A Decade Under The Influence Directed by Richard LaGravenese, Ted Demme, 2003

Intoxicating." - Entertainment Weekly

The 1970s was an extraordinary time of rebellion. As political activism, the sexual revolution, the women’s movement, and the music revolution contributed to social unrest across America, American cinema witnessed the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers. Influenced by the social climate and a new freedom of expression, these ground-breaking artists began targeting their films toward a new kind of audience–moviegoers who were disenchanted with age-old studio formulas and yearned for stories that reflected the ever-changing reality of the era.

A love letter to an amazing era in film, A DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE enlists a cast of pioneering writers, directors, and actors to talk about the times, their films and their colleagues. Luminaries such as Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Julie Christie and Ellen Burstyn reveal intimate, personal, and often untold stories about their experiences, and interspersing these interviews with a virtual cinematic scrapbook of the decade, filmmakers Richard LaGravenese and the late Ted Demme include a cornucopia of clips from such classics as Easy Rider, The Godfather and Coming Home. The result is a fantastic celebration of the artists and films that left a vital and lasting stamp on America’s national cinema and identity.