Antti Alanen: "The Class of 1999" in American Cinema (lecture)

Spike Jonze: Being John Malkovich (1999).

Cinema Orion, 27 March 2009. Main points:

1. A new generation of directors:
Paul Thomas Anderson,
Wes Anderson,
Darren Aronofsky,
Sofia Coppola,
Michel Gondry,
Spike Jonze,
Alexander Payne,
David O. Russell,
Todd Solondz.
The screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

2. Key films of 1999:
Magnolia,
Three Kings,
Being John Malkovich,
Fight Club,
American Beauty,
The Matrix,
Election,
The Virgin Suicides,
Boys Don't Cry.
The most exciting year in American cinema in the last ten years.
The following year: Requiem for a Dream.

3. The network: many of the new directors were friends

4. The video generation

5. Low tech not a problem

6. The music video background (especially Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry)

7. The skateboard video background

8. The issue of violence and crime

9. The sensitivity to young people

10. The widening register of sexual issues from virginity and restraint to paedophilia and incest.