In 1973, before George Lucas transported us to a galaxy far, far away, the filmmaker presented us with a remarkable film that reflects the concerns that arise at the end of adolescence and the entry into the adult world: American Graffiti.
The film is set in Modesto, California , in 1962, and all the stories that we narrate in the film happen the last night of summer . The characters in the film are likable and possibly more than one will remind us of someone we knew.
After this last summer night, these characters will not stop at a traffic light to play a prank, nor become accomplices of an ugly and lonely girl; they will not be captured by a street gang, nor fall madly in love with an unknown blonde; they will not look for girls with their best friend's new car, nor break up with their girlfriend and then get back together and tell each other how much they love each other.
The film extends the brilliance of the fifties until the last summer night of 1962. Then came the intensification of the Cold War, the Kennedy assassination and America's worst nightmare: the Vietnam War. In 1973 the film received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Shooting began in June 1972 and lasted only twenty-eight days. George Lucas did not choose the cast and their performances were improvised, thank goodness they were talented.
The production company Universal got the rights to the songs according to a sample of the music of the late fifties and early sixties, on which George Lucas had mounted his scenes, paying for these the amount of 90,000 U.S. dollars.
As a lover of rock, I especially recommend the soundtrack of this film since it is one of the best compilations I have heard in any film, the album contains forty-one classics from the 50s and early 60s, being certified triple platinum only in the United States.
This was one of the first movies I saw in Beta format in the early 80s, I was thirteen years old and the songs I was listening to caught my attention, understanding at that time how important a soundtrack is for a movie. Every time I see the movie, at least once a year, I imagine those summers before I started the transition from teenagers to men and women with more responsibilities in life.
I appreciate the attention paid to this publication, I hope you had a pleasant time. Greetings to all.
