Wider Screenings HomePage

d. John Schlesinger; pr. Jerome Hellman; scr. Waldo Salt; novel. James Leo Herlihy; ph. Adam Holender; m. John Barry, Harry Nillson; ed. Hugh A. Robertson; cast. Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Brenda Vaccaro, Sylvia Miles, Barnard Hughes, John McGiver, Paul Morrissey (113 mins)

Midnight Cowboy had been passed over as unfilmable by Hollywood studio readers before the book came to producer Jerome Hellman and director John Schlesinger showed interest.

Although Schlesinger was far less known in the USA than in his native Britain, Hellman went with him and it was indeed the eventual critical and popular success of Midnight Cowboy that opened the doors to so-called “foreign” perspectives on American culture. Schlesinger was able to capture the New York scene of the late 1960s in a manner which combined eccentric character study and a dense street realism with the aesthetic trappings of avant-garde cinema to bold effect. On its release, the film was thought of as so radical that it was originally rated “X” in America and soon went on to become the only X-rated movie ever to win an Academy Award (winning for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay). Praise was heaped upon this film as a landmark in contemporary American filmmaking. When the film was re-released a number of years ago (although no longer rated X), the critics were just as enthusiastic and although its style had perhaps dated somewhat, the film was considered still to be fresh and vibrant. Indeed, the lead performances by Dustin Hoffman and then-newcomer Jon Voight are almost timeless, amongst the best acting work ever in American cinema, certainly of the transitional period of the late 1960s.

Midnight Cowboy tells the story of Joe Buck (Voight), a Texan dishwasher with dreams of becoming a cowboy gigolo in New York City. He quits his job, catches a bus and arrives in the Big Apple, renting a cheap hotel room and soon setting out to become a street hustler.

He actually attracts an older woman (Sylvia Miles) who invites him to her penthouse for an encounter; however, she is offended when he asks her for money for his “services” and to console her tears he ends up giving her money. He then meets a crippled small-time street-person, Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), who promises to bring him to the right man to set him up as a stud. Once Voight is again conned, he is cast out of the hotel room and forced to go to the gay street hustler terrain where his cowboy look seems more prevalent. Still broke, and almost broken, he encounters Hoffman again and the two of them develop a friendship. Soon Hoffman invites Voight to his dwelling – a condemned building. They eke out a street level existence until an invite to a party of decadents (the Andy Warhol Factory crowd) results in Voight finding a client (Brenda Vaccaro). Just as Voight is set up to apparently develop as a gigolo, Hoffman is extremely sick and Voight needs money desperately to get the two of them to their much-dreamed-of sunny climes of Florida; if, that is, he chooses to remain loyal to his only friend at the expense of his only dream.

Midnight Cowboy is a touching look at the friendship between a naïve young man and a low-level street hustler in a modern world of almost total emotional disconnection.

Voight and Hoffman are outstanding in their desperation, but it is Voight’s story that dominates: of how he sheds his illusions, realizing that the cowboy stud image he idolizes has been incorporated into the burgeoning homosexual subculture. Indeed, Voight’s sexuality is questioned over the course of the movie and towards the end it seems that his bond to Hoffman has become a burden of sorts, hence his violent outburst with a man he first wants to hustle and then rob. Nevertheless, his connection with Hoffman is the only vibrant and meaningful option he finds in a world of indifference and anonymity. Despite the weird, diverse behaviour of the people on the street, and the desire to be different, it is an uncaring city and Voight is far too good-natured to make it as a hustler, too easily manipulated. Indeed, the film charts his journey to the point where he can make a responsible decision for his own future. New York City is the great leveller, hardly the place where dreams come true – yet it is a world of distinct contrasts, of street hustlers and rich women, of money-culture and a decadent art world. In these, the film’s vibrant authenticity helped pave the way for the new levels of street realism that would proliferate in the years since, especially in films about New York City.

Each scene is treated with exuberance by director Schlesinger as he explores the various aspects of such a distinctive yet despairing existence wherein the vulnerable reveal their need for connection despite their attitude (and illusions).

Such illusion-shattering is an ordeal, and Schlesinger intercuts Voight’s daydreams and fantasies into his memories, suggesting the irreconcilable jumble of thoughts that lie behind his simple veneer, in the process proposing that at some level he is still a child, retreating into fantasies to make sense of it all. These scenes indicate the film’s look at a kind of psychological transformation: both are consumed by dreams and illusions (which are visualized by Schlesinger) and the sobering comedown experienced emphasizes the gulf between expectation and reality. The film thus constantly juxtaposes Voight’s experience in New York with the bizarre desperation and varied lifestyles he observes but cannot fit into. He can only make a connection with Hoffman, although that too is another stage in what Schlesinger suggests is a journey to self-discovery through the abandonment of illusion. As Hoffman gets sick, Voight is faced with a choice and in part resents his friend for putting him in that position, finally torn between a true friendship and his illusory self-image. Perfectly balancing character, setting and style, Midnight Cowboy is a triumph in American film, a complex and rewarding movie experience.

Vision
The 16:9 enhanced widescreen transfer is effective but with minor problems – there are some frame edge issues and it often looks a rather grimy print, although this matches the street level verite style. Indeed, the clash of colours and textures makes for a rich visual experience as the experimental is blended with a near-documentary realism. The stylistic experimentation in the flashback / dream sequences is stunning, preserving the intermingling of memory, fantasy and desire as integral to Voight’s yearning experience of self in a noisy, vibrant world where interpersonal connection is fleeting and desperate, and suggesting the uncertainty that Voight may be fleeing from. The film’s flashy editing style was then thought revolutionary and is preserved intact here, as is the concern for eccentric characterizations, ensuring superb visual textures and a sense of explosive energies: as mentioned, it recalls the avant-garde underground films of the era. The inhospitability of New York is well drawn and the increasing coldness of the city in winter is well contrasted to the psychedelic warmth of the party scene, a virtual document of the bohemian lifestyle of the period, making use as it does of regular members of the Andy Warhol crowd then celebrated. Ideas of indifference and desperation in American society are a central concern in Schlesinger’s almost maudlin look at the need for interpersonal experience.

Sound
The sound transfer is available in a surprisingly vibrant Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround mix filled with constant directional invention. Backgrounds are always crisp. Quickly apparent in this transfer is the spatial distribution of voices, varying well in accordance with the speaker’s changing position within the frame and constantly evolving. For such an old film, this mix is doubly remarkable and densely layered for a contemporary home theatre immersion – the famous Nilsson song “Everybody’s Talking” has thus never sounded better and indeed the remarkable score is energetic throughout. It never settles for complacent centring alone. There is a telling distinction in sound quality between reality and the hallucinogenic fantasy sequences, merging in the sensorial delight of the party sequence. The noisy din of the New York streets adds authenticity to the observant camera and the film establishes a complete sense of presence, more than background in Schlesinger’s rather sly urban determinism. Likewise, the transfer makes the most of quieter sequences, particularly those in Hoffman’s condemned building, where interpersonal communication begins to challenge determinism. It is in these scenes that two people, ironically in a broken down home, can reach beyond their own immediate world. With Hoffman, Voight finally finds someone who will listen, unlike his experiences on the bus ride, and their bond is the core of the movie.

By way of special features there is only a trailer (from the re-released version it seems) and a short featurette entitled “Also on DVD” designed to highlight other releases. Although this montage of scenes from films set to their original scores is quite interesting as an early promotional featurette to highlight the DVD experience, it does not compensate for the lack of supporting features concerning Midnight Cowboy itself. Although this lack is unfortunate and even inexcusable considering the movie’s large reputation and cultural importance, there is, nevertheless, an 8 page collectible booklet included which does reveal some background to the film’s production.