A "greatest hits" rundown on the film, posted in the hopes that there will be continued discussion on the film and its (maddeningly unavailable) score:
Night Moves is a great, hidden gem of a film and one of the best in capturing the "post-'60s, post-Watergate, Existentialist Hangover Blues." And it does so without really talking about it, save for the lines about the Kennedys. Michael Small was the BEST at scoring stuff like this and the early-to-mid-'70s films were perfect for his style, which make his later work in the vapid 1980s all the more a tragic waste of his talent. His music after 1979 was still solid, professional stuff but the ship had sailed on the kind of quality film Michael Small could score with brilliant ease circa 1975.
What little there is of Small's music in the film is effective, as it's a jazzy, vibes-led piece that's already stuck in my head. The film is more of a character study than anything, as most will figure out who's who well before the end. I'm not so sure if it's the lines themselves that are great or if Gene Hackman just has the gift of delivering them in his inimitable fashion. Probably both. Fine performances by all involved, with a finale that's gripping and as per the era, downbeat. But then that was the first half of the '70s, before everything got all twinkly and escapist in the decade's second half. The first half of the '70s comes off as one big hangover, and the pop culture shows it.
It's interesting to note that by 1975, these types of movies became more slick and self assured. I'm thinking of movies like 3 Days of the Condor, Marathon Man, and All the President's Men. All fine films, but they're a refined "last gasp" designed more for gaining prestige and awards than for just telling a good story with interesting characters. They lack that feeling of desperation and bone-weary tiredness that made protagonists in so many early '70s so damned interesting. It was bound to happen, but it also makes me realize that cinema got a lot less interesting after Jaws hit theaters. The efforts of Peckinpah are certainly different than anything Spielberg cranked out.
In fact, you can sense a "burned out" atmosphere in things like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and especially Night Moves that truly signified the end of something. Spielberg and Lucas were master craftsmen, but their movies were designed to appeal to the masses or the "child lurking within us" or some such nonsense; one could never say that a movie by those two was "controversial" and they sure never made you think about your own life.
I'm mesmerized by Night Moves' burned-out, "post-Vietnam/Watergate Blues" atmosphere. The baked environment of Los Angeles, the steaminess of Key West--another place that has changed dramatically over the years. In fact, the entire vibe in Night Moves is sun drenched, weary, and just plain worn out. Oh, how I love it so.
Night Moves shows the existential crisis of an introvert middle-aged man, holding back his rage like a quiet time bomb and tired of everything (job, wife, social status). Remind me the writing style of Rod Serling but in another context.
Night Moves shows the existential crisis of an introvert middle-aged man, holding back his rage like a quiet time bomb and tired of everything (job, wife, social status). Remind me the writing style of Rod Serling but in another context.
That really gets to the "core of the apple." Moseby's rage is especially noticeable when he looks like he's thisclose to throttling the Harris Yulin character, not that he didn't have a good reason...
The oft-quoted-by-me (heck, it's even n my FSM "profile") Nick Redman line about the era in which Night Moves was made also succinctly describes that period in film:
"It is widely believed among film historians that the decade of the 1970s was the last great hurrah of American film. Much has been written and spoken about why this is so, and yet, in truth, it is the only the first half of the '70s that is meaningful--roughly the period between 1969-1976. Afterward the tide inevitably turned toward younger subjects for younger audiences, and the innovative, adult-themed--some would say nihilistically inclined--pictures went the way of the Dodo bird."
100 CRIME FILMS: #5 NIGHT MOVES (1975) Travis Mills from Running Wild Films discusses 100 crime films in a video blog series. http://www.runningwildfilms.com
Watched the video in the post above, which got me thinking about Night Moves' reputation as a masterpiece. Is this reputation growing or just merely the case of a "cult movie", which I don't think it is despite its high quotability and well-known cast. I still feel that Night Moves--mercifully named and released before that putrid, everpresent Bob Seger song came into being--is a largely forgtten film despite its obvious strengths.
I'd love a Criterion Collection edition of Night Moves.
There was a film noir blog some years back which praised the film but had some less-than-complimentary opinions regarding Michael Small's score. The blogger wrote words to the effect that no other film is hurt by its shabby music score like Night Moves is.
I'll post a link to the review once I've found it.
"Would the film be improved if it were less low-rent? If Hackman got a better hairdresser or Penn a budget that permitted him to properly light a set? It might be more engrossing; the crude visuals push one away from the story. And nothing pushes harder than the unspeakable mid-'70s score from hack composer Michael Small. The story screams for Bernard Herrmann, but Small gives us wanna-be Lalo Schifrin, all watery Fender Rhodes and pointlessly sustained bass notes. It takes great concentration to stay with the portrayed emotions when the music swells. No other film would be more improved by re-scoring.
I'd never heard Goldsmith's theme for SHAMUS or seen the film, obviously...now that I have heard it, it's not one of his best (though I hear the similarities to Night Moves, which it predates, with the instrumentation).
I dont feel any similarity other than some kind of groove. Both superb scores and SHAMUS one of the holiest grails there is...and never will it reach Kong Arthurs lips...such a shamus...uh..shame.. well sorry for the poetry
We had so great releases using stems and other sources for the music. I wonder if Small's Night Moves could see a release using modern mastering technology!
I really hope so in this case. As others have mentioned, the sound quality on the new NIGHT MOVES Blu-ray is superb. I haven't heard Small's score sound so clear before and this includes seeing the film on 35mm.
SHAMUS is best for the grimy "Dirty Old New York" Brooklyn locations, which happen to be mere minutes from my house. I also dig Jerry's groovy score. The warehouse in Gowanus is now a Whole Foods. Fancy that.
I've seen Night Moves twice in recent years, and I still have a hard time remembering much about it. Don't know why that is, it just never grabbed me. I even feel like I remember Shamus better, and I only saw it once 40 years ago.
On the other hand, I love all the Eric Rohmer films I've seen, and hope to see them all before the last bus picks me up. (Not as much as Chabrol, but still.) Maybe that has something to do with it.
I'd buy the soundtrack to Night Moves in a New York minute, or an LA minute, or a Miami minute, or wherever.
I've seen Night Moves twice in recent years, and I still have a hard time remembering much about it. Don't know why that is, it just never grabbed me. I even feel like I remember Shamus better, and I only saw it once 40 years ago.
If the film itself is as broadly played as its trailer makes it out to be, I suppose you really would remember it...
Right, I didn't mean Shamus was a better film at all, just that I recall bits and pieces of it from TV....Night Moves I never seem to remember as well until I watch it. And hell, there's Harris Yulin, with a limp and a cane even, right there at the beginning. That I should remember - I love him.
Right, I didn't mean Shamus was a better film at all, just that I recall bits and pieces of it from TV....Night Moves I never seem to remember as well until I watch it. And hell, there's Harris Yulin, with a limp and a cane even, right there at the beginning. That I should remember - I love him.
Thinking offhand, I only know Harris Yullin from playing Wyatt Earp and his small role in the Woody Allen film Another Woman. However in looking over his credits at the all-knowing IMDb, I am pleased to see Mr. Yulin working prolifically in films and TV though in precious little I have seen.
I'd have to finally watch Shamus to see and hear what all the fuss is about, since it is from Goldsmith's best career period, though if the main title is any indication, the enthusiasm for Shamus around here is for Jerry's "brand-name" recognition and the score's "tantalizing" unavailability as opposed to the precious, annointed few of us who are admirers of Michael Small who are clamoring for Night Moves.
Night Moves is a great film and one of the best in capturing the "post-'60s, post-Watergate, existentialist Hangover Blues." And it does so without really talking about it, save for the lines about the Kennedys. Michael Small was the BEST at scoring stuff like this and the early-to-mid-'70s films were perfect for his style, which make his later work in the vapid 1980s all the more a tragic waste of his talent. His music after 1979 was still solid, professional stuff but the ship had sailed on the kind of quality film Michael Small could score with brilliant ease circa 1975.
NIGHT MOVES is neck-and-neck my favorite private eye flick with CHINATOWN. Probably the most underrated film of its decade. Critics didn't give it much love, but I have watched the damn thing at least fifty times and never get tired of it. Some of the best hardboiled dialogue ever written for the big screen. Most people remember Arthur Penn for BONNIE & CLYDE. IMO, this is by far his best film. Small's score is brilliant and one of the soundtrack labels needs to source it from the film mix. If it can be done for OBSESSION (and very well at that), it can be done for this masterpiece.
One of the things that has taken a bit of the "shine" off of Chinatown--for me, anyway--is Faye Dunaway's mannered, meant-to-evoke-Hollywood's-Golden Age performance. At least that's what I get from it. I wish her performance wasn't so artificial. I much prefer the performance of Night Moves' Jennifer Warren--who?!?--which is natural and effortlessly good in what was only her third credit. Warren has since managed a decent career in TV movies, but greater fame eluded her.
Not to completely derail this thread, but the reason I particularly love Yulin is his performance in a short film on PBS in the seventies, Parker Adderson, Philosopher, based on a story by Ambrose Bierce. This description captures the piece beautifully: "Confederate Generals don't look kindly upon Yankee spies-in fact, they're hanged at sunrise...usually. Parker Adderson is a confessed spy whose philosophizing about his fate forces his executioner to confront his mortality-and take a long, hard look at the death that awaits every soldier, and every human being."
Ok, back to the subject. And Jim, you have probably nailed why Chinatown doesn't work for me as well as I would have expected it to. Dunaway's performance always throws me out of the film.
