Movies and Place: The Sequel

A few location-specific movies of interest:

Kontroll (2004):  Filmed almost entirely in the Budapest subway.  Romance, cynicism, and a murder mystery prove there's a lot going on underground.  Move toward the light.

Hoosiers (1986):  I'm biased because it was filmed in my home state.  People who call this a sports movie don't get it; it's about forgiveness and second chances.  The opening credits show rural Indiana beautifully and that's how it really looks.

Casablanca (1942):  Still one of the most beautiful films every made.  Casablanca is the transition point between war-torn Europe and the hope of freedom in America.  Only a special breed, like Rick and his friend Renault, choose to stay in Casablanca.  The film reminds us that, like today, "isolationism is no longer a practical policy."

The Untouchables (1987):  Sean Connery asks the all-important question, "What are you prepared to do?" in the movie that taught us about "the Chicago way."  The heart-stopping train station shootout was filmed in Chicago's Union Station.

The Last Picture Show (1971):  The dust blows, the windshield is cracked, and the bed creaks to wake the devil - Peter Bogdanovich shows us life in a small, remote town with clinical precision.  The nearest glamour is in Wichita Falls, but Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms give us the beauty and recklessness of youth born in a town without hope.

See my previous post on movies and place for additional suggestions.

Movies and Place

A few location-specific movies I've watched (or re-watched) lately:

The Model Shop (1969):  Watch Gary Lockwood drive around late-1960s Los Angeles in an MG convertible.  The buildings are packed tightly together but seldom reach above two stories.  Yet it seems very neighborly.  Sprawl seldom looked so good.

Rocky (1976):  Philadelphia in the late 1970s was showing her years.  The buildings are crumbling but the mood of the city, like Rocky Balboa, is restless, a city paying dues for an uncertain future.  Watch for the great shot of City Hall.

Annie Hall (1977):  New York City vs. Los Angeles.  Woody Allen always prefers NYC, and it shows in the loving shots of the city that show up in many of his films.  Received the Academy Award for Best Picture.

King of California (2007):  Michael Douglas plays a character in denial of how suburban sprawl and big box retailers dominate the landscape.  Watch for all the corporate retail logos that represent the gentrification of an entire country (and someday the world?).  Turns out the real bargain is underneath CostCo.

A River Runs Through It (1992):  Rural Montana in the post-World War I years.  I've never been fly-fishing but director Robert Redford proves it's an art form.  The movie justifiably won the Academy Award for cinematography.

Where to see a movie in a small town

Well Saturday night about eight o'clock

I know what I'm gonna do

I'm gonna pick my baby up

And take her to the picture show

The Drifters

When I was a child, I didn't realize the Castle Theater was such a unique place.  The Castle is a real movie theater, at the time the only theater in my hometown of New Castle, Indiana (there is a drive-in just outside of town).  It opened in 1935, before the days of metroplex shoeboxes where the sound from one microtheater leaks into the next.  I saw some of my favorite movies there, including the original Star Wars in 1977.  As I've written before, I've only returned to New Castle three times in the last twenty-one years.  On the last visit Julie and I saw American Wedding at the Castle.  The movie was forgettable, but Julie was impressed by the Castle and I couldn't help feeling proud that my hometown could sustain such a nice theater.

Except, it almost couldn't.  The Castle closed in January.  It was a real shock to many of us who grew up there.  The good news is the Castle is scheduled to open in March under new ownership.  I admire the new owners but I don't envy them; operating the only movie screen in a small city can't be easy.

I lived one terrible year in Stockton, in the Central Valley of California.  One of the few things I liked about Stockton was the Empire Theater, another historic movie theater.  They often showed classic films and I saw The Godfather there.  Some folks suggested the classic film route for the Castle.  I like the idea, but I don't know if New Castle has the population (18,339 in 2008) to sustain such a niche business.

Part of what defines a place is the kind of businesses it attracts and retains.  Cheap consumer electronics and a global trend toward urbanization haven't been kind to small towns and their movie theaters.  Movies are one of the things America has always done well and many of our fondest memories are what movies we saw, the theaters we saw them in, and who we saw them with.  A night at the movies is local entertainment that is culturally unifying whether we're in a theater in Newton, Iowa, or Middletown, Connecticut, or New Castle, Indiana.  Every small town theater that closes causes a disconnect bigger than the business itself.

The good news is that the Castle Theater will open again.  Maybe this is not a great thing in the grand scheme of economics.  But I'm relieved because in a world that changes more rapidly all the time, the theater's presence is a constant that links several generations.  And I hope for the best when the Castle reopens, because while the movies are still good, the movie theaters have really gone downhill.  And the Castle is a great theater.