Cinema of the 70s: 101 Iconic Movies

.anadian film critic Foote (Clint Eastwood: Evolution of a Filmmaker) examines the bold evolution of filmmaking during the 1970s with this selection of critical and box-office hits (and a few significant flops). After the social and political upheavals of the 1960s, audiences hungered for mature films reflecting the feelings of disillusionment and distrust of authority, awakened by the Vietnam War, Foote argues. Directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Hal Ashby satisfied audience demands with films steeped in unsentimental realism. Their works tackled subject matters ranging from failed relationships to institutional and moral corruption. The book includes foreign films and lesser-known gems alongside groundbreaking blockbusters such as Star Wars and Jaws. Foote’s greatest praise is reserved for movies centered on complex characters—Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces and Jane Fonda in Klute, for example. The dearth of filmmakers and performers of color in the book is disappointing, especially as Foote’s insights into the critical and popular receptions and cultural legacies of his selected movies are uniformly intriguing.