The end of September will see some of the best films of the New Hollywood era screened at the Light House Cinema. From Sat 21 – Thur 26 September, the Smithfield cinema will host Out Of Their Depth: Corruption, Scandal and Lies in the New Hollywood, a season of 70s cinema sensations.
Four of the best films of the era for America will demonstrate the changing attitudes of the time, an increasingly paranoid and dissatisfied time following the American optimisim of the mid 60s. See Altman, Polanski, Pollack and Pakula in their element taking audiences out of their depth, in the four films selected to screen for this season.
Following the cultural upheaval and racial tensions of the 1960s, the early ‘70s saw America increasingly in social and political turmoil as opposition to the Vietnam war grew more violent following revelations of the brutality of American forces whilst at home the full scale of the Watergate scandal was beginning to be revealed. The certainties of modern American values were not only tarnished they were found to be mired in corruption, scandal and lies. This heightened unease in the mainstream American psyche was reflected in films from the New Hollywood of the period where the traditional male hero of the classic studio era was replaced by a protagonist who, whilst they thought they were in control, found themselves increasingly out of their depth.
This season at the Light House is curated by Cinema Rediscovered founder Mark Cosgrove. Inspired by Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cosgrave founded Cinema Rediscovered in the UK in 2016 and works collaboratively with the curatorial group dedicated to the rediscovery and revival of great films, to develop and present the festival programme.
Check out the full programme for this season below:
The Long Goodbye (1973) Dir. Robert Altman
Saturday 21 September, 6pm
Chinatown 1974 (Dir. Roman Polanski)
Sunday 22 September, 12.15pm
The Parallax View (1974) Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Tuesday 24 September, 6.15pm
Three Days of the Condor (1974) Dir. Syndey Pollack
Thursday 26 September, 8.30pm
Tickets for Out Of Their Depth: Corruption, Scandal and Lies in the New Hollywood are currently on sale HERE.