One of the many delights of the 1978 Hal Ashby film Coming Home is the soundtrack. Among the legends featured are Aretha Franklin, the Stones, the Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Richie Havens--and Dylan.
Although "The Times They Are A-Changin", written by Dylan in 1963, is not one of the featured songs, it feels like it should have been. Dylan's song became sort of an anthem for the protest movement that swept our nation and the world throughout the 60's and early 70's. It was part call to action, part wake up call to those who weren't paying attention. (http://www.bobdylanlyrics.net/timchang.html)
So, what does Dylan's song mean today? I've asked my students to create an "Art as Protest" project for their final in our class. I'm curious: What is their protest about? And I'm greatly looking forward to seeing how they express it. I hope that like the work we've been watching and discussing, they share something of themselves and create a piece of work that is about something.
I recently had the pleasure of talking to Haskell Wexler, the Chicago-born director and cinematographer, who at 84 is still a passionate filmmaker working on projects that mean something to him. Wexler began his filmmaking career as a cinematographer in the late 50's. Among the films he shot were Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which earned him an Oscar, In the Heat of the Night, American Graffiti, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Coming Home, the film we screened in class last week. Wexler has also produced, written and directed numerous documentary films and was one of several DP's featured in the "Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography" documentary. His ground-breaking film Medium Cool (1969), set during the '68 Chicago Democratic Convention, is considered one of the seminal films of political cinema. You can read more about Wexler's work, including his most recent doc Who Needs Sleep?, at whoneedssleep.net and haskellwexler.com.
Wexler generously agreed to share a few thoughts with me and my 70's students. Here was his response to my questions:
Dear Francine:
You ask "As a cinematographer and filmmaker, what is important to you?"
Answer: Developing the professional skills to be able to communicate moving pictures in ways that engage people with a story I want to tell. Another answer could be: What's important to me is: getting a job, decent pay, and have a life and be able to buy things to make me happy. Hopefully your students, as artists, will struggle between those real world extremes.
I believe our discussions about the making of COMING HOME will afford insights into the 70s, period. The wider philosophic base to Art, Politics and Commerce may emerge.
When I received an Academy Award for VIRGINIA WOOLF I said: "I hope we can use our art for Peace and Love." 2010 still working on it.
Take it easy but take it,
Haskell
Monday, February 15, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Why I Love Teaching 70's Film & Culture
One of the many exciting aspects of teaching the 70's Film & Culture classes at Flashpoint Academy is the weekly opportunity to re-discover this dynamic decade and its key films with a new group of students.
I have been on this journey before, traveling to this fascinating time, but it always seems fresh when I have some first-time travelers at my side, especially a group that is as curious and thoughtful as the students in my current classes.
During our first class, we watched Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970), one of the small, character-driven films that kicked off the period. The second week, we screened The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973), a 70's take on Raymond Chandler's quintessential private eye, Philip Marlowe. This week, it's Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978), an anti-war film that deflates the clean, good guys vs. bad guys scenarios in early Vietnam-era films, such as The Green Berets (John Wayne & Ray Kellogg, 1968), which we viewed a clip from.
From Day 1, students' observations have been thoughtful and thought-provoking--both in class and in their blog response journals. It's great to read their posts, especially the ones where the author has clearly spent time not only writing about the films and our class, but thinking about them.
I started off the class--and mentioned this in my first blog--with the thought that at least for me, the 70's was not an era defined by its solutions or answers, but rather a decade defined by the questions. So, as my classes continue their travels in this decade, I hope they will stay curious, think deeply, and ask lots of questions.
We never know when or where our next inspiration will come from. Perhaps, like the maverick film artists who defined 70's cinema (including the ones interviewed in A Decade Under the Influence) and whose inspirations and influences came from far and distant places--Kurosawa, Bergman, Renoir, Hawks and Ford, our work will be inspired by the energy and creativity supplied by the 70's. Then again, you might just get inspired by the student sitting next to you, or the one posting a comment on your blog.
Stay open. Your story is still unfolding and is still open to interpretation, just like a good 70's movie.
I have been on this journey before, traveling to this fascinating time, but it always seems fresh when I have some first-time travelers at my side, especially a group that is as curious and thoughtful as the students in my current classes.
During our first class, we watched Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970), one of the small, character-driven films that kicked off the period. The second week, we screened The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973), a 70's take on Raymond Chandler's quintessential private eye, Philip Marlowe. This week, it's Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978), an anti-war film that deflates the clean, good guys vs. bad guys scenarios in early Vietnam-era films, such as The Green Berets (John Wayne & Ray Kellogg, 1968), which we viewed a clip from.
From Day 1, students' observations have been thoughtful and thought-provoking--both in class and in their blog response journals. It's great to read their posts, especially the ones where the author has clearly spent time not only writing about the films and our class, but thinking about them.
I started off the class--and mentioned this in my first blog--with the thought that at least for me, the 70's was not an era defined by its solutions or answers, but rather a decade defined by the questions. So, as my classes continue their travels in this decade, I hope they will stay curious, think deeply, and ask lots of questions.
We never know when or where our next inspiration will come from. Perhaps, like the maverick film artists who defined 70's cinema (including the ones interviewed in A Decade Under the Influence) and whose inspirations and influences came from far and distant places--Kurosawa, Bergman, Renoir, Hawks and Ford, our work will be inspired by the energy and creativity supplied by the 70's. Then again, you might just get inspired by the student sitting next to you, or the one posting a comment on your blog.
Stay open. Your story is still unfolding and is still open to interpretation, just like a good 70's movie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)