Author | Peter Biskind |
---|---|
Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 1998 |
ISBN | 978-0684857084 |
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood is a book by Peter Biskind, published by Simon & Schuster in 1998, [1] about ostensibly the 1960s and 1970s Hollywood, a period of American film known for the production of such films such as The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The French Connection, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, Jaws, Star Wars, The Exorcist, and The Last Picture Show . The title is taken from films which bookend the era: Easy Rider (1969) and Raging Bull (1980).
The book was the basis of a 2003 documentary film of the same title, directed by Kenneth Bowser and narrated by actor William H. Macy. The documentary was screened out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. [2] Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 100%, aggregated from the input of eight contributors. [3]
Several of the film-makers profiled in the book have criticized Biskind, many rather harshly. Robert Altman denounced both the book and Biskind's methods, saying "It was hate mail. We were all lured into talking to this guy because people thought he was a straight guy but he was filling a commission from the publisher for a hatchet job. He's the worst kind of human being I know." [4]
Francis Ford Coppola was highly critical, alleging that Biskind interviewed only people with negative opinions of him. [5]
The Sundance festival came under heavy criticism in Biskind's book. He describes it as "little more than a means to save a land deal that was going wrong, by dragging some punters up to his [Robert Redford's] failing ski resort." The author bemoans Redford as "untouchable in America" where he's considered "as pure as the driven snow," having "the best press of any Hollywood figure ever." [4] Biskind claims Sundance "has failed" if judged by its "original, loftier goal" to be "an institute to help outsiders." [6] Redford responded by saying that he'd never seen Biskind at Sundance and that the festival's success speaks for itself. [4]
Critic Roger Ebert reported Steven Spielberg saying of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: "Every single word in that book about me is either erroneous or a lie." [7] Ebert himself remarked that "Biskind has a way of massaging his stories to suit his agenda." [7]
When asked about Biskind's portrayal of him as "a womanizer, a tyrant and a bully," director William Friedkin said: "I've actually never read the book, but I've talked to some of my friends who are portrayed in it, and we all share the opinion that it is partial truth, partial myth and partial out-and-out lies by mostly rejected girlfriends and wives." [8] Peter Bogdanovich was "furious," saying: "I spent seven hours with that guy over a period of days, and he got it all wrong". [9]
In a 2014 interview, Biskind stated he found the negative responses "very upsetting," saying, "Coppola...made three great movies, the two Godfathers and The Conversation. His place in film history is secure. If I had made those films, I wouldn’t give a damn what anyone wrote about me." He offered as a counterpoint Willian Friedkins' alleged reaction: "It's only a book." Biskind claimed he and Coppola made amends on a cruise in 2000, [5] though eye witnesses in the cruise stated that Coppola "grilled" and "needled" Biskind with "hostile questions," rendering the author "visibly uncomfortable," and that the director concluded with the words "I forgive [you]" in the manner that, in Godfather II , Michael Corleone forgives his brother Fredo right before he has him murdered. [10]
Raging Bull is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent, and Nicholas Colasanto in his final film role. The film is an adaptation of former middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story. It follows the career of LaMotta, played by De Niro, his rise and fall in the boxing scene, and his turbulent personal life beset by rage and jealousy.
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. She also had roles as Kelly in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Betsy in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), and Nancy in Woody Allen's Alice (1990).
Peter Bogdanovich was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started his career as a film critic for Film Culture and Esquire before becoming a prominent filmmaker as part of the New Hollywood movement. He received accolades including a BAFTA Award and Grammy Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Golden Lion, and a Cannes Film Festival Award. She was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award.
William David Friedkin was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in the early 1960s, he is best known for his crime thriller film The French Connection (1971), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and the horror film The Exorcist (1973), which earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Sorcerer is a 1977 American action-thriller film produced and directed by William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou. The second adaptation of Georges Arnaud's 1950 French novel Le Salaire de la peur, it has been widely considered a remake of the 1953 film The Wages of Fear, although Friedkin disagreed with this assessment. The plot depicts four outcasts from varied backgrounds meeting in a South American village, where they are assigned to transport cargoes of aged, poorly kept dynamite that is so unstable that it is 'sweating' its dangerous basic ingredient, nitroglycerin.
The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair, and follows the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother's attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two Catholic priests.
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader is more prolific as a director: his 23 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with the last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis.
The New Hollywood, Hollywood Renaissance, American New Wave, or New American Cinema, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of filmmakers came to prominence. They influenced the types of film produced, their production and marketing, and the way major studios approached filmmaking. In New Hollywood films, the film director, rather than the studio, took on a key authorial role.
Scarecrow is a 1973 American road comedy-drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. The story involves the relationship between two men who travel from California seeking to start a business in Pittsburgh.
Peter Biskind is an American cultural critic, film historian, journalist and former executive editor of Premiere magazine from 1986 to 1996.
Samuel John Bottoms was an American actor and producer.
Leonard Schrader was an American screenwriter and director, most notable for his ability to write Japanese-language films and for his many collaborations with his brother, Paul Schrader. He earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay he wrote for the film Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Mary Marr "Polly" Platt was an American film producer, production designer and screenwriter. She was the first woman accepted into the Art Directors Guild, in 1971. In addition to her credited work, she was known as a mentor as well as an uncredited collaborator and networker. In the case of the latter, she is credited with contributing to the success of ex-husband and director Peter Bogdanovich's early films; mentoring then first-time director and writer Cameron Crowe, and discovering actors including Cybill Shepherd, Tatum O'Neal, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and director Wes Anderson. Platt also suggested that director James L. Brooks meet artist and illustrator Matt Groening, which eventually resulted in the satiric animated television series The Simpsons.
Daisy Miller is a 1974 American drama film produced and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Cybill Shepherd in the title role. The screenplay by Frederic Raphael is based on the 1878 novella by Henry James. The lavish period costumes and sets were done by Ferdinando Scarfiotti, Mariolina Bono and John Furniss.
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War. The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Willard, who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a renegade Special Forces officer who is accused of murder and presumed insane. The ensemble cast also features Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford.
Mardik Martin was an Armenian American screenwriter, known for Mean Streets, New York, New York and Raging Bull – all directed by his lifelong friend Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro. Mardik Martin is among the revered screenwriters on Writers Guild of America list of 101 Greatest Screenplays.
A Decade Under the Influence is a 2003 American documentary film, directed by Ted Demme and Richard LaGravenese. It was produced by Independent Film Channel.
Hitchcock/Truffaut is a 2015 documentary film directed by Kent Jones.
Laurent Bouzereau is a French-American documentary filmmaker, producer, and author.