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Badlands In the 1960 s the movie industry changed greatly. It was the time when the classical period came to the end and the post-classical or the New Hollywood era began. During the 50 s and early 60 s Hollywood was producing primarily musicals and historical epics like Cleopatra and Hello Dolly. Such films benefited from the large screens, wide framing and improved sound.
They were commercially proved till the end of the late 60 s. In the 1960 s and 1970 s the new young generation was coming of age. Old Hollywood had no idea how to attract the youth audience. Dwindling audience demanded new approach. Most of all the films of Old Hollywood Studios were very costly. It was a time of great competition.
The new waves in the French and Japanese cinema made a break in America. Those films had oblique narrative structure and full-frontal female nudity. The only way out for the Studios was to cooperate with young filmmakers. The new generation of filmmaker was allowed to make their films without studio control. It was the generation of film school-educated, counterculture-bred and, the most important, young actors, writers and directors. The Studios hoped that they would be able to capture young audience.
The young filmmakers brought freshness, energy, sexuality, and an obsessive passion for film itself; though some critics argued that the level of craftsmanship in filmmaking had declined. The main artform of that time was realism. Thats why the New Hollywood filmmakers had to make the greatest technical changes. It was the real breakthrough in film technology.
The New Hollywood filmmakers used location shooting. It became possible due to specifically smaller microphones, lighter cameras and simpler post-production systems. Most of all, location shooting was cheaper. There was no need to build sets for shooting. The audience appreciated the changes. The previous artificial musicals and spectacles seemed to be boring and out-of-date comparing with rapidly developing realism.
But the changes were not only technical. The themes of the films had changed. The new filmmakers used a lot of rock music in the films. They revealed anti-establishment political themes.
Sexual freedom, using drugs such as LSD and marijuana were the manifestations of realism in cinemas of that time. As it was pointed the 60 s were the time of youth. The period is known as baby boom. The post-war newborns became teenagers and young adults.
But the country was not ready to give all necessary for them. It was on a permanent war economy. It was a time of poverty though enough people were at work. New generation brought revolutionary ways of thinking that influenced greatly the cultural fabric of American life. Their motto was ask not what your country do for you... Young people wanted change.
It seems that the revolutionary ideas affected all spheres of life: education, values, lifestyles, laws, and entertainment. But at the same time it was the period of decline and decay in many cities. Between 1963 and the early 1970 s the rate of violent crime such as murder, manslaughter and robbery was increasing in the United States. It was paradoxical because the country was rather prosperous, comparing with others, and the unemployment rates was quite low. But a general feeling of disorder made Americans changed inner city for the suburbs where streets and parks were threatening places. So, the cultural and historical climate of the late 60 s and early 70 s influenced greatly the themes of the films.
The film Badlands was directed by Terrence Malcik in 1974. It was based on the true story of the Charles Stark weather and Car-Ann Fate murders in 1958 that was written by Theo de Good. The setting of the film is in Fort Dupre, South Dakota, in 1959. Kit Carruthers, the main protagonist of the film, seems to be a gawky adolescent but later is shown as a psychotic killer. He is a twenty-five-year-old garbageman. Kit is on the run with his girlfriend, Holly Sargis, who is only fifteen-year-old.
Holly likes pop music and movies. She adores actor James Dean and thinks that Kit looks like he. Holly is infatuated with Kit. But her widower father disagreed with their relationship. Kit Carruthers kills impartially Holly's father with a pistol. Then Holly and Kit burn down the house.
When they are on the run towards the Badlands of Montana Holly and Kit committed dispassionate random murders. Both characters symbolize dissections of the American morality. They embodied features of an anti-hero in a state. Holly and Kit cannot be treated only as outlaws but they rebel like the man on the margins. America had hard times going through the period of self doubt. Martin Sheen, who played Kit Carruthers, once said about that time, I am a product of my time and of my place." In the 50 s and 60 s he was an adolescent, living in a small place in the mid-west.
The actor called his place a kind of nowhere land. Young people of his generation came from nowhere. They were the products of the time. Some of them wanted to invent themselves and reach the American Dream. But many of them lost their ways and found themselves in violent crime and drugs.
In Badlands Terrence Malcik uses some special features that make the film apart from others of its genre. Holly Sargis is the narrator of the story. It creates dialectic between sound and image. Malick has complicated approach in his work. Holly's romantic narration contrasts sharply with the shocking actions of the main characters.
It helps Malick to create ironic counterpoints and put concrete meaning in the story. Malick does not give any judgment or definitive motivations; and acts more like observer than analyzer. But for the viewer it is clear that the senseless protagonists are the children of their society that makes killers famous. Comparing with other nameless characters, the couple is presented as the results of squelched individuality. Terrence Malcik wanted to emphasize that society may be as guilty as the killers. Bibliography: Brian, Henderson.
Exploring Badlands. Wide Angle: A Quarterly Journal of Film Theory, Criticism and Practice, pp. 38 - 51, April 5, 1983.
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