An Unmarried Woman.

This movie was I am sure groundbreaking in the 70's because of the fact the main character Erica (Jill Clayburgh) became an independent woman. In this film Erica's husband Martin (Michael Murphy) told her that he was in love with another woman and that he was leaving her. Although Erica did not come to her independence on her own, she eventually embraced it and decided to break the mold that had been set for the women of that time. Right after Erica found out about her husband's decision to leave her, she decided to start going to a therapist. The advice that was given to her by her therapist, was to go out and start to see other men. At first she was not very keen on the idea of seeing other men, being as she hated all men at the time but she shortly after decided that she would take her therapists device and start seeing other men.

She goes to the bar and sees one of her co-workers Chalie (Cliff Gorman) and she tells him to go buy her a drink and before they even finish their drinks she tells him to take her to his loft. When they got to his loft she didn't want to make any small talk so she got right to business and slept with him and when they were done she left. By her leaving right after she slept with him she was making a statement showing that she didn't need a man to depend on; she was showing that she wasn't desperate for a man to take care of her all she wanted was to satisfy herself.

Soon after her encounter with Charlie Erica meets Saul (Alan Bates) in an art gallery, where he is putting up one of his paintings. Saul flirts with her a little bit and before you know it you see the two of them in Saul's loft putting their clothes back on, eluding to the idea that the two of them had just slept together. Saul then asks erica where they are going to dinner and Erica let him know that she was not interested in going out with him and all she wanted was to see what it was like to sleep with someone that she had no emotional attachment to. After telling him this Saul asks her what it felt like and she let him know that she felt empty. Saul was not willing to let their relationship end at that because he truly cared for Erica, so he decided to try and show her that he was not like all other guys. Before too long the two of them became an "item". I think that this was a struggle for he because she had deep feelings for Saul but she did not want to fall into the same "trap" that she was in with her husband.

Saul asked Erica to go to Vermont with him for the summer and leave her job and her life there in New York behind so that they would be able to spend time together. This scared her because the whole time she had been trying to become independent and now her boyfriend was asking her to leave her job and come with him where she would be dependent upon him. She ended up compromising with him and telling him that she would come visit him on holidays and maybe even some weekends. I think that in doing this she proved to herself that she had achieved her independence. The final scene of the movie Saul is packing his car with his things for his trip to Vermont and he asks Erica to hold on to a very large painting for him. After she takes hold of the painting Saul gets in the car and starts to drive away, she asks him what she was supposed to do with the painting and he told her that it was a gift for her. Erica then proceeds to carry this large painting through New York back to her apartment. I think that this last scene was ultimately a scene depicting her independence once again, instead of leaving the painting there or asking for help she decides to carry the painting on her own.

I can imagine that in the 70's and even still today that Erica's character was a role model that women looked up to and admired.

Dog Day Afternoon

The movie "Dog Day Afternoon" was in ways much different than any of the other movies that we have seen in class but at the same time it incorporates some of the same themes that we have seen in the other films that we have watched. One way that I feel this movie was different than the others that we have seen, is the fact that the main character Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) was the bad guy and not a "hero". You can make the argument that Sonny is a hero especially to the crowd that is outside of the bank that he is attempting to rob or to Leon Shermer (Chris Sarandon) his wife who he is robbing the bank for, so that he will be able to afford a sex change.

I however do not feel that Sonny is a hero, I believe that he is trying to be but he goes about his "heroism" in the wrong way. While trying to help the one that he loves, he only creates more problems for everyone. For one he is putting himself and others in danger, putting himself in this situation only causes more grief for himself, his loved ones, his partner Sal (John Cazale) and all of his hostages. Another way that what he is doing is causing problems, is he is creating a stressful environment for Leon. Leon has been in a mental institution and is in no way mentally stable, his actions bring Leon into the situation when he does not need to be around all this stress. I don't think that Sonny thought through all of the repercussions of his actions, even if he had I am not sure if he would have changed his mind about his plan to rob the bank.

Saturday Night Fever

This film was very straight forward and did not sugar coat anything like many movies do. The whole movie you follow Tony Manero (John Travolta) through New York in his day to day life. In many movies that you see today the main character has a close to perfect life, there is usually a struggle that the character goes through but it is almost always overcome at the end. That is not the case in this movie, there is nothing that could be mistaken as perfect in Tony's life. He is working a dead end job that he doesn't enjoy, he is a part of a very dysfunctional family where his brother is favored by his parents and he is seen as the black sheep with no vision for his life. The only thing that Tony had to look forward to was going to the disco on the weekends.

I like how real this movie was, if this movie came out today Tony would probably either have a job that he absolutely loved or be so wealthy that he wouldn't even have to work. I feel like Hollywood is trying to make everything seem to be perfect and create a false sense of security for the viewing audience. When in actuality it's almost more depressing to watch a movie where everything is perfect because that isn't how life actually is in most cases. It's kind of refreshing to see a movie where the "hero" has problems that are relatable to real life.

The ending of this movie is optimistic but in no way perfect. At the end Tony decides that he is going to move to the other side of New York to get away form everything that is dragging him down and try to make a better life for himself. There is no guarantee that he is going to make it but he is taking a step in the right direction. In the end Tony still has a long way to go before reaching his ultimate goal, which sticks to the realistic theme to a movie. You are really able to relate with his situation because there is always going to be something that you need to work for and instead of it all falling into you lap at once, it will come to you one step at a time.

Shaft

The movie shaft was very enjoyable. Right from the beginning of the movie you can tell that John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) wasn't going to let anyone push him around. The opening of the film you see Shaft walking through the street not using any crosswalks and expecting that all drivers will yield to him. Throughout the movie Shaft is working with the police but it almost seems as if he is running things, rather than him taking orders from the police. The Police chief that Shaft is continually working with is Vic Androzzi (Charles Cioffi). There are multiple instances throughout the movie where Vic tells Shaft what he needs to be doing but Shaft basically tells him that he is going to do it his own way. One scene in particular that this happens is when Vic is sent to Shafts house to bring him into the station, when he gets there he asks shaft if he is home and he tells him that he isn't. So Vic goes back to the station and tells them that he was unable to find him.

I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is wanting an entertaining film to see.