This ’80s Classic kicks off Francis Ford Coppola’s Experimental Era

The 1970s are among the most important decades in cinematic history, as they saw the younger generation of “New Hollywood” filmmakers come into being. The old guard of studio filmmaking was singled out as a group of daring and highly experimental directors who helmed many films that are still considered classics today. As the directors want Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg is associated with this movement, no filmmaker was more successful in the 1970s than Francis Ford Coppola. The successful release of The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II, and Apocalypse Now cemented Coppola’s status as one of the most ambitious filmmakers alive.

Directing four of the greatest films of all time back to back gave Coppola unlimited resources to draw upon, as cinephiles everywhere waited with bated breath to see what masterpiece he would unearth next. . However, the tedious production of Apocalypse Now and the subsequent failure at the box office of his ambitious musical One From The Heart forced Coppola to think a little smaller when it came to making his next project. While his earlier work was noted for its spectacle, Coppola’s intimate coming-of-age drama Rumble Fish was a personal project that began an experimental period within his career.

Rumble Fish

Street-brained Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother’s reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.

Release Date

October 20, 1983

Director

Francis Ford Coppola

Runtime

94

‘Rumble Fish’ Is A Return To Francis Ford Coppola’s Roots

While working godfather he certainly gained an affinity for major studio productions, Coppola’s early career was highlighted by more experimental works. Although they don’t always rank among his best work, Coppola’s 1968 musical Finian’s Rainbow and his 1969 road movie The Rain People both offer kaleidoscopic, observational depictions of American life that don’t conform to conventional narrative structures. While working with more elaborate budgets and popular movie stars in the 1970s suited the more substantial scope of those projects, Coppola’s early work suggested few resources would allow him to innovate.

Compared to the elaborate ensemble of godfather or the large size of Apocalypse Now, Rumble Fish is a stripped-down character drama about the anxieties of reaching adulthood. Loosely based on the novel of the same name by SE Hintonthe film centers on young Rusty James (Matt Dillon) as he tries to live up to his older brother’s reputation (Mickey Rourke), known simply as “The Motorcycle Boy.” After working with established actors like Brando and Pacino in godfather movies, Rumble Fish allowed him to once again draw from a pool of young talent, with Dillon and Rourke both receiving their breakout film roles. Additionally, Coppola banished his nephew Nicolas Cage in the role of Rusty’s romantic rival, Smokey, and his daughter Sofia Coppola also has a cameo in the movie.

While it’s certainly a straightforward coming-of-age drama that was reduced in budget due to his work in the 1970s, Rumble Fish was among the most ambitious projects of Coppola’s career. Coppola uses a very avant-garde filmmaking style that blurs the lines between what’s in Rusty’s head and what’s actually happening. Thematically, it ties in perfectly with the film’s themes of self-mythologization and the pressures of masculinity. The use of black and white photographs is allowed Rumble Fish to feel closer in style to the noir films of the 1940s; however, there was a freewheeling, observational quality to the character interactions that drew comparisons to the work of Jean Luc-Godard and the films of the French New Wave. It’s as if Coppola is bringing all of his influences together to make a film representative of what he loves about cinema.

‘Rumble Fish’ ushered in the Era of Creative Genius for Coppola

Although it received the widespread recognition and significant cultural impact that his earlier films had, the creative achievement of Rumble Fish signaled Coppola’s shift toward making more personal films. In the same year, he released another SE Hinton adaptation with The outsiders. in style, The outsiders is less bold than Rumble Fishas it attempted to embody the tone of 1950s melodramas such as east of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause. However, this is another instance where Coppola manages to highlight a group of youth; young stars like Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Rob Lowe all received their breakout roles in The outsiders.

The spiritual ambiguity of Rumble Fish was something he would return to only occasionally, but Coppola opened himself up to working in different genres over the next two decades. While he is still making old fashioned historical epics like the movie Jazz The Cotton Club and the biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dreamhe also did his first romantic comedy with Peggy Sue got married and an elaborate horror film with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Rumble Fish has indicated that there is no one overarching genre that binds all of Coppola’s work; it is his versatility that made him so impressive.

Coppola Continues to Make Experimental Films

A series of critical failures may have brought his career to a standstill in the early 21st century, but Coppola achieved new success by returning to the style of Rumble Fish. In many ways, his 2009 arthouse drama Melancholy like a spiritual sequel Rumble Fish. This is another black-and-white drama with strong noir and French New Wave themes that focuses on the relationship between two siblings. He also managed to meet another young star Alden Ehrenreichto cite Coppola’s influence as being of great consequence within his career.

Coppola is on the precipice of another comeback, as his highly ambitious science fiction passion project Megalopolis is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. In narrative and style, Megalopolis it seems to be far away Rumble Fish as possible. However, Rumble Fish was surely the film that signaled to Coppola that he didn’t need to remain in the shadow of his own success for the rest of his career.

Rumble Fish is available to rent on Amazon in the US

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