American Graffiti

The vintage album cover for the soundtrack of American Graffiti
photo by Richard Goerg
(http://local.msn.com/slideshow/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=31257880)

American Graffiti, directed by a pre-Star Wars George Lucas and produced by a post-Godfather Francis Ford Coppola, was a coming-of-age story released in 1973 but set in 1962. It launched a boom in oldies music and revitalized the career of radio disc jockey Wolfman Jack. The film’s cast included Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Le Mat and Harrison Ford, who refused to cut his hair to the period’s style because his part was so small and instead wore a hat. Much of the movie was shot in Petaluma, CA, and each year the town celebrates the film with a festival featuring rock 'n roll music and classic cars cruising the city's main drag.

(http://local.msn.com/slideshow/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=31257880)

It was a time when today's baby-boomers were teenagers, and they loved to meet in huge groups some place downtown, to start from there cruising the strip all night long. I graduated from high school in 1963, these guys from American Graffiti were about the same age. If you look now at those years, everything seems antique, and what you feel is amusement and nostalgia. But in those remote years everything seemed cool and the mood was enthusiastic. We loved to dance, and on Saturday nights the dance was in the premises of our high school, in the gym or cafeteria. We were trying to impress the girls, usually we were screwing up. The local DJ was a god, the classmates from our band were the best in town. The rock was king, and life was just beginning. I remember I spent with my classmates a whole night at a restaurant, smoking and dancing, and when we left it was that unique moment of predawn, when darkness has just disappeared and light hasn't come yet. Only a couple of seconds, no more. This movie is exactly about that moment, when innocence of teenage makes room to adulthood. It's only once, never again. And you remember it for all your life. We were so young, and our future was looking so great! Why has everything passed so quickly?

American Graffiti - 1/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 2/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 3/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 4/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 5/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 6/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 7/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 8/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 9/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 10/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 11/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

American Graffiti - 12/12
(video by marcolopolis555)

(Filmofilia)