American Graffiti (1973)

James M Sandbrook

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American Graffiti

1973

PG - 1 Hour 50 Minutes - Comedy, Drama

This movie totally rocked my world, as a huge rock and roll music lover I really got into this, add pretty girls, fast cars, hot rods, the American 1960’s teenage themes, it was so new, fresh, yet based on a time already long gone. Even though it was forever gone for the likes of me, I still wanted to experience the music, the times, the thrills, the cars, and this movie was how many of us got to do that.

Like million of people world-wide I went out and got the double-album, listen to the classics on the record like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, the awesome US Rock and Roll theme Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & the Comets, Surfin Safari, 16 Candles, Johnny B. Goode, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, man did I dig that Rock and Roll.

I was amazed watch the making of this movie how George Lucas had so much trouble trying to get movie studios to back it up. The test audiences saw the movie and loved it, but the movie executives with their tunnel vision couldn’t see the true value of the movie and the fact that this was going to be a huge success.

George Lucas had done his movie THX 1138 and he was wanting to start a new project and this was it.

Thrown together in 28 days, with a shoestring budget and lots of sleepless nights for all involved, everyone really pout in their best efforts and the results are amazing.

The idea was to make scenes that run with the music, or the music run with the scenes, whatever, it all comes out fine.
I remember watching it for the first time and really getting into that old music, digging the real cool cars, laughing at the crazy antics of the actors and actresses, and enjoying the truth, the feeling, the experience of the whole thing - it all just came together, and many scenes we, the viewer, had also experienced at a different time. Because the decade may chance, but the experiences, love, dating, romances, sadness, arguments, it happens to all of us, so in a sense a little bit of us all exists in movies like this, and that emotion is what connects us to the characters and the movie, and we take this away with us.

The music also lifts us emotionally, it so rock and roll, and like the characters, the emotions, it all just has a special atmosphere of it s own, so captive, so exciting, and we all I suppose kind of wish that we had been cruising around in our teenager years in fast cars, going to car races, dancing, and just living in that time that is gone from us all forever.

The movie is, as George wanted it to be, is a kind of documentary and has captured what he lived at that time. Having Wolfman Jack (real name) on the movie kind of sealed its authenticity, making it real as it was when Wolfman Jack was thrilling teenagers all over America and the likes of Lucas were really listening to this famous disc jockey. My mother was a New Zealander and she said that back then we heard it here in New Zealand, she knew all about him.

The movie traces the paths of teenagers, their lives at this time and where they go, their experiences and the difficulties of making decisions. There are typical teenage themes, immoral behaviour, but that was what they did in this time, they were trying to survive, find a future, partners, marriage, and even what was life all about for them, and got caught up in the diversions of Rock and Roll and the irrational behaviour of the young who were hoping that they were finding their way in life.

Very much like the TV series that Ron Howard starred in called Happy Days.

All the best from

James M Sandbrook.

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