"Four dollars? You know what four dollars buys today? It don't even buy three dollars!"
I watched "SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER" last night, not for a view of the DISCO SCENE of the 1970s, but rather for a view of ITALIAN-AMERICAN LIFE of the BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN area.I can't vouch for its veracity, but it seemed true enough, with the emphasis on family relations, the working-class environment, the deep-seated Catholicism and the belief that Manhattan automatically confers a level of sophistication unavailable in their own neighborhood.
At times, the film seems like a television production (apart from the constant profanity) -- and director John Badham has subsequently worked prolifically in TV.
However, it was a better film than I had remembered.
Perhaps the film's soundtrack has overshadowed the acting and screenwriting after all of these years.
"Don't know why, I'm survivin' every lonely day, when there's got to be no chance for me, my life would end. And it doesn't matter how I cry. My tears so far are a waste of time... If I can't have you, I don't want nobody baby."
posted by erik hogstrom at 6:52 AM
2 Comments:
Erik, thanks for your recent posts on movies!
I'm starting a new series on "best scenes" at the Carnegie-Stout blog.
Here's the first one, Best Scene from The Naked Jungle
Next up, Bogart's In A Lonely Place.
Mike
I love that SNF uses real Brooklyn locations so extensively. You can be assured that it ain't like that anymore, except in isolated pockets. Agreed about Badham's TV-movie style. He did start out directing for shows like NIGHT GALLERY. Later, he had an extended run of theatrical features: SNF, DRACULA, BLUE THUNDER, WARGAMES, AMERICAN FLYERS, etc. Now, it does seem that he mostly works in TV.
Did you know that ROCKY director John Avildsen was the original director of SNF, but was fired early in the production due to the proverbial "creative difference"?
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