Grindhouses, Drive-ins & The American New Wave
Of Filmmaking
How great
has film and filmmaking been in the U.S. since the early days of sound? Long before cineplexes, home video, cable and
PCs existed, single-screen movie theaters were all over the country. Even after the big-name movie studios lost
their movie chains in a 1948 Supreme Court decision, the single-screen houses
(and often palaces) moved on while drive-ins really kicked in. It was the post-WWII baby boom era, after
all.
With TV,
the theaters installed multiple speakers for stereo and even multi-channel
sound, as well as making their screens wider to accommodate many new wide
formats. TV eventually overtook many of
these places when color TV arrived, but great gimmicks and showmanship were a
response. When the studios themselves
started to loose touch with the audience, along with many TV stations needing
as much new product as many independent movie theaters, the demand for
interesting B-movie product soared and some great films resulted.
It has
been a surprise that the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double feature film
Grindhouse did not do the potential
business it very much deserved initially, it surprised those who especially
know how dead-on they were in recreating the fun and ambitious (if explicit)
entertainment that new filmmaking freedom and love of film made possible. Lead by American New Wave architects like
Stanley Kubrick, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma
and so many others who broke ground, a new heart and soul that those who know
and love films stand by to this day.
There are
some people who did not even know Grindhouse
was a double feature, a problem not just from the advertising not emphasizing
that enough, but that audiences have put up with second-best for so long that
the idea that you would get two films for one price seems like a lie. No one in the industry has wanted to admit to
that one.
Also, that
films could be violent simply and to the point without wallowing in it
(ironically called “cheap” as if torture, turning the screws and suffering is
some kind of fun luxury like a cell phone) suddenly seems innovative. It speaks volumes about how violence has been
overly processed like digital video effects to the point where a monster being
“that guy in a mask” offers whole new joys of film viewing.
The
theaters that did not get closed down but usually did not have the dollars
available to keep them in Grade-A shape became the places that played the
B-movies. Some where actually nice places
that had cash to put into their place, then specialized in a mix of B-movie and
counterculture fare. For those who
thought the movie Grindhouse was yet
another Horror film, they missed the boat and it is one worth getting
reservations on.
Drive-ins
were still alive and well in the 1970s, so they fit it those films in with
their second-run (and even first-run) of studio product as did more than a few
regular theaters, making moviegoing in the 1970s actually exciting. How often can you say that about films now?
Like the
cheap HD productions of today, most of the product filmed then was not always
great and many were investors just trying to get a quick buck, but most of them
look ambitious and skillful as compared to the cycle of post-Blair Witch HD hacks we are suffering
through now.
Also,
these productions had more originality, energy, ambition, forced the makers to
think and create more because the producers of these films knew real
competition was out there. Now, it is
about formulaic marketing and people who think they are something when they are
no-talent hacks ruining the industry and filmmaking itself; smarmy idiots who
have no idea what good films are. The
great irony of Grindhouse is that
two of the top filmmakers (Rodriguez seems to be one of the only human beings
alive who knows how to make HD look good) in the business going out of their
way not to try to be the next Kubrick or Spielberg, love films, are themselves
and make two remarkable B-films that humiliate and annihilate just about every
genre production since the 1970s it celebrates so loudly and proudly.
That is
why Grindhouse is as special as it
is fun. When you get the history and get
the jokes, all the way to the purposely missing lost reels, scratches on the
prints (indie producers and distributors could only afford so many prints even
then when film was cheaper, and the majors were only making so many prints
because cineplexes were not around en masse yet) and other flaws really are
part of the experience.
That is
why it is not to be missed in a theater where everyone can enjoy it with a real
audience.
For more
on the film, we have a theatrical review and we’ll be looking at more versions
down the line:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5244/Grindhouse
- Nicholas Sheffo
