While growing up, I’d routinely swing by the local video store. One weekend, during the summer of 1997, I chose The Rock and The Shawshank Redemption. I watched those two films consecutively and something meaningful occurred.
I was a few weeks away from entering 8th grade and, while watching one White Album-loving scientist and one audacious political prisoner succeed in stopping a platoon of domestic terrorists who have already seized Alcatraz (as well as kidnapped a few dozen tourists) from detonating some mysterious and cataclysmic toxic gas that could potentially wipe out the entire Bay Area (depending on the wind), there wasn't a moment that I didn't feel foolish, irrational, gullible, and eventually angry that a powerful American entertainment industry believed they can produce this type of product and that we, as the buying public, would gladly accept it. The components that make action movies, action movies (especially Jerry Bruckheimer action movies) such as the cheesy lines that bracket thoughtless action sequences and implausible scenarios that give way to even more implausible conclusions made the experience particularly insufferable.
I'm not sure I've ever gotten over it. And, yes, people have called me humorless before.
The subsequent film provided something entirely different. A film about two flawed men both working to come to terms with past mistakes as well as the harsh injustices that life has laid at their feet. This was quite the departure from my real life, but it was also an experience that made me more aware of human struggle and perserverance. I saw that film, that I'm sure most of you have seen, and upon its conclusion - keep in mind that I was just under 14 years of age at this time - I experienced something of a revelation. I experienced the byproduct that follows quality worthwhile communication and growth through an artistic medium. I wanted to chase that feeling again and again. And so, I instantly committed to experiencing art that has this very specific type of potential.
After remaining stubbornly committed to this principle for six years, I eventually came across 1970's Five Easy Pieces. The film stars Jack Nicholson as Bobby Dupea- a disaffiliated man who is at odds with the communities and persons within his purview. Be it his blue-collar coworkers, or a family of professional musicians and their collection of academic counterparts, or even the simple-minded woman that unwaveringly loves him- he is unable to find peace. One character points out that "If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself, no love of his friends, family, work, something - how can he ask for love in return? I mean, why should he ask for it?"
It's a powerful film that truly shows the complexity and depth of what young Jack Nicholson could do. It's a film that made a profound connection with me.
It still does.
After experiencing this film’s perfection, I was curious how it was received in its time. Most sources list Five Easy Pieces as the 14th highest grossing film of 1970. By my count, there were at least 68 major film releases in 1970. This era consistently posted strong earnings for challenging films. These same type of challenging films that, if released today, would be considered niche or marginalized.
Read more about this pre-SFX-dominated era here.