X FACTOR: JOE BUCK
(JON VOIGHT, R)
AND RATSO RIZZO’S
(DUSTIN HOFFMAN, L)
DEVASTATING DEPICTION
OF A RIDE-OR-DIE
FRIENDSHIP LED
MIDNIGHT COWBOY
TO BECOME THE FIRST
X-RATED FILM NOMINATED
FOR A BEST PICTURE
OSCARCOURTESY OF WARNER BROS. (TOP LEFT) / UNITED ARTISTS (BOTTOM LEFT) / UNITED ARTISTS (RIGHT) / PHOTOFEST
in training a kestrel (Kes) that he takes
from a nest. However, escape from sadistic
schoolmasters, bullies, a brute of a brother,
and an overmatched mother proves
elusive. Against this stands the reality of
a likely future working “down pit” in the
local coal mine. Using a predominantly
untrained cast, Loach finds an authentic
story that contains a great sadness, inter-
spersed with moments of profound grace.
For their depiction of an innocent bond
between a child and an animal, the scenes
of Casper and Kes are only equaled by the
island scenes in The Black Stallion (1979).
While Kes has roots in British kitchen sink
films, Loach’s film strikes a deeper, gentler
nerve thanks to the focus on a child, which
ultimately makes the film that much more
devastating.LEGACY: Impacted socially conscious
directors who put a realistic spotlight
on the working classes and the forgotten.
Mike Leigh’s working-class cinematic
sensibilities would be foremost amongst
these. Debra Granik pointed to Kes
as an influence on her search for authentic-
ity in Winter’s Bone (2010).Midnight Cowboy
(John Schlesinger)While on-screen violence created contro-
versy, it was sex that really set off warning
bells, and Midnight Cowboy rang plenty
of those bells, with its biggest perceived
no-no being a sex act (in a theater no less)
between men. For its transgressions, the film
earned an X-rating, which was later changed
to an R-rating as the MPAA fine-tuned its
rating system. Schlesinger and stars
Dustin Hoffman (fresh off The Graduate)
and Jon Voight went all in on a tale of
friendship in the decidedly ungentrified
streets of New York. Unflinching in its view
of poverty, hustlers, and broken people, the
film broke open what could be screened and
what could succeed. When Ratso Rizzo says,
“I’m walking here,” he’s setting his boundar-
ies. Midnight Cowboy broke boundaries as
the first X-rated film to win an Academy
Award for Best Picture.LEGACY: As the last vestiges of the
Hays Code boundaries faded into oblivion,
the film broadened Hollywood’s mainstreamacceptance of movies touching on taboo
subjects, paving the road for films
like A Clockwork Orange (1971) and
Last Tango in Paris (1972). Midnight Cowboy
captured the real grit of New York, a reality
later seen in The Panic in Needle Park (1971),
Serpico (1973), and Taxi Driver (1976).Take the Money and Run
(Woody Allen)Allen’s second film, this seminal mock
documentary was a precursor to the
aesthetic and commercial successes in the
mockumentary genre that took off with
This Is Spinal Tap in 1984. From the use
of a stentorian-voiced narrator, to spurious
newsreel footage, to awkward interviews,
Allen built a farce around documentary
conventions. He plays Virgil Starkwell,
an inept criminal whose misdeeds include
a poorly written hold-up note and an at-
tempt to use a “gun” made from soap in
a downpour. Unlike later mockumentaries
that feature layered character develop-
ment, Allen’s film is more of a vehicle for
one-liners and his trademark non-sequiturs.