The Seventies

March 1, 2021

The 1970s have long been heralded as one of the greatest eras of American filmmaking, and countless books have been written about films and figures of the period such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, John Cassavetes, and Steven Spielberg. LoBrutto's (editing, film history, Sch. of Visual Arts; Stanley Kubrick: A Biography) contribution is a highly detailed narrative breakdown of the major films and players of the decade, in a year-by-year format. His intention is to explore the way American cinema evolved out of the Hollywood studio system, reflecting an often grittier and more realistic approach to filmmaking. Unfortunately, the details far outweigh any critical or descriptive content, and as so many films are mentioned in such a brief book, there is very little substance to most of the entries. LoBrutto clearly has a vast knowledge and love of cinema, and while this book could certainly be considered valuable in a college course as a primer on the major films of the decade, or a jumping-off point for further investigation, it is not an engaging read, and is ultimately little more than a collection of facts. VERDICT An informative but frustrating volume.--Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 26, 2021
Film buff LoBrutto (Stanley Kubrick) takes a revealing look at the cinematic movement that grew out of the turbulent 1970s. He presents a detailed analysis of the film world year by year, starting with “a long string of failures” of big budget films in the ’60s that indicated the “Golden Age of Hollywood” was over. From this came a vanguard of young, innovative directors who subverted the “beauty and glamour” of the first half of 20th-century film and created complex movies that treated the medium more like art, reacting to the fraught political and social climate caused by the war in Vietnam. These films “were unflinching in their approach to difficult content,” LoBrutto writes, and yielded a more realistic, if sometimes somber, style, bringing to the fore such talents as Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese and encompasing cult classic movies like The Exorcist (1973), Chinatown (1974), and Taxi Driver (1976). Charting the rise of stars including Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Jane Fonda, LoBrutto leaves no stone unturned in making his case, though the heavy barrage of movie titles and dates can get a bit tedious. Movie geeks won’t be disappointed.