Easy Riders Raging Bulls

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (Bowser, 2002, USA) is a documentary about Hollywood directors in the 1970s. This film might be a model for my Independent Study as it is told in a documentary fashion with clips and interviews intertwined in the film. When the interview is happening, the interviewee is in a close up head shot with a black background. In order to enhance the storyline, the film uses archival imagery, actual movie scenes, voice-over, interviews and film posters/titles. For example, when the documentary is talking about The Godfather, it shows the poster of The Godfather book and says how Coppola originally turned down the movie although it was a bestselling book. Nobody wanted to do it as it glorified the mafia. However, when
It is a mystery of greed, power, and corruption. Even though the plot of Chinatown talks about the California Water Wars of the 1910-20s, it’s also about the inner motivations of the characters. Many people consider the 1970s to be the best decade of American cinema. People fought for civil rights and were protesting the Vietnam War. Many films reflected the upheaval of the times and were about new subject matter and cutting-edge film techniques. Chinatown is an example of Film Noir including low- key lighting and characters with questionable morality, Femme Fatales and dark ending. It’s a crime drama with lots of cynical attitudes and sexuality. Many shots in the movie seem to be done off center. For example, when the main character Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is in the barber shop getting a shave, the viewer only sees part of his beard and in center of the shot is the window so the viewer also sees what’s going on outside. Just when the viewer thinks they figured out the plot it shifts in another direction, keeping the audience in suspense. For example, when a wife hires Gittes to spy on her husband, the viewer thinks it is a routine infidelity case but then realizes that Gittes was hired by an imposter and not the real wife. Polanski does a great job of balancing the story, characters and emotions. Interestingly, Polanski chooses to show Gittes with a bandaged nose for much of the story. Jack Nicholson is the perfect actor to play Gittes as both seem to have similar personalities. Additionally, John Huston plays the main villain. This is interesting because Huston is a well known Hollywood legend with a commanding presence, yet is a gentleman. Chinatown does a great job of capturing details of LA in the 1930s. Blue skies turn dark, rich homes have huge secrets. This shows how light turns to