Francis Ford Coppola's "The outsiders" (1983) tells the story of two rival factions: the Greasers, so called because of the substance they put on their hair, and the Socs (an abbreviation for "The socialites"), the kids whose parents can go to social clubs. The first ones wear ripped jeans and shirts, the others white pants and college jackets. The Greasers run, while the Socs drive fancy cars. It is the Greasers that will suffer the most, because they don't belong to this upper class of American society, something that will force them to commit crimes, and be marginalised from the community. In other words, they will become outsiders.
Three brothers living in 1965 Oklahoma are in the center of the story: the oldest one, Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell), is a sensitive, innocent boy who has difficulties getting along with his older brother, Daryl (Patrick Swayze). He has been the caretaker of their home since their parents died tragically, and this sense of depression has made him tough, distant and irritable, shouting at Ponyboy for the slightest mistake. Sodapop, their other brother, finds himself in the middle of their quarrels when Daryl demands of him to express his opinion. His real quality is neutrality. He doesn't want to meddle in his troubled family's affairs, preferring to contribute to the household by working in a gas station. Mediocre as he is, he finds satisfaction in such a simple job, hit knows that Ponyboy has more talent and motivates him to follow another path in life; one involving college studies, and later a successful career.
Unfortunately, such a path is only reserved for the Greasers' opponents, the Socs. Rich and privileged from head to toe, they don't know what poverty or loss means, and mock the Greasers for their financial state and low social status. Only some of them have real feelings towards their rivals: a red-haired girl nicknamed Cherry (Diane Lane) meets Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny (Ralph Macchio) in the cinema by chance. Talking to them, she discovers not the tramps she thought they were, but gentle people, damaged by life's hardships. She will fall for Ponyboy, and he for her. But the other Socs won't let their romance blossom.
The one that the Socs fear the most is Dallas (Matt Dillon). He is the archetype of the young rebel, the James Dean of the next generation, fighting for whatever seems just to him with a fervour that leads him to become a real criminal. But this doesn't matter to him. His sense of justice comes from his heart and not from his brain. And this gets him into trouble, but also pushes him to act in a way that transcends his humble origins and become a hero.
These youth are trapped in a hole they can't get out of: the social one. Society regards them as outcasts, delinquents, dangerous. They can't change the authorities' perception of them unless they cover their criminal past with noble actions, of which the chance to happen is more frequent in films than in real life. Nothing in them wins the appreciation of the Socs. The Greasers may have dominated the scene in a school ("Grease", 1978), but on the road they are denigrated because of their background. Travolta and his friends were a gentle type of gang: the most dangerous thing they could do was smoke. But the Outsiders finish many packets a day and have no problem with that. The stereotypes of American highschools of popular kids and outcasts don't matter here, since this is a depiction of a more tough kind of reality, not a plastic musical. If "The Outsiders" were one such, the whole point of the film, that of pointless fights between social classes that lead to nothing but sadness and ravage, would be lost.
While thankfully avoiding the conventions of the musical, the film does have a memorable score, composed by Coppola's father, Carmine. His son thought it were too dramatic for such a film, but in my opinion it perfectly captures the personal conflicts inside the souls of the protagonists. It is intense, like their personalities. When Coppola made "The Complete Novel Version", he added some hits of the time to give the film a more realistic tone. He certainly succeeded. What The Jam's and T-Rex's pieces did for "Billy Elliot" (2000), Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others did for "The outsiders". They transformed the viewer to that time, and gave the film a matching soundtrack, one that represented the generation depicted in it.
Coppola's smooth direction makes the nearly two-hour version of the film flow effortlessly. With a camera that zooms and then turns away, lights that dim and shine again, the colours of the sun juxtaposed with the city's grey atmosphere, the whole film is also a feast for the eyes. Coppola was absolutely right to cast his young actors, all of them becoming stars in part due to his film. Their performances demanded a level of maturity many of them wouldn't have had considering their age. Their characters didn't have any differences in that extent, but their lives were ones of constant struggle, far from their screen impersonators' ones. Macchio especially shone as the heroic Johnny, giving the most dramatic performance in a film with plenty of those. All of them achieved the primary purpose of the film; to makes us resonate with their struggle, cry when they are facing the impossible and laugh when they have fun, expressing a childishness they have partly lost due to life's challenges. We feel for them when they are wronged, and wish them to find the way towards a better future, one in which they won't be outsiders, but in the centre of attention, like their real selves.
Before the Brat Pack, before John Hughes, preceding "St. Elmo's fire" and "The Breakfast club", "The outsiders" introduced us to a tight-knit group of teenagers facing the problems of the previous generation, but coming through because of the same traits that characterised the two former films: friendship and resilience. S. E. Hinton may have wanted to tell the story of her generation in her homonymous novel, but "The outsiders" exposed it to a new audience, and thus made it transcend the limits of her time, and make it more universal. A novel is already so, but the cinema is a more powerful medium. Image dominates paper. Seeing these future stars incarnate her roles on screen, Hinton was proud. If I were, her, I would have been too. Because they would have made my book more accessible to this new generation. Who can say no to a good book adaptation?
Three brothers living in 1965 Oklahoma are in the center of the story: the oldest one, Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell), is a sensitive, innocent boy who has difficulties getting along with his older brother, Daryl (Patrick Swayze). He has been the caretaker of their home since their parents died tragically, and this sense of depression has made him tough, distant and irritable, shouting at Ponyboy for the slightest mistake. Sodapop, their other brother, finds himself in the middle of their quarrels when Daryl demands of him to express his opinion. His real quality is neutrality. He doesn't want to meddle in his troubled family's affairs, preferring to contribute to the household by working in a gas station. Mediocre as he is, he finds satisfaction in such a simple job, hit knows that Ponyboy has more talent and motivates him to follow another path in life; one involving college studies, and later a successful career.
Unfortunately, such a path is only reserved for the Greasers' opponents, the Socs. Rich and privileged from head to toe, they don't know what poverty or loss means, and mock the Greasers for their financial state and low social status. Only some of them have real feelings towards their rivals: a red-haired girl nicknamed Cherry (Diane Lane) meets Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny (Ralph Macchio) in the cinema by chance. Talking to them, she discovers not the tramps she thought they were, but gentle people, damaged by life's hardships. She will fall for Ponyboy, and he for her. But the other Socs won't let their romance blossom.
The one that the Socs fear the most is Dallas (Matt Dillon). He is the archetype of the young rebel, the James Dean of the next generation, fighting for whatever seems just to him with a fervour that leads him to become a real criminal. But this doesn't matter to him. His sense of justice comes from his heart and not from his brain. And this gets him into trouble, but also pushes him to act in a way that transcends his humble origins and become a hero.
These youth are trapped in a hole they can't get out of: the social one. Society regards them as outcasts, delinquents, dangerous. They can't change the authorities' perception of them unless they cover their criminal past with noble actions, of which the chance to happen is more frequent in films than in real life. Nothing in them wins the appreciation of the Socs. The Greasers may have dominated the scene in a school ("Grease", 1978), but on the road they are denigrated because of their background. Travolta and his friends were a gentle type of gang: the most dangerous thing they could do was smoke. But the Outsiders finish many packets a day and have no problem with that. The stereotypes of American highschools of popular kids and outcasts don't matter here, since this is a depiction of a more tough kind of reality, not a plastic musical. If "The Outsiders" were one such, the whole point of the film, that of pointless fights between social classes that lead to nothing but sadness and ravage, would be lost.
While thankfully avoiding the conventions of the musical, the film does have a memorable score, composed by Coppola's father, Carmine. His son thought it were too dramatic for such a film, but in my opinion it perfectly captures the personal conflicts inside the souls of the protagonists. It is intense, like their personalities. When Coppola made "The Complete Novel Version", he added some hits of the time to give the film a more realistic tone. He certainly succeeded. What The Jam's and T-Rex's pieces did for "Billy Elliot" (2000), Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others did for "The outsiders". They transformed the viewer to that time, and gave the film a matching soundtrack, one that represented the generation depicted in it.
Coppola's smooth direction makes the nearly two-hour version of the film flow effortlessly. With a camera that zooms and then turns away, lights that dim and shine again, the colours of the sun juxtaposed with the city's grey atmosphere, the whole film is also a feast for the eyes. Coppola was absolutely right to cast his young actors, all of them becoming stars in part due to his film. Their performances demanded a level of maturity many of them wouldn't have had considering their age. Their characters didn't have any differences in that extent, but their lives were ones of constant struggle, far from their screen impersonators' ones. Macchio especially shone as the heroic Johnny, giving the most dramatic performance in a film with plenty of those. All of them achieved the primary purpose of the film; to makes us resonate with their struggle, cry when they are facing the impossible and laugh when they have fun, expressing a childishness they have partly lost due to life's challenges. We feel for them when they are wronged, and wish them to find the way towards a better future, one in which they won't be outsiders, but in the centre of attention, like their real selves.
Before the Brat Pack, before John Hughes, preceding "St. Elmo's fire" and "The Breakfast club", "The outsiders" introduced us to a tight-knit group of teenagers facing the problems of the previous generation, but coming through because of the same traits that characterised the two former films: friendship and resilience. S. E. Hinton may have wanted to tell the story of her generation in her homonymous novel, but "The outsiders" exposed it to a new audience, and thus made it transcend the limits of her time, and make it more universal. A novel is already so, but the cinema is a more powerful medium. Image dominates paper. Seeing these future stars incarnate her roles on screen, Hinton was proud. If I were, her, I would have been too. Because they would have made my book more accessible to this new generation. Who can say no to a good book adaptation?