Against All Odds

It seems to be the particular paradox of American culture that the value we place on the individual in our society sometimes complements, and sometimes works at odds with the common good of our community and our society. The strength of the individual, and the laws that protect individuality and privacy, are things that we, as Americans, are proud of and work hard to protect. 

One of the traditional roles Hollywood films have played in our culture is that of presenting us with lone heroes that have stood against the tide, the man or woman or couple shunned by their family, or community, or by society - someone who knew they could win, or had to try, even if they thought they couldn't - because it was the Right Thing to Do, the Only Thing to Do, or because it was Who They Were. 

Film Night in the Park this summer has chosen some films that make use of this underlying theme. The films are very different, but the idea is the same. It's not surprising that so many movies have as a driving force this "hero's journey" - Joseph Campbell found this motif at the heart of most myth, from the ancient Greeks to Lord of the Rings, to Star Wars. Screenwriters know this, either intuitively, or because they've taken any one of several dozen fashionable workshops now taught all over the country, or they've read any of the many paperback books with titles like Write Your Screenplay and Make Big Bucks Now! 

As a result, many new films, and would-be scripts, have a lone character setting out against all odds, but not all films end up being High Noon, or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. What's the difference between a classic appealing for decades to all ages, and a bad formulaic picture written by a computer program to a pre-determined demographic that plays for a couple of weeks in a shopping mall and then sits collecting dust on a shelf at (you'll excuse the expression) Blockbuster Video? I suspect the main things are the characters (and of course the actors who play them - it's hard to separate one from the other).

Try thinking of someone other than Charlie Allnut, that gruff rogue, and Rose Sayer, that pillar of puritan strength, at the helm of The African Queen. How about Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock in the remake, doing Ben Holmes and Sarah Lewis, the characters they played in Forces of Nature? Not a good match? Think of some other marshall protecting Hadleyville than Gary Cooper's tall, stoic Will Kane. Any character played by Ethan Hawke, for example. Or think of someone, anyone, other than Mr. Smith going to Washington. See, you have to put the right character played by the right actor on the right yellow brick road in the right hero's journey to have a classic.

For the summer of 2002, Film Night presents a wide variety of heroes, and pairs of heroes, going up against different types of odds, large and small. Besides the classic American western, High Noon, full of gray skies, ethical challenges, analogs to the McCarthy era in which it was made, and clocks reminding us - again and again that this daring  film takes place in real time, we have two other films with a lot of sky in them: Field of Dreams, in which an Iowa cornfield becomes the stuff that dreams are made of, when one man (Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella) stands up against the ridicule of those around him and follows the voices in his head, the vision in his mind, and in so doing masters time and finds his father again; and October Sky, the semi-true story of two boys whose dreams grow as big as the universe. 

On the political front, Marlon Brando stars as Terry Malloy, the little punk who not only could have been a contender, but proves that he very much is, as he goes up against the big boys On the Waterfront, in the fact-based masterpiece penned by Budd Schulberg and helmed by Elia Kazan (speaking of the McCarthy era). Filmed on location in the dead of winter on the New York/New Jersey docks, the film has an unmistakable air of realism - and teeth. Hollywood, D.C., Capra-style provides an enduring classic, one of my personal favorites, when Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Jimmy Stewart gives one of his most impassioned performances (and one of his favorites) as Jefferson "Jeb" Smith, the Boy Scout leader who becomes a senator. (Have you ever noticed how some roles are really Jimmy Stewart roles and some are James Stewart roles? Like Jeb Smith is a Jimmy Stewart role, but Scottie Ferguson in Vertigo is a James Stewart role.) Jimmy or James, he stands up to the forces of corruption - and even more to the point, his disappointment in his own heroes - to become a hero himself. And, for me, the best part of the treat is watching one of my favorites, Jean Arthur, as the hard on the outside, hungry to be converted on the inside, Clarissa Saunders.

In the realm of the physical world, we have Breaking Away, the bicycle epic, popular here in the land where the mountain bike was invented. No mountains in Indiana, just the Cutters (the locals, who are the kids of the stonecutters who helped build the university and the underdogs around the ritzy kids who go there). Dave (Dennis Christopher) a Cutter who wishes he was an Italian bike racing champ, turns himself into one, against all odds (most notably the fact that he isn't Italian - although the actor is of Italian descent and even appeared in Fellini's film Roma). The fact that he succeeds in his dreams, and that he and his family and friends made this Peter Yates film the sleeper hit of 1979 and an enduring favorite for over twenty years. And on the non-fiction front, a great documentary, When We Were Kings tells the story of that moment in 1974 when an underdog named Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman in Zaire, and the Rumble in the Jungle became about more than sports; it became a symbolic racial gesture of international pride of Olympian proportions. Using the great sweep of black African-American musical heritage to help make its point, this Academy Award winning film gives us not only powerful images and drama, but the sounds of James Brown, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba and others.

Another kind of racial stand is made by the young couple in Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, a San Francisco-based story (watch for a guest appearance by the Mel's on Lombard Street) that may seem quaint to us now but actually fell on the cusp when the Old Hollywood was about to give way to a New Hollywood of The Graduate, Easy Rider, and a variety of films that would more closely mirror the changes that were rippling through society. Kramer was never one to shy away from social issues; despite his problems in the McCarthy era he produced High Noon at that time, and as well as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? he collaborated with Sidney Poitier in another ground-breaking, much more serious racially motivated drama, The Defiant Ones, in 1958.

Finally, we have the ultimate Hero's Journey, arguably the most loved Hero's Journey Hollywood has ever produced. And although she doesn't set out to do it because she wants to, and she doesn't do it alone - God knows we've all been on it with her enough times! - once Dorothy Gale takes her first step on that yellow brick road, there's no turning back. Join us in Mill Valley on June 28th as we survive the tornadoes, brave the lions, tigers and bears, the flying monkeys, the fiery disembodied heads, the wicked witches, the palace guards, the field of poppies, a profusion of Art Deco, and Billie Burke's voice, all in an effort to get that Man Behind the Curtain to help us find our way home.

Join all our heroes this summer at the parks in Marin county, and you'll begin to understand that the best in American film means getting to know the most interesting people. Who knows? The inspiration may just rub off on you, and you may take that first step you've been waiting to take on your hero's journey.

-- Kenn Rabin