The Last Picture Show (1971)

One of Peter Bogdanovich's first films, The Last Picture Show had been on my list of movies I should see for quite a while. A rainy Sunday evening with the movie streaming straight to my TiVo from Netflix proved a perfect excuse to check it off.

An interesting film, in general, although my initial feeling was that it was a little bit slow. After thinking about it a little more, I've come to appreciate some of the more subtle elements of the film. The movie was made in the early 70s, but generally reads as if it was shot in the 50s- contemporary to the action in the plot. Without getting too meta, the semi-old fashioned style of the movie helps highlight the themes of a changing America. The small town in Texas (can't remember the name, but it's like Abilene) is slowly dying as more of its population go to the larger cities for work. Bogdanovich uses a dying (or at least aging) filmic style to capture the slow decay of small town, 50s style America. And its all encapsulated nicely in the metaphor of the closing of the town's "picture house" - how meta can you get.

I liked the way that the main characters coming of age stories mirror the coming of age of the small town and in many ways the coming of age of America. I liked the way Bogdanovich referred to film history to support the theme of the film, and place the audience in the right frame.

This movie lost out to The French Connection for best picture that year. I understand why- The French Connection was certainly flashier and probably more innovative cinematically, and probably felt more timely to the early 70s audience. The Last Picture Show, however, is successful as a "period piece" of sorts, doing a solid job of capturing the America of the 50s.