FREE ESSAY ON FILM CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SIXTIES

FILM CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SIXTIES

Beginning roughly with the release of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped
Worrying and Loved the Bomb in 1964, and continuing for about the next decade, the
"Sixties" era of filmmaking made many lasting impressions on the motion picture industry.
Although editing and pacing styles varied greatly from Martin Scorcesse's hyperactive
pace, to Kubrick's slow methodical pace, there were many uniform contributions made by
some of the era's seminal directors. In particular, the "Sixties" saw the return of the
auteur, as people like Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed their
own screenplays, while Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in his own films. Kubrick,
Coppola and Allen each experimented with characterization, narrative and editing
techniques. By examining the major works of these important directors, their
contributions become more apparent.
Dr. Strangelove (1964), an adaptation of Peter Bryant's novel Red Alert, although still
bearing the usual traits of a Kubrick film, is something of a departure for him in terms
of editing and spatial strategies. The film's run-time more or less corresponds with the
fictional or represented time in the story. This direct correspondence between fictional
and real time adds to the sense of temporal compression induced by the film's insistent
editing patterns. Although Dr. Strangelove employs many long takes, it contains the
shortest average-shot-length of any Kubrick film. The film consists of roughly 700 shots
and has a run time of 94 minutes for an average-shot-length of 8 seconds. Despite the
rather short average-shot-length, Dr. Strangelove still resorts to crucial long takes to
slow down the rapid momentum of the story (Falsetto, 35).
Several spatial and temporal procedures are at work in Dr. Strangelove, such as the use
of the long take. Conversely, the B-52 sequences, often accompanied by various versions
of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," employ different editing patterns than the rest of
the film. These edits reinforce the film's theme of inevitability. Through editing, the
B-52 sequences display a strong cinematic rhythm. The shots are generally shorter than
the other sections of the film, and they significantly contribute to the film's shorter
average-shot-length, despite Kubrick's deliberate use of long takes (Falsetto, 44).
Stanley Kubrick's next film was the science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey.
2001 represents Kubrick's most ambitious presentation of cinematic subjectivity, most
prominently in the Star-Gate sequence and in the final episode of Dave Bowman in an
isolation room. These sequences are a result of a film, which for most of its run time
does not presented the subjective vision of any one character. In stylistic and visual
terms, there is a movement from the three-dimensional style of the film's first half to
the flatter, more abstract visual style of the Star-Gate sequence. The film's movement
towards abstraction can be understood both in visual and narrative terms (Falsetto,
115).
2001's presentation of details from the "Dawn of Man" sequence, to later space travel
scenes are shot with complete conviction and impeccable detail. The viewer believes that
the world might have actually looked like what Kubrick presented it as, several million
years ago, and the depiction of space travel is just as convincing. The use of models,
front projection, the slow editing techniques and camera work all help to create a more
complete illusion (Falsetto, 141).
If 2001 was presented almost completely objectively, than Kubrick's next film, A
Clockwork Orange (1972) was presented almost completely subjectively. This may have been
in part due to the constraints of the original novel by William Burgess, but nonetheless
the film is told from the point of view of its central character, Alex. When Alex is not
speaking on camera, he can often be heard as a voiced over narrator, interjecting his
comments on the action which is occurring on screen.
The elements of fantasy and theater are evident in the infamous rape scene, where Alex
does a freaked-out impersonation of Gene Kelly, performing "Singing in the Rain." He
moves with great flair, and his violent actions become a creative release. Carefully
choreographed movements and gestures punctuate his actions. Part of the reason the film's
violence is so attractive is because not only is it presented with great imagination, but
it is also performed by the only character in the film with any degree of charm
(Falsetto, 150). The elements of fantasy and play that figure in these brutal acts relate
to the subjective presentation emphasized by the film's design. These include
point-of-view shots, distorting wide-angle lenses, character voice over and various
lighting and editing aspects. Each covey the impression that this world is filtered
through Alex (Falsetto, 153).
Another important filmmaker of the period was Francis Ford Coppola, who was responsible
for the Godfather series. The film does feature the home life of members of the Mafia.
Many other gangster films have done this, but no other film emphasized the domestic side
of gangsters to the extent that the Godfather (1972) did. Film critic William S. Pechter
remarked that we se the mean in the Mafia "as members of a family": as godfather, father,
grandparent, son and brother. The viewer's predominant image of Don Corleone are of him
in his domestic role - as father of the bride, shopping for groceries and playing with
his grandchild. Responding to this new emphasis on gangster's personal lives, the
audience is more aware that these gangsters are human beings and therefore, as mortal as
the rest of us (Johnson, 111).
Due to the immense success of the original Godfather movie, the studio began pressuring
Coppola into doing a sequel. He eventually agreed and took about writing the sequel that
would not necessarily pick up where the last one left off, but would explore the
untouched elements of its predecessor. Unfortunately, right before filming started,
Marlon Brando had a falling out with the studio, and would not be reprising his role as
Don Vito Corleone.
There are two main plotlines in The Godfather, Part II (1974). The first is the life of
young Vito Corleone, played by Robert DeNiro. The Mafia in Sicily killed Vito's family,
and he was smuggled out of the country to Ellis Island. The film abruptly switches to a
party celebrating the first communion of Michael's son. Throughout the movie, Coppola
juxtaposes images of Michael with those of his father. Ultimately though, Coppola wanted
the film to draw to a logical conclusion, without making it formulaic (Johnson, 151).
Instead of Michael getting killed, or falling from power, he manages to attain power
relatively unscathed and ends up jaded and alone as a result.
The desire for revenge explains most of the Mafia murders in the both Godfather films. It
explains Michael's entrance into the business and why in Part II he feels he must shed so
much blood, including the blood of his only living brother. Michael "chose to become a
killer out of family loyalty. He can never go back to the time before that moment in the
restaurant when he shot his father's enemies (Johnson, 155)." Coppola tried to steer the
audience to this theme. Just before the release of Part II he stated that the major plot
of the story was "how two men, father and son, were…corrupted by this Sicilian
waltz of vengeance (Johnson, 155)."
On the other side of Coppola and Kubrick, were the comedic stylings of Woody Allen. In
many ways, Allen was a throwback to the comedy of silent, and early sound films. His
films contain the subtle ironies Buster Keaton, the word play of Groucho Marx and the
social commentary of Charlie Chaplin (Mast, 440). Like Chaplin, Allen wrote and starred
in all of his films, and he directed all but one of them. In addition, Allen's
understanding of American humor invites comparisons to Mark Twain, and like Twain, his
achievement and impact on culture is comparable to Twain (Girgus, 10).
Allen's seminal work was Play It Again Sam, which he starred in and wrote, although Herb
Ross directed it. In this film, techniques such as voice-overs, traditional frame
narratives, music and visual images are employed in ways, that Allen develops them
further in later films. He moved from repeating jokes from his stories and comic routines
to creating truly original cinema. In 1977's Annie Hall, he documents his own transition
from a gag writer to a serious, credible artist (Girgus, 11). Play It Again Sam uses its
divided subjectivity through the use of visual and audio infuses to create structure and
substance in the film (Girgus, 15). Although Allen did not direct this film, he did use
this as a benchmark from which he would base all of his future works.
Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, and Stanley Kubrick each produced some of the most
important works of the "Sixties." Although Kubrick experimented more with cinematic
technique, with his uses of spacing, and long shots, all three experimented with elements
of characterization. Kubrick used both subjective and objective points of view quite
deliberately in his films. Coppola took the Mafia, and humanized them more so than
previous gangster movies, in addition to redefining what a sequel should be. Woody Allen
took comedy back to its roots, and in the process, was able to created some of the most
groundbreaking comedy since Charlie Chaplin. In addition, this return of the auteurs
paved the way for many of today's prominent filmmakers. Without Kubrick or Coppola, there
would be no Quentin Tarantino, and without Woody Allen, there would be no Kevin Smith.
Coppola, Kubrick and Allen have each made enduring films, and continued to do so well
after the "Sixties" had ended.
Bibliography
Falsetto, Mario. Stanley Kubrick: A Narrative and Stylistic Analysis. Greenwood Press, 
Westport, CT. 1994.
Girgus, Sam B. The Films of Woody Allen. Cambridge University Press, 
New York, 1993.
Johnson, Robert K. Francis Ford Coppola. Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1977.
Mast, Gerald and Bruce F. Kwan. A Short History of the Movies. Allen & Bacon, 
Boston, 2000.