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The film takes the viewer back to the good old 50’s. All the
details are there – from the do-whop music and lovingly customized cars to
the slang, which hovered between Ivy League and street gang, and the clothes,
which seemed, like the time, both shapeless and confining. |
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But the film catches not
only the charm of the teenage fifties but also the
listlessness and the resignation that
underscored it all like an incessant bass line in an
old rock ‘n’ roll song. |
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The characters seem locked in – to careers, to whole lives. The only one who manages to break out is Curt, smarter and more sensitive than the others. |
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A road movie. Most of the
action takes place in and around cars. It also is a status
symbol for the teenagers. If you don’t have a car – you’re
out. Terry has no car – he rides a motorbike. John, on the
contrary, owns the best and coolest car in town. Although the car
is a symbol of freedom and independence the people in
the movie constantly come back to Mel’s Drive-In – which
leads to a never-ending circular movement in the film.This
movement can also be interpreted as lack of change in
people’s lives. |
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Another theme of
the movie is the notion of lost innocence. The film is set in 1962, a time where the
options seemed so simple: to go to college, or to stay at home and look for a
job and cruise Main Street and make the scene. It is the time just before
President Kennedy’s assassination and the Vietnam War. |
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John
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