution, to me, is beautiful. Categories of film are created but originate or are influenced by previous film making styles. What is made today in movies emulates much of what we know as post-classical cinema. Post classical film making began in the 1960’s. What they also called it was New Hollywood. So many changes came about, mainly due to the new generation of what were the baby boomers. This generation was so profoundly different from their parents. Most of their parents, living after the war, had created an environment for their offspring that was very privileged. One of the great privileges was college. College helped Hollywood in many ways. Around World War II, when box offices were slow and no one had the money or interest in seeing a picture show, Hollywood suffered. When it started to pick up again, it was because college and it’s educated viewers and their cash. They had the money and they also came as critics, seeing the art and meaning in the films. The other great way was creativity. Much of the youth was restless, rebellious and awaiting something new and exciting. The ones who went to college and created films learned how to apply that and make it real. Many changes were made in films because of this feature. They introduced subject matter and styles that brought realism into cinema. Instead of the traditional movie, where it was all shot in a studio and was given a screenplay of a fantasy or a fairytale, the New Hollywood took the other route. They began making films that were shot in real locations, where people live and, of course, relate to. Dialogue and scenes became more realistic as well. Breaking of rules took place and violence and sex became a part of movies. Many critics didn’t take well to it. When Bonnie and Clyde came out, the critics were divided. With so much material that questioned morals; thieves, criminals, sex, and lots of violence, many enjoyed it anyway. Many did not though, “It may have shocked audiences, but it brought them to the box office in record numbers. Bonnie and Clyde also stirred up a battle among movie critics that seemed to be almost as violent as the film itself. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times was so offended by it that he reviewed it — negatively — three times.” [1] What can be said about this review though, is that Bosley Crowther was born in 1905. I’m sure he just didn’t want to accept the New Hollywood. I think this is exactly what the new generation hope to achieve; to shake the old ways and create a fearlessness of reality on screen.

Sources-
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844256-7,00.html#ixzz15Ndnco8o
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosley_Crowther