The New York Review of Ideas » Q&A | June 2009
The Last Picture Show
J. Hoberman on the end of movies as we know them.
By Anna Bak-Kvapil
Film critic J. Hoberman has written for The Village Voice for over 30 years, and is the author of nine books, including the seminal Midnight Movies with co-author Jonathan Rosenbaum, which chronicled the phenomenon of 1970’s underground film culture. In a recent article in the Voice, “Brother Can You Spare $12”, he reflected on the Great Depression, the recent economic crisis, and the rising cost of both making and seeing movies.
How do you think the recession is going to affect the film industry—both the studios and the film going audience?
All the studios, the producers are going to be hurt because people are not buying as many DVDs. And that’s really the most important thing now. Then if there is a rebellion by the audience against paying so much money to go to the movies, the theaters will either lower their prices or some theaters may close. The most vulnerable exhibitors are in places that show more non-mainstream movies. Independent production could suffer because that depends on being able to borrow money. Studio production will probably be the last to be affected. They must be borrowing money too, but you can’t tell where the hell they’re borrowing it from because they’re all owned by big conglomerates. Things will happen, but not everything will happen at once
In your Brother Can You Spare $12 article, you wrote that people will stop going to movies, and even cancel Netflix in favor of keeping their internet connection. Could you explain this prediction a little more?
The amount of money, the discretionary income is going to contract. And you have to figure out how that is going to manifest itself. The studios are so smug now they’ve completely rewritten history. The idea that the movies during the depression were incredibly successful, that people went to the movies no matter what, just isn’t true.
I feel like that’s such a part of the 1930s mythology at this point.
The studios like it too. It’s very flattering.
Let me read you an excerpt from an article in Film Journal on repertory movie theaters—Film Forum’s head programmer Bruce Goldstein was quoted as saying, “Movies will survive…Young people are interested in seeing films they’ve never seen before, classics, in a theatre. Even if they can get the film on DVD, I think they’re really into going to see a movie in a theatre.” What’s your response to this optimistic viewpoint?
He’s putting a very positive spin on things and I hope he’s right. He told me that they did incredibly well with their Depression films [the “Breadlines and Champagne” series this February]. And it’s tough: they’re not on DVD, they don’t show them anymore on Turner. It’s amazing stuff there and its great that people show up and what does Film Forum charge, also 12 dollars? That’s a lot of money, even for a double bill.
What do you think explains Film Forum’s success?
JH: New York is an anomalous place. The movie culture here is not the same as other large cities. There is nothing comparable to Film Forum in Los Angeles, where you think there would be revivals all the time.
Do you have Netflix, or watch movies online?
No, but I will occasionally watch one on a computer. I have a big stack of screeners.
So you watch movies at home because its part of your job?
Yes.
But if you were going to be regular filmgoer, you’d go to the theater?
I’d like to. I certainly wanted to see Coraline. It was worth it to me to go see it at the Ziegfeld. I had to pay $15 to see that. Is that because you’re renting the glasses? The theory behind all these special effects things, going back to the 50s, like widescreen, stereo sound, 3D, is that it’s stuff people can’t get at home. When people go out to the movies, there’s a built in imperative to make it more spectacular.
I’m curious to know a little about the book you’re working on now.
I did a book called The Dream Life, [about film in the 60’s] and this is a prequel. It covers the periods from after WWII to 1956 or 57. My feeling is that Hollywood came out of the war mobilized and stayed mobilized for a while, including through the cold war. So it’s about Hollywood’s contribution to the cold war, sort of the making of the cold war. I’ll get very involved in the politics and the studio politics.
In your article, you write about how the 1930s film industry that persevered through the Great Depression reflects on the situation the film industry is in now. Are there any other periods of economic or political struggle that could be revisited now?
The other period that I use as a reference is 1968-74, with the recession caused by the oil crisis. But it’s mainly because of the war, just general social chaos. I think that’s good for movies. Even the period after WWII, which is the period I’m studying for my new book, there was enough money but the industry was in crisis and that created possibilities and confusion, which was healthy. And Hollywood forgets what bad shape they were in in the Sixties. Studios were losing money. That was a bad time and it wasn’t even caused by a catastrophe.
Do you think a recessionary climate will inspire a new underground film culture?
It might. I like to think there’s an upside to the bad economy. Because at least in New York, maybe the rent will go down, then the city will become a more interesting place. People can afford to live here. It may be too late in Manhattan, but it’s not too late in the neighborhoods.
There’s a film collective in Sunset Park called Light Industries that shows avante garde films in a warehouse. It sounds like a renewal of the underground film culture that you wrote about in your book with Jonathan Rosenbaum, Midnight Movies.
Light Industry certainly sounds like a continuation of that grassroots film culture. There’re a lot of places where it still exists. There was also place in Williamsburg for a number of years called Galapagos, which just moved to DUMBO. One of the guys who programs for it was a student of mine years ago.
Do you believe that movie-going still has a chance of surviving?
There’s still this communal thing, people still want to go to the movies to be part of an audience. And that hasn’t disappeared. ♦