Movie Journal #4: The Outsiders
The Outsiders I had never seen Coppola’s film of The Outsiders , for a number of reasons. It came after Coppola’s great period, and it seemed almost painful to watch a bad film from that great director. Also, I am averse to nostalgia of any kind, especially that of the 1960s (how grating was Across The Universe ?), a period by now mythologized into something that can be nowhere near its truth. There are, of course, exceptions, such as the Coppola-produced American Graffiti , but these films are usually set in a specific time and place as opposed to celebrating that time and place. Or perhaps there is no hard rule separating a nostalgia piece from a period piece, only a filmmaker’s restraint. In any case, the examples of ‘60s nostalgia pieces far outweigh the period films. I needn’t have been so skeptical of The Outsiders . It avoids nearly all of the pitfalls of a film of this type in its depiction of the lives and characters of a small group of rough kids from the wrong side of the tr
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