A Decade Under the Influence

Examining the 1970s, the decade that has come to be seen as North American cinema's most revolutionary and experimental, this reverent documentary directed by Richard LaGravenese and the late Ted Demme interviews a handful of the key players and survivors of that fertile time. Beginning with EASY RIDER (1969) and other offshoots of producer/director Roger Corman's virtual training ground for young directors at b-movie studio American International Pictures, DECADE traces the trajectory of filmmakers such as Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, William Friedkin, and Paul Schrader. With clips from TAXI DRIVER, SHAMPOO, MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER, THE GODFATHER, and many more, the film conveys the richness of talent that the 1970s film world possessed. But the birth of the blockbuster (namely JAWS and STAR WARS) raised the studios' expectations for financial performance in the industry, virtually killing the chances of riskier productions--a development which gave birth to the thriving independent scene we know today. (jakelijan virallinen teksti)