John Cassavetes. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie 1976

Transcription

1 John Cassavetes The Killing of a Chinese Bookie 1976

2 Cinema of Outsiders Emanuel levy Attempts to define Independent Cinema Places our Contemporary Understanding of Independent Film in Historic Context

3 2 Different conceptions of indie film How they are Financed Their Spirit of Vision

4 Media Curator Bill Horrigan Distinguishes two other ideas of Indies Those that are acceptable at Sundance Those that are virtually unshowable: Maya Deren Jonas Mekas Stan Brakhage Kenneth Anger Andy Warhol

5 Sex Lies and Videotape Steven soderbergh 1989 Discovered at Sundance and made the term Independent more widely known--possibly into a marketing tool

6 What indie films aren t: Not Avant Garde Experimental Underground With few exceptions itõs not edgy and doesnõt present any formal experimentation or or serious challenges to dominant culture

7 What Indie Films Are A Type of Film Marketed to the Public as Such: Alternative, Different, Thoughtful, etc. Made for less than most Hollywood Films (but not always) At best visionary,personal, and specialized.

8 5 Codes to Deconstruct Indies Cultural Artistic Cinematic (Inter-textual) Either theyare similar to other films or they aren t Narrative (The manner in whichstories are told or they type of stories that are told.)

9 Umberto Eco Works are not created by their authors, but by other works. They speak to each other independent of the authors intention. Films create a text Communicate Ideology

10 Criteria for levy s selection of indies According to Historical Eras Filmmakers with durability and track records Acclaimed by Critics for Artistic Merits Curatorial Decisions not based on statistics

11 Forces Behind Indie Cinema The Need for Self Expression Hollywood s move away from serious, mid range films mega blockbusters increased the need for other types of films (MEET JOE BLACK: 90 MIL) success of Bonnie and Clyde, 1967 and Easy Rider, 1969 brought about movie makers of the 70 s like: Scorsese, Altman, Allen, Coppola Increased financing opportunities Blood Simple, Coen Brothers, 750,000 production made 5 million

12 Greater demand for visual media (home video) 1987 Video sales outnumbered box office sales (1, 040, 000 to 1, 030, 000) Increased overall interest in films Supportive audiences (Boomers) Decline of Foreign Language Films

13 Supportive Audiences College Students Singles/Childless Couples Discriminating Viewers Informed Viewers Frequent Moviegoers

14 Since 1970 s Teens have been the most reliable movie goers They can make or break movies during the opening weekend In 1976 before the teen epidemic: The two leading movies were: One Flew Over the Cuckoo s Nest and All the President s Men In 1977 the highest grossing movie was Star Wars and in 1986 Top Gun Hollywood targeting kids between the ages In 1990 s teen moviegoers were outnumbered by middle aged boomers between the ages 40-49

15 Decline of the Foreign Language Film Which came first? Does it matter? Indies have captured the art house audience in the 90 s Foreign made up for 2% of movie sales People don t want to read subtitles?

16 OUTSIDERS Ethnic Minorities Gays and Lesbians Women (not in terms of populace) Anyone who doesn t belong in mainstream

17 Artistic Innovation Existing Conventions Violated Plays against audiences expectations Most American Filmmakers go out of their way to fulfill those expectations Revolutionary Innovations Disrupt routine patterns and involve deliberate changes in film language

18 Cassavetes One of the First Modern American Filmmakers Mutual Respect with the French New Wave Cinema (rejection of classical cinematic style, social upheaval, and auteur theory

19 Shadows Used his money from acting and took a hand held 16mm camera and shot Made for 40,000 dollars and edited at United Artists in 2 weeks He decided he would only work on his own from that point forward -vision compromised

20 Husbands Marital Problems/Harsh Realism Shadows 8 months to shoot 2 years to edit actors free interpretation of the script art of acting/complexity of relationships feelings people can t express

21 mistaken as improvisational precise scripts/rough camera long takes that are meant to expose the shakiness of middle class life not easily categorized or liked disturbing/erratic no one is left indifferent

22 Theatrical and Cinematic theatrical pacing Long takes draw attention to the shots themselves because they defy are expectations for quicker edits Close-ups allow for microscopic scrutiny of characters performance as well as emotional states

23 Explore emotional messiness and people s tolerance for personal and social disorder inventive mise en scene, actor driven writing performances over script/actors over stars held onto freedom of self expression in hostile studio environment

24 Teddy: needy, oversensitive artist self-parody of Cassavetes himself character study hunger for class false veneer of politeness and seductive blather self as constantly in flux provisional, unknowable, yet susceptible to the immediate claims of duty

25 Film Generates Suspense Story of getting caught up in the mob time-consuming and inconvenient ways that everyone, bit player to star, asserts his or her right to be taken seriously, are not impediments to the plot, but are the plot.