Have you ever found yourself watching a movie and thinking how much movies have changed in the past century? Most movies in this day in age have amazing graphics and some of the best sound quality to ever come out of a speaker. Some plots are riveting, others, not so much. Movies have come a long way since 1965 but, it wasn’t easy to get to where they are now.
Controversy
When a movie is released, the audience either loves it or hates it. A film can cause a little be of controversy. For example, the 1998 fantasy film PLEASANTVILLE, had some controversial topics. The film is about a brother and sister who get sucked into a 1950’s, black and white, television sitcom called Pleasantville. The show basically depicted life as being perfect and that there is always a happy ending. When a character in the film found out that there are many flaws in life, they would become in color while the rest of the town and characters were still in black and white. This idea can relate to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s. An article by Alexandria Nelson from Medium.com states, “When the still black and white citizens of the town became angry and confused about things turning to color, they almost immediately resorted to violence and labeled the “colored” people as enemies” (Nelson). The black and white characters became separated from the colored characters in the film. Here is a clip where one of the characters becomes ashamed of being in color so her son is willing to help her hide it.
This scene is crucial because it related to the thoughts some of the colored people of the Civil Rights Moment. People in that time were afraid to leave their homes because they were didn’t what was going to happen if they stepped one foot out that door. The message of racism in the film was subtle but, once the audience understood it, it changed the way they thought about the movie. An article by Janet Maslin from the New York Times claims, “By the time these newly enlightened characters have been labeled ”coloreds” and have stirred up a conservative backlash, the movie has seriously belabored its once-gentle metaphor and light comic spirit” (Maslin). Maslin does make a good point that once a certain topic is brought up in a film, it can instantly change the viewer’s opinion of whether they really like the movie or not.
Film Style
The main element that puts one film apart from the next is it’s style. The styles of films have evolved since the 60’s with the rise of technology. PLEASANTVILLE was unique because of the special effects that allowed the film to some objects in color and others in black and white at the same time. Fellow student While I’m on the subject of color and black and white, the Beatles’ musical comedy film ,A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (1964) , has a French New Wave style to it because even though colored film was around at the time, director Richard Lester wanted a more artsy approach so he kept the whole film in black and white. The film is pretty simple, it follows the boys of The Beatles around as they try to make their way to their performance in front of a bunch of screaming fans. The film does have some slapstick comedy but, it is mostly a musical that features music from The Beatles. Here is a clip to give you an idea of it’s style.
The article Rock ‘n’ Film: Generic Permutations in Three Feature Films from 1964 by David E. James states, “. A Hard Day’s Night, a British studio fictional feature
with British rock ’n’ roll, resuscitated the jukebox musical’s spectacular television conclusion but dramatically enlarged it into an unprecedentedly sophisticated visual composition” (James). By choosing to release the film in black and white, it makes the film seem more sophisticated. A review by Bosley Crowther for the New York Times says, “it is done with such a dazzling use of camera that it tickles the intellect and electrifies the nerves” (Crowther).
Another film that has a unique style is PULP FICTION. What is so different about it is how the story unfolds. There is an A story and a B story. The A story is about two hit-men who often end up getting into philosophical arguments, while the B story is about a boxer who is struggling to stay alive because he messed up a deal with a gangster. The scenes are played out of order but, they still make sense and everything comes together in the end. Director Quentin Tarantino wanted the film to look perfect because it was such a unique story. An article from Vanity Fair by Mark Seal mentions Tarantino’s intentions on the film , “Determined to make an $8.5 million movie look as if it cost $25 million, he shot with ‘the slowest film Kodak made'” (Seal). Tarantino wanted his film to have a certain style that would make it stand out from the rest and that’s exactly what happened. Peter Travers for Rolling Stone even remarks, “Tarantino’s twist on the pulp genre is also damn near a work of art” (Travers).
Female Leads
Another way that movies have changed over time is having a female as the main character. PLEASANTVILLE features Reese Witherspoon as one of the main characters but, in the 90’s movies, that wasn’t very hard to come across. BONNIE AND CLYDE was the first of it’s kind because of the character Bonnie Parker, who was a good girl gone bad. Back in 1967 when the movie was released, most movies back then didn’t really have any female villains as main characters. Most movies at that time had male actors as the heroes or villains. Fellow student This film is the film that put Hollywood into the New Hollywood Era. A passage from the book The New Hollywood: From Bonnie and Clyde to Star Wars by Peter Krämer states, ” This was the breakthrough year(1967) for extremely violent films with Bonnie and Clyde” ( Krämer). Here is a clip from the film:
What also made this movie different from the others is the amount of violence it had because of the bad guys being the heroes . Bosley Crowther’s review claims that “Such ridiculous, camp-tinctured travesties of the kind of people these desperadoes were and of the way people lived in the dusty Southwest back in those barren years might be passed off as candidly commercial movie comedy, nothing more, if the film weren’t reddened with blotches of violence of the most grisly sort” (Crowther). The movie did feature some brutal scenes that the audience thought it was just over the top.
Conclusion
Movies really have come a long way since 1965. Most movies have extremely deeper meanings and even touchier subjects, most are based on current events. Now we see more female characters having lead roles and since times are changing we see more controversy in some of the movies of today. Films are always going to be changing in the right direction whether it’s visual or audio enhancements or even a new style of film. Also, with even higher budgets, you never know what you are going to see next!
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