Film series: New Hollywood 29 June – 14 August 2011

With the addition of the John Kaldor Family Collection to the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ contemporary collection, the Gallery now holds Australia’s most comprehensive representation of contemporary art from the 1960s to now. And in conjunction with the unveiling of our new contemporary galleries, featuring the John Kaldor Family Gallery, this New Hollywood film series looked at a generation of filmmakers who emerged between the late 1960s and the late 1970s.

A confusing war in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal and an explosion in private surveillance all contributed to growing public paranoia in the United States. Reflecting the tumultuous times of the late 1960s a new generation of filmmakers came to prominence in Hollywood – a generation that stood out because of its anti-establishment and counter-cultural values. Tapping into the zeitgeist, they introduced startling subject matter and groundbreaking techniques that set their films apart from studio traditions and influenced the way major studios subsequently approached filmmaking.

In the mid 1960s, as old Hollywood professionals retired – in particular the traditional studio bosses – studios were struggling to produce films that accorded with the changing social values of their audiences. As a result bankruptcy loomed. The once-powerful MGM Studios sold off its assets, abandoned film-making, and diversified into other areas, such as hotels and casinos etc. Compelled to take risks, other studios began to encourage new filmmakers and a new audience rose to greet their work.

Characterised by an intense passion for the medium of film, psychological realism and consciousness of the dark side of the American Dream, the uncertainties of this new age gave rise to some of the finest motion pictures ever produced. A moment when directors assumed the ultimate power, screenwriters departed from conventions, cinematographers adopted new modes of storytelling and actors were selected for their ability to embrace ‘risky’ roles.

The series screened at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 29 June to 14 August 2011.

Films 

• 29 June, 3 July – Bonnie & Clyde (director Arthur Penn, United States, 1967, 35mm)

• 6, 10 July – The graduate (director Mike Nichols, United States, 1967, 35mm)

• 13, 17 July – Five easy pieces (director Bob Rafelson, United States, 1970, 35mm)

• 16 July – Midnight cowboy (director John Schlesinger, United States, 1969, 35mm)

• 20, 24 July – Klute (director Alan J. Pakula, United States, 1971, 35mm)

• 27, 31 July – Deliverance (director John Boorman, United States, 1972, 35mm)

• 30 July – The conversation (director Francis Ford Coppola, United States, 1974, 35mm)

• 3, 7 August – Dog day afternoon (director Sidney Lumet, United States, 1975, 35mm)

• 10, 14 August – Taxi driver (director Martin Scorsese, United States, 1976, 35mm)