The “Duel” between European cinema and Hollywood

In the middle ’60s, American film productions were clearly lacking inspiration. After several flops, they decided to finance new films where the director has total control of his work. In 1971, a young director opened the way for new inspired productions in Hollywood: his name is Steven Spielberg.

While France, Germany and Italy were experiencing their cinema Golden Age during the 60s, US movies were seriously declining at that time. Their massive productions from traditional major studios (such as Warner Bros, Universal, or Paramount) were deserted for some “authentic” films made in Europe. Suddenly, Hollywood understood the need for new promising directors and started a new type of production.

On November 13th, 1971, a quite uncommon television film was freshly aired on the ABC channel: named “Duel”, this thriller tells the total panic of a driver purchased by a truck. The director played with cinema codes during all the feature-length; for example, the bad guy behind the truck is never shown, a gimmick usually made in traditional films. It was an instant hit, counting more than 33% of the TV audience in the US that night! Thanks to this honorable reception, the film received a theatrical release in the US and all around the world.

Behind this unexpected success, is a young director, well-known nowadays: Steven Spielberg. After this movie, he received more funds for his future works. Later, he adapted Jaws in 1075 and created the model of Blockbusters, an entertainment shaped to become popular with the public and prosperous for the studio.

The New Hollywood

Picture of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Brian de Palma, Georges Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola at the 50th Lucas’ anniversary in 1994

By hiring new directors, Hollywood finally regained popularity around the globe. Martin Scorsese, Georges Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and David Lynch were known more and more by the public for their innovative films. Before that new generation, American studios were mainly directing how the production goes from writing to editing. After the disaster of some expensive films, they hired freshly graduated filmmakers who want to deviate from the classical art forms and gave them almost total control over the production. It allowed them to express themselves way more freely than before and let them experience new narrative approaches. Finally, Hollywood opened the red carpet for a new production style and saved their studio by inventing the blockbuster.

By Hugo Richard