My favorite year
Video Days tells the stories of how the films of the eighties were made. Who contributed. Why some have stood the test of time. Or been forgotten. Each article will bookend production history—sourced largely from newspaper or magazine articles, behind-the-scenes documentaries or books—with commentary on how well I think the filmmakers realized their goals.
Most conversations about the Eighties assume the decade began in 1980 and ended in 1989. I’d pin the Eighties to the years of 1982-1992, at least when it comes to film. Take for example a movie released in 1980, but written and produced in the seventies, like American Gigolo. Paul Schrader conceived the film in 1976. Its seedy story drips with urban alienation, a recurring theme in the films of that era. We have an early Richard Gere performance, and the appearance of model and actor Lauren Hutton signals the 1970s. Its fashion and music were cutting edge, but the picture takes place in a country mired in anxiety, not the optimism that would begin to shape popular culture in the eighties. I’d argue American Gigolo was shaking its seventies off and many films like it needed a couple of years to embrace being of an eighties movie.
At the same time, any conversation of eighties film has to include Pretty Woman. Released in March 1990, it was written and produced in the late eighties. Richard Gere stars again, and his character may still be lonely, but he isn’t dangerous anymore, to himself or those he comes into contact with. This Cinderella tale is part and parcel of the eighties. Consider the shopping spree Julia Roberts’ character embarks on. According to our pop culture in 1990, anyone who believed in themselves could transform their lives and be rewarded a happy ending. This myth was challenged in the film festivals of 1992, when the concept of free will in low budget, crime and punishment pictures like One False Move, Reservoir Dogs and The Crying Game was replaced by the sense that control of our lives had always been an illusion.
With these cultural buffers checked, an eighties film could be one released between 1982 and 1992. Release dates are based on the year the film was released theatrically for general audiences somewhere in the world. Mad Max 2 opened in Australia in December 1981 and the U.S. (as The Road Warrior) in May 1982. The movie is routinely grouped by Americans among the films of 1982, but I’m adhering to the date it was first released in theaters, which inclusive of all countries, was 1981. As such, The Road Warrior falls a few days short of being considered for this retrospective.
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Stand and deliver
Did you love today’s film? Did you learn something about it you never knew? Do you want to know where I get the big idea? Leave a comment and let the people know.
