CMS 270 Midterm

Bonnie and Clyde Dates

Arthur Penn, 1967

The Graduate dates

Mike Nichols, 1967

Easy Rider dates

Dennis Hopper, 1969

2001: A Space Odyssey dates

Stanley Kubrick, 1968

Gimme Shelter dates

David and Albert Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin, 1970

Harlan County, USA dates

Barbara Kopple, 1976

McCabe and Mrs. Miller dates

Robert Altman, 1971

Bandlands dates

Terrence Malick, 1973

Superfly dates

Gordon Parks Jr, 1972

Faces dates

John Cassavetes, 1968

The Godfather dates

Francis Ford Coppola, 1972

The Godfather II dates

Frances Ford Coppola, 1974

Taxi Driver dates

Martin Scorsese, 1976

Raging Bull dates

Martin Scorsese, 1980

The Conversation dates

Francis Ford Coppola, 1974

All the President’s Men dates

Alan J. PAkula, 1976

Bonnie and Clyde summary

• Broke cinematic taboos by realistically depicting violence and sexuality, helping to usher in the new Hollywood era 

• Mixed French New Wave influences with Hollywood crime drama. 

• Radical use of jump cuts, sudden tonal shifts, and slow-motion violence. 

• Rewrote the rules for on-screen violence and sympathetic antiheroes.

The graduate summary

• Captured the generational divide and existential ennui of the 1960s

• Became a landmark film of the New Hollywood era

• Mike Nichols 1967

• Benjamin, the recently graduated, is contemplating his future and is surrounded entirely by his parents' friends, the older generation. He is propositioned by Mrs. Robinson then strongly suggested by his parents, his parents who are unaware of the affair with Mrs. Robinson, to take out Elaine Robinson when she returns from Berkley. Benjamin, confused about his future, is dead-set on marrying Elaine, stopping her marriage with Carl Smith. The movie has an ambiguous ending.

• Plays a role in the shift toward more experimental and youth-driven

  • Auteur style 

• New kind of protagonist

  • Confused, alienated, directionless, and morally ambiguous 

  • Psychological uncertainty 

  • Reflects the anxieties of 1960s youth 

• Experimentation in Style and Editing 

  • Montage and Visual metaphor 

    • Mike Nichols uses montages to show emotion numbness rather than logical plot progression

    • → Benjamin drifting on the pool raft → abruptly in bed with Mrs. Robinson

  • Long takes and stylized framing 

    • Claustrophobic angles, reflections, and deep focus to visually represent Benjamin’s alienation 

Taxi Driver summary

• Taxi driver, Travis, starts off pursuing a campaign worker for the man running for president, Palantine, and is cut off. He took her to watch a movie that included elicit and pornographic scenes. There is a slow decline in his mental state as he degrades into cleansing the city of the scum first depicted by his purchasing of a case of guns. He first expresses this to the senator before he later tries to assassinate him. After killing the man attempting to rob the convenience store, the taste of murder pushed him to kill the pimp and man who bought iris(iris is the girl he met on one of the nights as a taxi driver who vocalized getting out of the life she currently lived, which was being pimped out for little to no money). After the murder spree, Travis was deemed a hero.

• It was a groundbreaking example of the new hollywood cinema movement 

  • Gritty realism, complex and alienated antihero, and auteur-driven style 

  • It used the taxi as a metaphor for urban loneliness and alienation 

  • Post-vietnam-era atmosphere of new york city 

  • → social decay, political disillusionment, and urban struggle were prevalent

Superfly summary

• Emphasized black culture through the music and style 

• Revolved around a man named priest trying to leave the life of drug dealing behind. He is offered a deal with the narcotics police department to sell to them and has to stand up to them to leave the business behind. 

• Blaxploitation genre 

  • Systemic issues of poverty and drug trade and the lasting systemic issues

Badlands summary

• A crime drama about a 15-year-old girl, Holly, who runs away with her rebellious, older boyfriend, Kit, after he murders her father. Inspired by the real-life Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate case, the couple goes on a killing spree across the Midwest, with Holly narrating their journey with detached innocence. The film is known for its lyrical, yet violent and detached tone, which contrasts the beauty of the landscape with the brutality of the murders

• Theme of corrupted american dream 

• Juxtaposition of beauty and violence 

• Commentary on american culture and alienation

Raging Bull summary

• Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxing champion, is rising in his sport while battling with his turbulent, self-destructive personal life that's fueled by rage, jealousy, and paranoia 

• Told as a flashback from 1964 when he is preparing for a comedy act 

• Critique of Masculinity

  • Critique of masculinity, misogyny, and violence examining the destructive nature of a man who is both a powerful athlete and a deeply flawed individual 

Faces summary

• The film ends with husband and wife Richard and Maria in a state of silent, emotional distance. They pass each other on the staircase without acknowledgement, each going to a different floor after a long and painful night. The ending is described as a moment of mutual self-loathing and a poignant portrayal of their fractured relationship

• The ending of the 1968 film Faces features the main characters, Richard and Maria, sitting silently on their staircase after a series of confrontations, each separated by floor, embodying a mutual self-loathing and inability to connect. They have both sought a fleeting connection with another person—Richard with Jeannie and Maria with Chet—but are ultimately left with their unresolved dissatisfaction, leading them to avoid eye contact and acknowledge each other's presence with nothing but resentment

• Improvisational style

What are the key features of New Hollywood cinema?

1. Director-Driven Filmmaking

   1. Otherwise known as the Auteur Era, directors gained unprecedented creative control. Filmmakers like Scorsese, Coppola, and Altman shaped films according to their personal vision 

2. Greater Realism and Grittiness

   1. Stories became more morally ambiguous, violent, and character-center, started by Bonnie and Clyde. 

   2. This was influenced by European art cinema 

3. Young, Anti-Establishment themes

   1. Films addressed counterculture issues such as Alienation, rebellion, social unrest, trauma exemplified in easy rider and taxi driver 

4. Experimentation in style and narrative 

   1. Unresolved or tragic endings(The graduate, The Godfather, and Bonnie and Clyde), loose filming style(McCabe & Mrs. Miller

5. Rise of the blockbusters 

   1. Later on

      1. Starwars dont think we need to know this

How is it different from the earlier Hollywood studio System

1. Audience shift 

   1. Old system: broad, family friendly audience focus 

   2. New hollywood: targeted younger, more countercultural audiences- students, baby boomers, cinephiles(devoted moviegoer) 

2. Production mode 

   1. Old system vertically integrated studios with predictable output 

      1. Vertical integration: when one company controls multiple stages of the film process such as production, distribution, and exhibition 

   2. New Hollywood: studios financed individual projects pitched by creative teams 

      1. More inconsistency and experimentation 

3. Directors vs. studios 

   1. Old system: producers and studios dictated style, stories, scripts 

      1. Controlled through long-term, exclusive contracts 

   2. New Hollywood: directors had much more creative freedom

      1. Auteur style 

      2. More freelancers, independent productions, more creative flexibility 

4. Formula vs. Innovation 

   1. Old system: clear genre formulas (Westerns, musicals, melodramas).

   2. New Hollywood: genre mixing, narrative risk, and psychological complexity 

Harlan County summary

A landmark documentary about the 1973 coal miners’ strike in Harlan County, Kentucky. Kopple follows miners and their families as they protest unsafe working conditions, facing corporate intimidation and violence in their fight for dignity and fair labor rights.

A groundbreaking cinéma vérité documentary, Harlan County, USA embeds viewers in the 1973 Brookside coal miners’ strike in rural Kentucky. The film follows miners and their families demanding safer working conditions, better wages, and recognition of their union, all while confronting intimidation by Duke Power Company and local “gun thugs.”

Crucial Scenes

• The picket line confrontations: Raw footage shows women on the picket line screaming at scab workers, standing in front of trucks, and facing armed guards. These scenes embody the community’s courage and desperation.

• The night-time shootings: The terrifying moment when gun thugs fire into the miners’ houses at night reveals the real danger the families endured.

• The funeral of Lawrence Jones: After a young miner is killed during the strike, his funeral becomes a turning point that galvanizes the community.

• Union meeting debates: Kopple captures heated discussions that expose class tensions, personal fears, and the stakes behind the workers’ solidarity.

The Godfather summary

A sweeping crime epic about the Corleone family, led by patriarch Vito Corleone. When youngest son Michael reluctantly takes over, he transforms from quiet war hero to ruthless mafia boss, navigating loyalty, power, and betrayal.

A grand saga of power, loyalty, and family, The Godfather follows the Corleone crime dynasty and the reluctant transformation of Michael Corleone from war hero to ruthless mafia don after an attempt on his father Vito’s life destabilizes the family.

Crucial Scenes

• The opening wedding sequence: Introduces the Corleone hierarchy and Vito’s power as people line up to request favors, establishing the culture of loyalty and obligation.

• The attempted assassination of Vito: The shooting sparks Michael’s entrance into the family business.

• Michael killing Sollozzo and McCluskey: A shocking restaurant execution that marks Michael’s irrevocable drift toward violence and leadership.

• The baptism massacre: Michael’s enemies are eliminated in a montage cross-cut with the Catholic baptism of his godson—symbolizing Michael’s consolidation of power and moral decay.

• Closing door on Kay: Michael lies about killing Carlo, and the office door shuts on Kay, signifying her exile from the truth.

Godfather 2 summary

A parallel narrative that juxtaposes Michael Corleone’s dark consolidation of power in the 1950s with the early life of young Vito Corleone in the 1910s. The film explores legacy, corruption, and the emotional costs of running a crime empire.

A dual narrative that contrasts Michael Corleone’s cold expansion of his crime empire in the 1950s with the origin story of young Vito Corleone’s rise from poor Sicilian orphan to powerful New York crime boss. The film deepens the themes of corruption, family betrayal, and the hollow cost of power.

Crucial Scenes

• Young Vito’s escape from Sicily: Beginning with his family’s murder, it sets up his transformation into a man who redefines power to protect the vulnerable.

• The Havana scenes: Michael witnesses betrayal by close associates and realizes Fredo has aligned himself with rivals.

• Michael confronting Fredo: “You broke my heart” — the emotional core of the film’s tragic downfall of family bonds.

• Senate hearings: Show Michael’s near-impenetrable public facade and his ability to manipulate political institutions.

• Fredo’s death on Lake Tahoe: The quiet execution after Michael orders his brother killed is the film’s darkest moment, symbolizing the total collapse of the Corleone family.

The Conversation

A paranoid thriller about surveillance expert Harry Caul, who becomes consumed by guilt and fear after recording a conversation that may predict a murder. As he digs deeper, Caul spirals into obsession, unsure whether he is preventing violence or causing it.

A slow-burning psychological thriller about Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who becomes obsessed with an audio recording of a couple discussing what he interprets as an impending murder. His professional detachment crumbles as paranoia and guilt consume him.

Crucial Scenes

• The opening surveillance at Union Square: A brilliantly orchestrated long-lens and audio-tapping scene showing Harry’s technical mastery and clinical detachment.

• Caul replaying the tape: His repeated attempts to clean and decipher the phrase “He’d kill us if he got the chance” shift its meaning and fuel his paranoia.

• The hotel scene aftermath: Harry discovers a blood-splattered room and realizes he has misinterpreted the recording.

• The final saxophone destruction scene: Harry tears apart his apartment searching for a bug, underscoring the total collapse of his identity and sanity.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller

A revisionist Western about a gambler and a savvy madam who build a brothel in a small frontier town. Their fragile success is threatened when a powerful corporation sends hired killers, turning the story into a quiet, haunting critique of capitalism and mythic Western heroism.

A melancholic, anti-Western about gambler John McCabe and brothel-runner Constance Miller who build a thriving business in the frontier town of Presbyterian Church. Their success attracts a predatory mining company whose corporate violence exposes the myth of the Western hero.

Crucial Scenes

• McCabe’s arrival in town: His awkward bravado signals he may not be the folk hero others assume.

• Mrs. Miller taking over: Her professional competence and quiet intelligence reshape the brothel, revealing a power dynamic that subverts Western gender tropes.

• The negotiations with the mining company: McCabe’s pride blinds him to danger as he refuses to sell.

• The snowy shootout: A haunting, anti-heroic final battle where McCabe dies alone in a blizzard while the town ignores his death, symbolizing the indifference of capitalism.

• Mrs. Miller in the opium den: She retreats into opium as McCabe dies, reinforcing the film’s tragic, dreamlike tone.

Gimme Shelter summary

A documentary following the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S. tour, culminating in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert where violence—captured on film—leads to the death of a spectator. The film becomes a chilling portrait of the end of the 1960s counterculture.

A chilling documentary about the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour that culminates in the Altamont Free Concert, which devolves into chaos and fatal violence. The film confronts the dark end of the 1960s counterculture dream.

Crucial Scenes

• Mick Jagger watching footage: The Stones view—and react to—the violent footage, adding a meta-layer of self-observation and guilt.

• Security handled by the Hells Angels: Their presence leads to escalating aggression throughout the concert.

• The stabbing of Meredith Hunter: Captured on camera—the moment punctures the myth of “peace and love” and becomes a symbolic end of the era.

• Stones performing amid chaos: The band tries to continue performing as fights erupt around them, underscoring the loss of control.

Easy Rider summary

A countercultural road movie about two bikers traveling across America after a drug deal. Their journey exposes the tension between 1960s ideals of freedom and the intolerance and violence simmering beneath mainstream society.

A countercultural road odyssey about two bikers, Wyatt and Billy, traveling across the American Southwest and South after a cocaine deal. Their quest for freedom exposes the darker reality of American intolerance and violence.

Crucial Scenes

• The opening drug deal: Sets the tone of countercultural rebellion and capitalist critique.

• Mardi Gras drug trip: A chaotic, hallucinatory sequence that captures both the allure and the emptiness of the counterculture.

• Campfire conversations (“We blew it”): Wyatt’s reflection that freedom was mishandled provides existential depth.

• The final roadside attack: A sudden, senseless act of violence that brutally ends the characters’ quest and symbolizes society’s rejection of difference.

2001: A space Odyssey

A visually groundbreaking sci-fi epic tracing human evolution from prehistoric apes to futuristic space travel. When astronauts attempt to investigate a mysterious monolith, the ship’s AI, HAL 9000, becomes dangerously self-aware, leading to a surreal journey beyond human understanding.

An enigmatic sci-fi epic tracing humanity’s evolution from primitive apes to cosmic consciousness. The film is divided into distinct visual chapters centered on mysterious monoliths that trigger leaps in intelligence.

Crucial Scenes

• The “Dawn of Man”: Apes discover a bone tool after touching a monolith — the first leap in human evolution.

• The match cut (bone to spaceship): A famous editing transition that symbolizes technological acceleration.

• Discovery One and HAL 9000’s breakdown: HAL kills crew members when he perceives a threat to his mission, leading to an iconic confrontation.

• Dave disconnecting HAL: HAL’s plea (“I’m afraid, Dave…”) makes the AI’s death strangely human and tragic.

• The Stargate sequence: Dave’s psychedelic journey through space-time ends with him aging in a white room and transforming into the Star Child — a final evolutionary leap.