A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Directors:

Ted Demme
Richard LaGravenese

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

Plot Keywords:

Filmmaker | 1970s | Cinema | Director | Interview

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Altman	...	Himself
John G. Avildsen	...	Himself
Warren Beatty	...	Himself (archive footage)
Linda Blair	...	Herself (archive footage)
Peter Bogdanovich	...	Himself
Peter Boyle	...	Himself (archive footage)
Marshall Brickman	...	Himself
Ellen Burstyn	...	Herself
John Calley	...	Himself
Jimmy Carter	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Cassavetes	...	Himself (archive footage)
Julie Christie	...	Herself
Francis Ford Coppola	...	Himself
Roger Corman	...	Himself
Bruce Dern	...	Himself
Clint Eastwood	...	Himself
Louise Fletcher	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jane Fonda	...	Herself (archive footage)
Peter Fonda	...	Himself (archive footage)
Milos Forman	...	Himself
William Friedkin	...	Himself
Pam Grier	...	Herself
Goldie Hawn	...	Herself (archive footage)
Monte Hellman	...	Himself
Jimi Hendrix	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dennis Hopper	...	Himself
Mick Jagger	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei	...	Himself (archive footage)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage)
Piper Laurie	...	Herself (archive footage)
Sidney Lumet	...	Himself
Paul Mazursky	...	Himself
Marshall McLuhan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mike Medavoy	...	Himself
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Polly Platt	...	Herself
Sydney Pollack	...	Himself
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Redford	...	Himself (Archival Footage) (archive footage)
Dick Rodstein	...	Offscreen Voice
Jerry Schatzberg	...	Himself
Roy Scheider	...	Himself
Paul Schrader	...	Himself
Martin Scorsese	...	Himself
Sissy Spacek	...	Herself
Robert Towne	...	Himself
Jon Voight	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for language, and images of sexuality, violence and drug use.

Runtime:

138 min | USA:108 min (Sundance Film Festival) | 152 min (DVD) | USA:180 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R

Company:

Constant Communication

Trivia:

This documentary is presented on DVD in 3 parts, as they aired on television.

Movie Connections:

References The People vs. Paul Crump (1962) (TV)

Nice Slice of Cinematic History

This is a great compendium of interviews and excerpts form the films of the late sixties and early 70s that were a counter movement to the big Studio Films of the late sixties. Directed by Ted Demme, it is obviously a labor of love of the films of the period, but it gives short shrift to the masterpieces of the times.

Many of the filmmakers of this period were influenced by Truffaut, Antonioni, Fellini, Bergman, and of course John Cassavetes. Unfortunately the documentary logging in at 138 minutes is too short! The film is rich with interviews and opinions of filmmakers. Some of the people interviewed are: Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, Robert Altman, Peter Bogdonovich, Ellen Burstyn, and Roger Corman, Bruce Dern, Sydney Pollack, Dennis Hopper, and Jon Voight.

Bruce Dern has a moment of truth when he says that he and Jack Nicholson may not have been as good looking as the other stars that came before them but they were "interesting". This summarizes the other areas of this period of film-making in American history.

The filmmakers were dealing with a lack of funding from the Studios because they were expressing unconventional attitudes about politics, sex, drugs, gender and race issues, and Americas involvement in overseas conflicts like the Vietnam War.

There is a great interview with Francis Coppola saying that he got the chance to make "The Conversation" because the producers knew he had been trained by Roger Corman to make a movie with nothing so they bankrolled his film.

Another interview is with Jon Voight who was directed by Hal Ashby in "Coming Home" a clear anti-war film about a crippled soldier immersing himself back into society after his facing battle. Voight talks about how his working methods helped him achieve an emotional telling point when Ashby said that they were doing a "rehearsal" take and it ended up being the take used in the film- it was better because it was so un-rehearsed and not drained of its freshness by being over-rehearsed.

There are also many fine excerpts from Al Pacino's break-through film "The Panic in Needle Park", and interviews from Dennis Hopper on the making of "Easy Rider", and interviews from Sydney Pollack about making films.

All in all the documentary is a fine jumping off point for any film lover who wants to see great examples of what the new voices in film were like in the Seventies. Many of the Sundance Folks, where this film made a big splash, are unaware of just how much the Independent Film Maker today owes to the films of John Cassavetes, Milos Foreman, William Friedkin, and Roger Corman.

Rent it from your favorite shop. It will at least perk you up to some films you may not have seen before and can enjoy today. Amazon.com has it for as little as $11.50, if you want to buy right out.