kino-semestr-letni

CLASS 23.02 The Contemporary American Cinema (1980-2023)

Cinema in the age of Ronald Reagan.
Rise and evolution of independent cinema.
Postmodern cinema (narratives, aesthetics, themes).
Mind-games and puzzle films.
Post-classical and digital cinema.
African-American cinema: history and films in the BLM era.

Classes Programme

Films on films. On Brian De Palma’s work.
American independent cinema (Jim Jarmusch, Richard Linklater, Sofia Coppola – among others).
Postmodern genres and directors.
Between modernism, postmodernism, and surrealism – David Lynch as an auteur.
Batman and other comics (super)heroes.
TV series revolution. From The Sopranos to Bojack Horseman.

CLASS 02.03 The Contemporary Cinema: From the Reagan Era to Digital Cinema

VHS phenomenon of the 1980s:
- Changed the way we watch films.
- Drive-ins not that important anymore.
- More B-movies were made.
- TV cable, TV set; later on DVDs, Blu-rays.
- Unofficial: torrent.
American cinema of the 1980s/1990s:
- “New Adventure” films and blockbuster era.
- Cinema in the times of Ronald Reagan.
- Genre films – new forms.
- Auteur films in crisis.
- Rise of independent films phenomenon.
- Start of postmodern era in American cinema.
Top Box-office films of the 1980s:
- 1980: The Empire Strikes Back ( $120$ ), Kramer vs Kramer ( $60.5$ ).
- 1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark ( $90.4$ ), Superman II ( $64$ ).
- 1982: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial ( $187$ ), Rocky III ( $63.4$ ).
- 1983: Return of the Jedi ( $165.5$ ), Tootsie ( $94.6$ ).
- 1984: Ghostbusters ( $127$ ), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ( $109$ ).
- 1985: Back to the Future ( $94$ ), Rambo: First Blood, Part II ( $80$ ).
- 1986: Top Gun ( $82$ ), The Karate Kid, Part II ( $56.9$ ).
- 1987: Beverly Hills Cop II ( $80.8$ ), Platoon ( $66.7$ ).
- 1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit ( $78$ ), Coming to America ( $65$ ).
- 1989: Batman ( $150.5$ ), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ( $115.5$ ).
“New Adventure” films in the 1980s:
- 1981 – Excalibur.
- 1981 – An American Werewolf in London.
- 1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- 1982 – Conan the Barbarian.
- 1982 – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- 1982 – Poltergeist.
- 1982 – TRON.
- 1984 – Ghostbusters.
- 1984 – Gremlins.
- 1985 – Back to the Future.
- 1986 – The Fly.
- 1986 – Highlander.
- 1987 – Predator.
First film to become PG13: Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom (1984).
Steven Spielberg:
- Director and film producer.
- Amblin entertainment + DreamWorks.
- 1971 – Duel.
- 1973 – Something Evil.
- 1974 – The Sugarland Express.
- 1975 – Jaws.
- 1977 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
- 1979 – 1941.
- 1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- 1982 – E.T.
- 1984 – Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom.
- 1985 – The Color Purple.
- 1993 – Jurassic Park / Schindler’s List.
- 2005 – War of the Worlds / Munich.
- 12.2017 – The Post.
- 03.2018 – Ready Player One.
Spielberg & co.:
- Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future series).
- Ron Howard (Cocoon, Willow).
- Joe Dante (Gremlins).
- Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop).
- James Cameron (Terminator, Aliens).
High concept movie:
- Can be very absurd.
- Gives opportunity to sell merchandise.
“Reaganomatography”:
- Return to the past: new traditionality assumptions.
- The ennoblement of the veterans.
- “Say ‘no’ to counterculture”.
- Superhero is the new hero.
- 1950s (Eisenhower era) as the most acknowledged era.
- 1970s: men with flaws, unaware of their psychological issues.
- VERSUS 1980s: the new hero, incorruptible, knows what is good or evil, brilliant, not very complex, strong, guardians of the order, very brave, immortal, badasses, some become vigilantes.
“Reaganomatography” films:
- Nighthawks (1981), dir. B. Malamuth.
- First Blood (1982), dir. T. Kotcheff.
- Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), dir. G.P. Cosmatos.
- Cobra (1986), dir. G.P. Cosmatos.
- Raw Deal (1986), dir. I. Irvin.
- Commando (1985), dir. M.L. Lester.
(New?) forms of genre cinema: youth films:
- Red Dawn (1984), dir. John Milius.
- WarGames (1983), dir. John Badham.
(New?) forms of genre cinema: music films:
- Flashdance.
- Footloose.
- Dirty Dancing (first to sell over one million copies on VHS).

CLASS 09.03 Youth Films in the 1980s

Characteristics:
- Mainly concerning white, middle-class teenagers.
- No representation of POC.
- Absence of parents and social authorities.
- Angsty yet optimistic.
- Places of action: shopping malls, high schools, “poster-covered, album-lined bedrooms in which the telephone is continuously in use”.
Thematic focus:
- Suburban youth and their problems.
- Utter contempt for adults.
- Teenage sexual discovery.
- Rebellion against the expectations placed on characters.
- Societal values.
Youth films by John Hughes:
- Sixteen Candles.
- Pretty in Pink (written by him).
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
- The Breakfast Club.
John Hughes:
- One of the most prominent filmmakers of the teen movie genre.
- Sixteen Candles – Hughes’s directorial debut.
- 80s auteur of teen angst.
- Directed and/or wrote six teen films altogether between 1984 and 1987.
- Cultivated a troupe of important young stars, later dubbed the ‘Brat Pack’, who populated most of the important teen films of the later 1980s.
The Breakfast Club (1985):
- Budget: $1$ mln.
- Box office: $1.5$ mln.
- Considered to be one of the single most important teen films of the entire decade.
- Representation of distinct types of young characters in American movies: the jock, the rebel, the popular girl, the delinquent, and the nerd.
Why was The Breakfast Club so important?
- It handles typical teen issues with a sensitivity and deftness.
- The confession scene.
- Director didn’t patronize or trivialize the teenager’s experiences.
- Flawed and relatable characters.
Heathers (1988):
- Directed by Michael Lehmann.
- Budget: $3$ mln.
- Box office: $1.1$ mln.
- Wildly satirical.
- Less popular at the box office, but became a predominant cult classic among youth.
- Jason Dean – a juvenile delinquent like James Dean.
- Social hierarchies, peer pressure, popularity, suicide culture, social conformity.
Films about teenagers in the 1980s:
- Fame (1980).
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
- The Last American Virgin (1982).
- Risky Business (1983).
- The Outsiders (1983).
- Pretty in Pink (1986).
- River’s Edge (1986).
- WarGames (1986).
- Stand by Me (1986).
- Heathers (1988).
- Dead Poets Society (1989).
The Breakfast Club: motto & first sequence (David Bowie quote) - You see as us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct?
Portrayal of school:
- As an empty space.
- As a labyrinth.
- As a cafeteria.
- As a prison.
- As a music club.
John Hughes (1950-2009), director of teen movies:
- 1984 – Sixteen Candles.
- 1985 – Weird Science.
- 1985 – The Breakfast Club.
- 1986 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
- 1987 – Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
- 1988 – She’s Having a Baby.
- 1989 – Uncle Buck.
- 1991 – Curly Sue (written by him).
- 1986 – Pretty in Pink.
- 1987 – Some Kind of Wonderful.
- National Lampoon’s Vacation series: Class Reunion (1982), Vacation (1983), European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989).
- 1990 – Home Alone.
- 1992 – Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
- 1992 – Beethoven.
- 1996 – 101 Dalmatians.
- 1997 – Flubber.

Movie Brats Brian De Palma

Born: 1940.
Studied at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Film director, screenwriter, producer.
Awards: Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival (2007); Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival (1969).
5 nominations for Golden Raspberry Awards.
De Palma’s most popular films:
- Carrie (1976).
- Scarface (1983).
- Mission: Impossible (1995).
Counterculture films on film:
- Greetings (1968).
- Hi, Mom! (1970).
- He refers to European aesthetic.
Blow Out (1981) references:
- The Conversation (1974).
- Blow-Up (1966).
Blow-Up (1966):
- A fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.
- Director: Michelangelo Antonioni.
- Producer: Carlo Ponti.
- Cast: David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles.
- Won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Budget: $1.8$ million.
- Box office: $20$ million.
- Inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) and Brian De Palma’s Blow Out (1981).
- Tells a story through images rather than dialogue.
Release:
- Defiance of Hollywood’s Production Code.
- Condemned by the National Legion of Decency.
- Foreshadowed the code’s collapse.
Blow-Up ending:
- Not a conventional murder mystery.
- Movie “not about a murder but about a photographer”.
- Open ending, no logical conclusion.
- The film explores the isolation and the inability to communicate.
- Distraction by getting involved in the imaginary tennis game.
How Blow-Up, The Conversation and Blow Out form a trilogy:
- All of the characters are all loner audio/visual technicians whose frightening findings culminate in chaos or murder or death to the world order.
- Use of technology to discover and serve as evidence of a crime: photography and sound.
- Blow Out is a political thriller with a more straightforward narrative, while Blow-Up is a concept film, exploring the notions of perceptions and reality.
Reflexivity in Blow Out:
- Reflexive beginning and end.
- Searching for a perfect scream (importance of the theme).
- Film within film (“Coed Frenzy”).
- “Coed Frenzy” – references to Halloween, Psycho and other De Palma movies.
- Backstage of sound designer work.
Blow Out:
- Film on sound technician work.
- Film on psycho.
- Film on politics.
- The colors of Blow Out (American flag reference throughout the entire movie).
- Setting.
De Palma and reflexive genre films:
- Dressed to Kill (1980).
- Body Double (1984).
- The Untouchables (1987).

16.03 Sex, Lies & Videotapes: On American Independent Films

Smoke, dir. Wayne Wang, Paul Auster; Paul Benjamin, Auggie Wren (characters?) – represents the phenomenon of independent films.

INDEPENDENT CINEMA

Films produced in USA between 1908 and 1914 by small studios, which worked outside the Motion Picture Patents Company.
A film production made outside of the major Hollywood studios. It often results from the desire to search for new forms of expression and strive to break the thematic taboo.
All films that were made outside of industrial structures, produced for money gathered from outside of the official film industry.
Wider definition: group of all films (including avant-garde and experimental films) which are/were made outside of official cinema.

It’s a film made outside the traditional Hollywood studio system, often with unconventional financing, and it’s made because it expresses the director’s personal vision rather than someone’s notion of box-office success. -Roger Ebert

LOW BUDGET FILM

A film produced with small budget, mostly outside of major labels, sometimes an experimental film.
Some movies that have brought multiple profits to their authors:
- Night of the Living Dead (1968), dir. G. Romero.
- Easy Rider (1969), dir. D. Hopper.
- Eraserhead (1976), dir. D. Lynch.
- The Blair Witch Project (1999), dir. D. Myrick and E. Sanchez.
Phenomenon of American Independent Films:
- Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of Independent Film, Emanuel Levy.
- Declarations of Independence, John Berra?
- American Independent Cinema, Geoff King.
Before the phenomenon: John Cassavetes and films made in 1960s and 1970s:
- Shadows.
- America Lost and Found: The BBS Story.
- Pink Flamingo.

INDEPENDENT CINEMA OF 1980S AND 1990S

John Sayles: The Return of Secaucus 7 (1979), Lone Star (1996).
Jim Jarmusch: Permanent Vacation (1980), Stranger than Paradise (1984).
Susan Seidelman: Smithereens (1982).
Lizzie Borden: Born in Flames (1983), Working Girls (1986).
Joel & Ethan Coen: Blood Simple (1984), Fargo (1996).
Spike Lee: She’s Gotta Have it (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989).
Steven Soderbergh: Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989).
Hal Hartley: The Unbelievable Truth (1989), Trust (1990).
Richard Linklater: Slacker (1990), Before Sunrise (1995).
Julie Dash: Daughters of the Dust (1991).
Quentin Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994).
Kelly Reichardt: River of Grass (1994).
Todd Solondz: Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998).
Harmony Korine: Gummo (1997), Julien-Donkey Boy (1999).
Studios that changed the game:
- New Line Cinema: founded in 1967; distributor of horrors and European films.
- Miramax: founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein; “indie empire”.

Sundance Film Festival

American festival of independent films.
Founded: in 1978 on the initiative of Utah Film Commission.
Beginning of 1980s: Robert Redford takes over.
Idea: create a forum where the films made by independent filmmakers or films of recognized directors (whose independent work had no chance for regular distribution) were presented.
Organized in: Park City (in January).
Directors:
- Paul Schrader
- Coen brothers
- Steven Soderbergh
- Jim Jarmusch
- Quentin Tarantino
- Kevin Smith
- Darren Aronofsky
- Harmony Korine
- Christopher Nolan
Some films (that won main prizes):
- 1985 – Blood Simple
- 1991 – Poison
- 1995 – The Brothers McMullen
- 1996 – Welcome to the Dollhouse
- 2001 – The Believer
- 2009 – Precious
- 2010 – Winter’s Bone
- 2012 – Beasts of the Southern Wild
- 2013 – Fruitvale Station
- 2014 – Whiplash
- 2021 – CODA

Film Independent’s Spirit Awards

Some of the winners of main prize for best film of the year:
- 1986 – After Hours (dir. M. Scorsese).
- 1990 – Sex, Lies and Videotape (dir. S. Soderbergh).
- 1993 – The Player (dir. R. Altman).
- 1994 – Short Cuts (dir. R. Altman).
- 1995 – Pulp Fiction (dir. Q. Tarantino).
- 1997 – Fargo (dir. J. and E. Coen).
- 2002 – Memento (dir. Ch. Nolan).
- 2004 – Lost in Translation (dir. S. Coppola).
- 2006 – Brokeback Mountain (dir. A. Lee).
- 2017 – Moonlight (dir. B. Jenkins).
- 2018 – Get Out (dir. J. Peele).
- 2019 – If Beale Street Could Talk (dir. B. Jenkins).
- 2020 – The Farewell (dir. L. Wang).
- 2021 – Nomadland (dir. Ch. Zhao).
- 2022 – The Lost Daughter (dir. M. Gyllenhaal).
- 2023 – Everything Everywhere All At Once (dir. D. Kwan, D. Scheinert).

Steven Soderbergh

Born: 1963.
First amateur film – in the age of 13.
1986 – director of a Yes live performance (awarded with Grammy).
Film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, film editor, film producer.
Awards: Palme d’Or at Cannes, Oscar, Emmy, Critics’ Choice, Independent Spirit, main prize at Sundance Film Festival.
1991 – Kafka
1996 – Schizopolis
1998 – Out of Sight
2000 – Traffic
2000 – Erin Brockovich
2001 – Ocean’s Eleven
2002 – Solaris
2008 – Che
2009 – The Girlfriend Experience
2011 – Haywire; Contagion
2012 – Magic Mike
2013 – Behind the Candelabra
2018 – Unsane
2019 – High Flying Bird; The Laundromat
2020 – Let Them All Talk
2021 – No Sudden Move
2022 – KIMI
2023 – Magic Mike’s Last Dance

Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Use of funds of RCA Columbia and Virgin companies.
Budget: $1.2$ mln.
Box office: over $100$ mln.
Screenplay – written in 8 days.
Sundance Festival: Audience Award.
Cannes Film Festival: Palme d’Or, Best Actor, FIPRESCI award.
Oscar nomination.
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Film, Best Actress, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director.
Place: Baton Rouge (capital of Louisiana).
Action: based on dialogues, everything develops with the help of the word(s).
Realism + questioning realism (video recording).
Lack of spectacularity – visual, themes, poetics.
Soderbergh’s film as a symbolic culmination of the decade of the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

NEW QUEER CINEMA

Sundance 1992: panel “Barbed-Wire Kisses: Contemporary Lesbian and Gay Cinema”.
Article by B. Ruby Rich (“Sight & Sound” 1992).
Topic: recognition of gay and lesbian films made in the late 1980s and early 1990s; films on LGBT communities and on AIDS.
Factors: reaction to Ronald Reagan, AIDS.

Paris is Burning (1990)

Jennie Livingston’s documentary project; financing problems.
Phenomenon after premiere.
Awards: Berlin Film Festival (Teddy Award), Sundance Festival (Grand Jury Prize).
Influence - ?

Queer American Film Directors

Gregg Araki: The Living End (1992), Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), Mysterious Skin (2004).
Lisa Cholodenko: High Art (1998), The Kids Are All Right (2010).
Cheryl Dunye: The Watermelon Woman (1996).
Todd Haynes: Poison (1991), The Velvet Goldmine (1998), Far from Heaven (2002), Carol (2015).
John Cameron Mitchell: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Shortbus (2006).
Kimberly Peirce: Boys Don’t Cry (1999).
Marlon Riggs: Tongues United (1989).
Ira Sachs: Keep the Lights On (2012), Love is Strange (2014).
Gus Van Sant: My Own Private Idaho (1991), Milk (2008).
23.03.2023 Films to watch: Stranger than Paradise (1984), Slacker (1990).

30.03.2023 Kevin Smith

Born: 1970.
1994 – Clerks
1995 – Mallrats
1997 – Chasing Amy
1999 – Dogma
2001 – Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
2006 – Clerks II
2008 – Zack and Miri Make a Porno
2019 – Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
2022 – Clerks III

Gus Van Sant’s Slow Movies

2002 – Gerry
2003 – Elephant
2005 – Last Days
2007 – Paranoid Park

Coppola’s Biography

Born: 14.05.1971.
Daughter of Francis Ford Coppola.
First role as an infant in The Godfather (1972).
Took on the role of Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III (1990).
Awarded for the Golden Raspberry for worst supporting actress and worst debut.
Studied photography and art.
First feature film: The Virgin Suicides (1999).
Themes and aesthetics of the movies:
- Female experience.
- The mundane aspects of the celebrity.
- Concurring feelings of isolation and invasiveness.
- Use of repeated shots.
- Sublime use of soft and natural lighting.
- “Dreamlike” atmosphere.
Lost in Translation (2003):
- Actors: Bill Murray, Scarlet Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi.
- Distribution: Focus Features.
- Budget: $4$ M.
- Box office: $44.6$ M.
- Awards: Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay, three Golden Globes awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
- One of the greatest films of the 2000’s films of all time.
The Virgin Suicides (1999).
Lost in Translation (2003):
- Bob Harris and Japan (racist).
- Charlotte and Japan (integrates with people, more respect).
Women and Oscar for achievement in directing:
- 1977 – Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties).
- 1994 – Jane Campion (The Piano).
- 2004 – Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation).
- 2010 – Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) first best director award.
- 2018 - Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird).
- 2021 – Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman).
- 2022 – Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog).
Wanda (1970), dir. Barbara Loden.

Independent Female Directors of American Contemporary Cinema

Lisa Cholodenko
Josephine Decker
Lena Dunham
Ava DuVernay
Greta Gerwig
Debra Granik
Marielle Heller
Eliza Hittman
Patty Jenkins
Tamara Jenkins
Laura Poitras
Dee Rees
Kelly Reichardt

Greta Gerwig’s Career in Film

Hannah Takes the Stairs
Mumblecore:
- Funny Ha Ha
- Hannah Takes the Stairs
- Your Sister’s Sister
Mumblecore filmmakers:
- Joe Swanberg
- Andrew Bujalski
- Jay and Mark Duplass
- Lynn Shelton

A24 Founding and Beginnings

Founded on August 20, 2012, by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges.
All founders were film industry “veterans”.
Guggenheim Partners provided the seed money (capital) for A24.
“Out of the box” promo and advertising.
In May 2015, A24 announced that it would start a television division and began producing the USA Network series Playing House, as well as working to develop a television series that would later become Comrade Detective, produced by Channing Tatum.

The “Cult” of A24

Unusual interest in a distributing and producing company was brought to A24 mainly thanks to their “out of the box” marketing, featuring for example:
- Self-branding merch
- Movie promo boxes with film-related accessories
- “It connects with you on a personal level. They’re not just these feel-good, rom-com-esque movies. There’s a deeper element.”
Spring Breakers (2012):
- Budget: $5$ M.
- Box office: over $32$ M.
- Directed by Harmony Korine.
- A24 was only the distributor.
- It pits a dark crime story against the vibrant energized atmosphere of the crazy college world of Spring Break.
Moonlight (2016) – the first movie produced by A24:
- Budget: $4$ M.
- Box office: over $65$ M.
- Directed by Barry Jenkins.
- 3 Academy Awards in Best Motion Picture of the year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Adapted Screenplay
Ladybird (2017):
- Budget: $10$ M.
- Box office: $79$ M.
- Directed by Greta Gerwig.
- 5 Academy Award Nominations
Midsommar (2019):
- Budget: $9$ M.
- Box office: $48$ M.
- Directed by Ari Aster.
- Folk horror.
- The whole movie is set in daytime, which is very unusual for a horror film
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022):
- Budget: $14$ M.
- Box office: $133$ M.
- Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
- Most awarded film of all time with 354 awards and 337 nominations, including 7 Academy Awards
CLASS 23.03 Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
Stranger than Paradise (1984):
- Eva, Willie and Eddie
- A road film (yet the road itself is not the main focus)
- Narration, time and space
- Storytelling modes:
- Black and white colors
- Static cinema
- The reduction of film narrative modes (ex. shot reverse shot)
- The use of long shots presenting characters during their non-activeness
- Ellipticity – skipping specific events (esp. those interesting or significant for the characters)
- Non-dramatization
- Depiction of US
- Stranger than Paradise as director’s manifesto (Tokyo Story, dir. Yasujito Ozn)
Road to Stranger than Paradise (1984):
- Permanent Vacation (1980) – debut film
- Stranger than Paradise – behind the scenes:
  - Film reel given by Wim Wenders
  - Budget: $90$ k / $100$ k
  - Short film entitled The New World
  - Award during Rotterdam Film Festival
  - Awards: Camera d’Or at Cannes Film Festival 1984, Golden Leopard at Locarno International Film Festival
Jarmusch – movie themes:
- Fascination with music
- Narration focus
Slacker (1990):
- Narrative: decentered, fragmented, loose: a talkie film
- Themes
- Slacker protagonist: mostly white, young, constantly speaking, focus on themselves, no names
- Generation manifesto? (late 60s, early 70s)
- They don’t have anything to fight for / GenX
- “should have stayed at bus station”

LECTURE 13.04 John Barth, Literature of Exhaustion (1967) Postmodernism

Diagnosis of the cultural crisis caused by the collapse of the current social