New York has long been a preeminent movie setting but never more so than in the 1970s. This presentation will have a particular focus on crime and “blaxploitation” dramas of the period where the backdrop of the city was particularly pronounced and themes of alienation, dislocation, and urban decay especially idiomatic. Representative films will include “The French Connection” (1971), “Shaft” (1971), “Accross 110th Street” (1972) and “Taxi Driver” (1976). Because of production values impacted by budgetary constraints as well as relatively unfettered access to shooting locations, such films offer a quasi-documentary level of ethnographic detail and visual intimacy in rendering the urban landscape of New York at a time of enormous social turmoil for both the city and America and this will be the central focus explored in the presentation.
This presentation requires a DVD player.
About the presenterDouglas Sherry
Independent Scholar History of Jazz, Blues and Rock