San Francisco is one of the most beautiful and dramatic cities in the world. Its combination of architecture and natural setting makes it an extraordinary city to capture on film. Recently it has been wasted in movies about cross - dressing Robin Williams and Reese Witherspoon zombies having sex with Mark Ruffalo, but in the 1970’s filmmakers used the aesthetic of San Francisco not for romantic comedies or heart - warming drama but for tales about urban decay and isolation. San Francisco, however, was a much different city in the 70’s, gritty and tough. I have never actually experienced what cities were like during this time, considering I was born in a manger during a solar eclipse on the same day that the Dali Lama died in the year 1984. I sometimes wish I could go back and experience cities like San Francisco when they were filled with XXX movie theaters and jean jacket wearing gang members having knife fights. Here are some of my favorite movies showcasing San Francisco in the 70’s:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978, Phillip Kaufman: This movie tells the story of aliens who “snatch peoples’ bodies” in an effort to take over the world. This has kind of happened in San Francisco considering that wavy gravy hippies have been taken over by East Coast prep school yuppies sewing their wild outs out West while trying to kill cyclists with their Audis. Too bad we don’t have a rough and tumble Canadian Donald Sutherland and a bath house visiting mutant Jeff Goldbloom to kick some ass.
San Francisco’s wild weather patterns dramatically change the tone and feel of the city. On a sunny day the city resembles the most beautiful Italian hill town in the world dipped in honey and then double dipped in chocolate. When the fog rolls in, however, it becomes gray, bitterly cold, and the Victorian buildings feel like ramshackle haunted houses and people start smoking crack on the sidewalk and doods break into your car and steal your I-pod and your empty backpack (why would you want my 6 year old backpack?) – don’t leave shit in your car, dood. Invasion of the Body Snatchers captures this San Francisco and I will take it any day over Kiefer Sutherland divvying out Neo-con justice to A-rabs.
The Conversation, 1974, Francis Ford Coppola: Before Francis Ford Coppola met me, I slept with his daughter, and he made Jack, he made The Conversation. This is about Gene Hackman going crazy when he gets a surveillance job that is not quite what it seems! In the 70’s, San Francisco underwent a skyscraper building boom like many cities around the US. Coppola awesomely contrasts these brutal new developments such as the Embarcadero Center (a massive and despised development at the foot of Market Street where the offices of Hackman’s evil clients are located) with the old wooden San Francisco vernacular which you can see vanishing before your eyes through Hackman’s apartment window.
Dirty Harry, 1971, Don Siegel: Clint Eastwood is a premium badass –badass is one word ONE WORD!!! and a San Francisco native. In this movie he plays Dirty Harry Callahan from Protero Hill (home of OJ Simpson). This movie showcases the seedy underbelly of 1970’s SF and is based off the Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco throughout the decade. The new movie Zodiac by David Fincher tells this story and is an awesome homage to 1970’s San Francisco.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978, Phillip Kaufman: This movie tells the story of aliens who “snatch peoples’ bodies” in an effort to take over the world. This has kind of happened in San Francisco considering that wavy gravy hippies have been taken over by East Coast prep school yuppies sewing their wild outs out West while trying to kill cyclists with their Audis. Too bad we don’t have a rough and tumble Canadian Donald Sutherland and a bath house visiting mutant Jeff Goldbloom to kick some ass.
San Francisco’s wild weather patterns dramatically change the tone and feel of the city. On a sunny day the city resembles the most beautiful Italian hill town in the world dipped in honey and then double dipped in chocolate. When the fog rolls in, however, it becomes gray, bitterly cold, and the Victorian buildings feel like ramshackle haunted houses and people start smoking crack on the sidewalk and doods break into your car and steal your I-pod and your empty backpack (why would you want my 6 year old backpack?) – don’t leave shit in your car, dood. Invasion of the Body Snatchers captures this San Francisco and I will take it any day over Kiefer Sutherland divvying out Neo-con justice to A-rabs.
The Conversation, 1974, Francis Ford Coppola: Before Francis Ford Coppola met me, I slept with his daughter, and he made Jack, he made The Conversation. This is about Gene Hackman going crazy when he gets a surveillance job that is not quite what it seems! In the 70’s, San Francisco underwent a skyscraper building boom like many cities around the US. Coppola awesomely contrasts these brutal new developments such as the Embarcadero Center (a massive and despised development at the foot of Market Street where the offices of Hackman’s evil clients are located) with the old wooden San Francisco vernacular which you can see vanishing before your eyes through Hackman’s apartment window.
Dirty Harry, 1971, Don Siegel: Clint Eastwood is a premium badass –badass is one word ONE WORD!!! and a San Francisco native. In this movie he plays Dirty Harry Callahan from Protero Hill (home of OJ Simpson). This movie showcases the seedy underbelly of 1970’s SF and is based off the Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco throughout the decade. The new movie Zodiac by David Fincher tells this story and is an awesome homage to 1970’s San Francisco.
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