Movie Genre in David Laderman´s Driving Visions

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In David Laderman’s Driving Visions (2002), Laderman identifies three essential ingredients to the road movie genre - psychological identity crisis, socio-political critique and the revolutionary spirit of new Hollywood (“Driving Visions”, 27) where socio-political and historical critique plays a crucial role. Badlands (TM, 1973) undoubtedly fulfills these criterion set by Laderman and was particularly important to the genre, as it was part of a “boom of American auteur-driven breakouts that challenged American film making standards”(Runyon), and it left “a crowded legacy of road movies” in its wake (“Driving Visions”, 117). With Bonnie and Clyde (AP, 1967) as its precursor, the two films have many similarities, such as the ‘outlaw couple’. However, Badlands sets itself distinctly apart by changing Bonnie and Clyde’s romance for irony. This film marks a change of course for the road movie genre, and drifts away from the romance and modernism of pre-1970s road movies to irony and post modernism of later road movies (“What a Trip”, 50). Based on the historical events of Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugates’ killing spree, Badlands portrays more than a mere re-account of the storyline. By using the framework of the road movie genre, Badlands is able to form a cultural critique of American society in an era of socio-cultural disruption (Curley) during the 1960s and 1970s. The genre also allows Malick to explore new cinematic styles and filming techniques by keeping a relatively loose narrative. Laderman’s criteria of psychological identity crisis, is clearly portrayed in the two main characters of the film. Kit represents a youth, who lives a boring life, and kicks a can as a form of amusement (Ebert). He has little prospect for b... ... middle of paper ... ...ns in the Road Movie." Http://www.ucd.ie. 28 Mar. 2014. . Danks, Adrian. "Death Comes as an End: Temporality, Domesticity and Photography in Terrence Malick’s Badlands." Senses of Cinema RSS. July 2000. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . Ebert, Roger. "Badlands." Rogerebert.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. . Laderman, David. Driving Visions: Exploring the Road Movies. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. Laderman, David. "What a Trip: The Road Film and American Culture." Journal of Film and Video Vol. 48 (n.d.): 41-57. JSTOR. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. Runyon, Christopher. "The Terrence Malick Retrospective: Badlands." Movie Mezzanine. 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .

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