Let’s begin by saying The
Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich, 1971) is a film of many parts. It follows the life of Sonny Crawford
(Timothy Bottoms) and his friends and fellow townies in Anarene, Texas, a small
town with a loudly pending expiration date.
Everyone in town seems to be suffering from hopelessness. Early on we see the desolation in the streets
and soon that desolation is personified in the residents. The kids are considered useless by the adults
who’ve lost their hometown spirit long ago a sentiment now taking over the
youth and the kids see the adults as hypocritical things to avoid. Everyone wants out but no one has any idea
where to go. Lots of time is taken up by
background noise and looking at the forlorn face of our protagonist who’s
merely “reacting” to the experiences that come to him. He speaks sparingly and often only when he’s
spoken to. We see no sign of his
parents, save for an awkward encounter with his father at the town dance who
disappears but good for the rest of the film, making his existence that much
more lonely. He has friends but their
caught up in their own boredom and turn to maliciousness for
entertainment. His “best friend” Dwayne
(Jeff Bridges) is also the source of his jealousy as he lusts after Dwayne’s
girlfriend Jacy (Cybill Shepherd) simply because she’s the prettiest girl in
town. There are no real connections
between these people except their zip code…I take that back Sonny has a true
friend in Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson) who’s the sole entrepreneur in town who spends
most of his time doling out wisdoms to the boys at the pool hall and taking
care of Billy (Sam Bottoms), a local kid abandoned by his family perhaps due to
his mental handicap. Sam and Genevieve
(Eileen Brennan) the waitress and presumably cook at Sam’s restaurant, and Mrs.
Farrow (Ellen Burstyn) Jacy’s mother, are only three adults who are telling
these cloudy headed misfits the truth about life and offer them guidance away
from the mistakes they’ve made. Truly
Mrs. Farrow’s is the most memorable as she advocates for her daughter to get as
much sexual experience as possible (while being safe) so that she doesn’t
settle for the wrong partner and end of up unhappy like herself. Her no holds barred honesty and treatment of Jacy
as an equal is probably what helped Jacy end the cycle of perpetual bitterness
by leaving town for college, most likely never to return again. Unfortunately, no such luck is in Sonny’s
future only tragedy and heartache and in an interesting scene where’s he’s had
enough of the two, he drives to the edge of town and stops. He’s almost there but something pulls him
back and thus he reluctantly returns to the vacuum of loneliness and despair in
Anarene.
The Last Picture Show makes its mark as a
well-executed exploration of the non-purpose driven life. Of the unfortunate circumstances that many
“rust belt” towns encounter when productivity and industry hit the road and no
one else can. Bogdanovich’s direction is
great in its necessary simplicity.
Decisions like allowing the camera to settle on a character’s face to
soak up their emotions and the atmosphere of their space is phenomenal and
something that is in dire need of returning to in film these days. However, it feels more like a “filler” on the
AFI list than a needed installation. By
no means does this take away from the good things the film has to offer, it is
a complete artistic endeavor, however I doubt the film itself will remain in my
mind but undoubtedly the subjects it covers will.
