A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

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:

Features Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Golden decade

In retrospect, the 1970s was a golden era for the American cinema, as demonstrated and explored by this documentary directed by Ted Demme and Richard LaGravenese. This IFC effort serves to illustrate and clarify the main idea of what that time meant for the careers of these illustrious people seen in the documentary.

The amazing body of work that remains, is a legacy to all the people involved in the art of making movies in that period. The decade was marked by the end of the Viet Nam war and the turbulent finale of those years of Jimmy Carter's presidency.

One thing comes out clear, films today don't measure against the movies that came out during that creative decade because the industry, as a whole, has changed dramatically. The big studios nowadays want to go to tame pictures that will be instant hits without any consideration to content, or integrity, as long as the bottom line shows millions of dollars in revenues.

The other thing that emerges after hearing some of America's best creative minds speak, is the importance of the independent film spirit because it is about the only thing that afford its creators great moral and artistic rewards.

This documentary is a must see for all movie fans.