Hollywood directors from the 1960’s onwards had to re-invent American cinema from the classical period of Hollywood. How do the films you have studied reflect the forces that shaped Hollywood style and form? [40 marks]

Hollywood directors from the 1960’s onwards had to re-invent American cinema from the classical period of Hollywood. One reason why this happened, was because of the Paramount decree, and studios having everyone on contract including directors was no longer allowed. Plus, specific context influenced the films depending on the time that they were made, for example, Casablanca, an example of a classical Hollywood film, is a propaganda film to spread ideas about world war 2 and America’s involvement in the war. For example, Rick says ‘I bet they’re asleep all over America’ which is a reference to American Isolation. Plus, the motif of the search light creates the theme of surveillance adding to the time that the film was set. To contrast, new Hollywood films tend to focus on other contexts of the time such as the quickly developing technology. Blade Runner, an example of a new Hollywood film, is a dystopian film set in the future, and advancement in technology is heavily featured in the movie. For example, the ability for replicants to exist. The film is suggesting a danger in rapid technological development and advancement such as with the replicants, because they take the place of children making the world seem unnatural, this links to the representation of children, as the replicants are children but look like adults. Other than this, cinema was influence by certain waves and movements. Casablanca was influenced by German Expressionism, as Curtiz the director spent time creating films in Europe. His use of strong shadows and controlled lighting are not only a part of what makes him an auteur as they are a recognisable feature, but this cinematography was used due to influence from German Expressionism. Such as, the strong shadows on the walls in Rick’s café of surrounding items, and how we see the shadow of Rick using the safe, rather than Rick himself, adding to the theme of secretiveness as well as being an example of influence from German Expressionism. This shadow technique was used by Curtiz in his other films as well, such as his robin hood movie.  To contrast, new Hollywood films were very influenced by the French New Wave. This involved more violence, sex and drugs. Blade Runner includes lots of violence, which wouldn’t have happened during the classical Hollywood time period. For example, after Pris has been killed, the mise en scene includes blood and sight of her insides. The performance of Roy then continues this gory violence as he puts his fingers on her blood and wipes it on his face. This contrasts greatly to the scene in Casablanca, where the man is shot during the opening, and no blood or wound is seen. Another example of influence from the French New Wave in Blade Runner is the close sonic perspective sound of Roy breaking Deckard’s fingers. This violence is something that wouldn’t have been included during the Classical Hollywood period.

Another noticeable difference and change between Classical Hollywood films and New Hollywood films is the difference in protagonist. Classical Hollywood protagonist were clear cut, and morally clear, as well as their motivations being obvious. For example, the montage flashback in Casablanca highlights to the audience that Rick’s motivation is based on his love for Ilsa. Such as, the mise en scene of them sitting together in the car suggesting a whirlwind romance. It was usual for Classic Hollywood films to include a flashback that revealed the protagonist’s motivations, while the rest of the film remained linear. It’s also very clear where the protagonist Rick stands in terms of political context. For example, we know he believes that American isolation from the war was wrong, ‘What time is it in New York?’ and ‘I bet they’re asleep all over America’. This was also part of the film being a propaganda film, America initially didn’t get involved in the war because they lost too many people and too much money last time, but after Pearl Harbour they got involved and it was important for cinema to support these ideas. A reason why money towards cinema was still allowed, as well as the use of silver nitrate for the cameras, was because cinema could be used for propaganda purposes as well as to boast morale. To contrast, Deckard the protagonist in Blade Runner is less clear cut, for example he is morally ambiguous which wouldn’t have happened in Classical Hollywood films. For example, the diegetic dialogue of Roy directly addresses this issue of the protagonist’s moral ambiguity when he says, ‘aren’t you the good man?’ during the ending sequence. This makes the audience question Deckard’s morals, especially since we begin to feel more sympathy for the so-called villain Roy. This is because of the representation of children, as Roy is a child in an adult’s body who has to cope with his own mortality as well as deal with the death of a loved one because the protagonist killed her. The performance and mise en scene of him crying over Pris’s dead body emphasises this sympathy that the audience has for Roy, as well as being good gender representation as it goes against toxic masculinity. Hi speech at the end continues this sympathy and connection with Roy, as the high key lighting has connotations of goodness, suggesting that Roy is the good character who just wants himself and his friends to live, contrasting to the protagonist who is trying to kill him. This creates moral ambiguity in the protagonist, which is a feature of New  Hollywood films rather than Classical Hollywood films.

Hollywood directors from the 1960’s onwards also reinvented cinema in terms of narrative. This is because the technical aspects of Classical Hollywood films such as cinematic time and space, 180 rule, narrative logic, editing and the camera were all centred around driving the narrative of the story forward. Such as, in Casablanca, the tracking shot inside Rick’s café that obeys the 180-degree rule that purposefully drops down on Sam is used to introduce his character and therefore progress the narrative further. The montage flashback is an example of editing being used to drive the narrative forward as well. To contrast, despite still using some of the same rules like the 180 degree rule, the technical aspects of New Hollywood films like Blade Runner were not only used to drive the narrative forward. One way it could be used, is for symbolism. Such as the motif and symbol of the unicorn, that suggests that Deckard is a replicant. This is because the mise en scene of the origami unicorn outside his apartment suggests that Gaff knew about Deckard’s dream, meaning it is an implanted memory. Another reason why the technical aspects like the cinematography were not just used to drive the narrative forward is because some things were included just because they looked nice. Blade Runner is a good example of this, as Scott was an art graduate rather than a film graduate and cared more about the appearance of the cinematography and mise en scene rather than the performance. The extreme close up of the eye at the beginning of the movie could been example of a shot only being included because it looks nice rather than to drive the narrative forward as it doesn’t give us any new information. Scott’s concentration on appearance rather than acting was a reason why the cast disliked him, as he would spend hours setting up a scene leaving not much time for the acting, and he’d also reshoot scenes just so that things like the shadows were right. At one point, Scott’s relationship with the crew was so bad that he was actually fired from the film. Scott also cared greatly about the sets and is knows for is baroque sets such as the building featured at the end of blade runner. He did this for appearance, rather than to drive the narrative forward.