The Outsiders (1983)
Universal DVD (region 4)
d. Francis Ford Coppola; pr. Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos; scr. Kathleen Rowell; novel. SE Hinton; ph. Stephen H. Burum; m. Carmine Coppola; ed. Anne Goursaud; cast. Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Leif Garrett, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Tom Waits, William Smith (91 / 114 mins)
Director Francis Ford Coppola launched his studio Zoetrope in the early 1980s, intending to showcase the work of his creative associates and favoured international directors, but the venture soon found itself in deep trouble following the absolute commercial failure of Coppola’s own, highly expensive One From the Heart.
However, the director was apparently determined to keep Zoetrope a viable competitor in Hollywood and his interest soon turned to a new subject from an unexpected source. A librarian at the Lone Star Jr. High School in Fresno, California first organized and then sent a petition to Coppola urging him to consider making a film version of S.E. Hinton’s highly-regarded novel The Outsiders. Producer Fred Roos actually read the petition and indeed passed the suggestion on to Coppola who, apparently intrigued, began researching the book, finding it to be considered a classic in adolescent literature and frequently taught in high schools throughout America. Coppola then read the book and was particularly attracted to its theme of familial loyalties and associated group identity (on this motif, of course, Coppola had directed two Godfather films by this stage) and of youth approaching maturity. He duly set about an arduous casting process to find the ensemble of young actors needed for the project, and by the end had one of the finest casts of future stars ever assembled.
Originating a Movie from Outside the Normal Route
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now in print and soon in e-book)
In the early 1980s, a librarian at the small Lone Star School in Fresno County, USA – a regular American high school – wrote a brief but detailed letter “on behalf of students and faculty” to the famous Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola, who had made both The Godfather movies and Apocalypse Now! and was publicly trying his hand at starting a studio of his own. Although such an approach towards a potential new movie was unheard of, the effort was made nonetheless to interest the director in a work that was of interest to the high school population. In the letter, the librarian stated that “I feel our students are representative of the youth of America… (e)veryone who has read (this book), regardless of ethnic or economic background, has enthusiastically endorsed this (potential) project” and urged the director to adapt the particular book she referenced into a major feature film. The book was a classic of adolescent literature, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. The director then actually read the book she referenced, found it interesting and duly made the film, attracting a cast of then little known actors including Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio and Patrick Swayze.
The story focuses on three greasers, played by C. Thomas Howell (as the main character, Ponyboy), Ralph Macchio (as his best friend) and Matt Dillon (as their role-model of sorts). Howell and Macchio are involved in the stabbing of a young soc and are encouraged by Dillon to flee to an abandoned church outside of town and wait there for him. They do, and once there change their appearance slightly. Dillon eventually shows up, but whilst driving back they encounter a burning school building. They stop and enter the building to save the remaining children but are injured in the process, Macchio quite seriously. They return to their hometown where there is a scheduled rumble with the socs. Howell speaks to one soc and a loose respect is formed, however this is not in itself enough to prevent the rumble, although is a move to maturity on the part of Howell, who has come to see more than his immediate world and is driven to write about his experiences. The plot synopsis alone does not do justice to this delicately realized film, which combines a deliberate stylization with a transcendent view of adolescent turmoil, even if the initial critical responses to it were mixed.
The Outsiders is one of Coppola’s last great films, though not often considered such, before he ventured down a more mainstream path.
Youth to Coppola however is far from an uncomplicated ideal. Yet despite its hardships, for these people it is almost a moment of perfection, destined, like many critics have pointed out, to fade like the beautiful sunsets that are scattered through the film.
Coppola considered the erosion of a sunset to be an apt metaphor for the end of adolescence and built much of the film around that notion, of lives caught in the transition to maturity. He finds a dignity and honour amongst these youthful lowlifes and never condescends to their plight, indeed rooting heroism in the very impetuosity and desperation of their youth. The bonds between these people keep them going and even Dillon is distraught at Macchio’s fate, turning to crime out of frantic rage and maybe even guilt. The dying Macchio too has finally found a worthwhile meaning in his actions, perhaps even lamenting that the absence of such leads to greater pain and tragedy. Through all, Howell and the other greasers find a measure of triumph in their togetherness and the film is a tribute to their troubled youth, a graceful, delicate film of the beauty in a tumultuous maturation. Although most critics have since determined that Coppola ultimately fell short of the epic cinematic hymn he intended, their collective opinion does not distract from the film’s accomplishments.
DVD DETAILS:
Vision
The 16:9 enhanced widescreen visual transfer is often outstanding. The filmmakers’ precise control of colour and light is everywhere in evidence and the transfer preserves a truly masterful, radiantly cinematic accomplishment – a finely etched interplay of the naturalistic and the progressively stylized. At times, particularly at the beginning, it feels like a painting come to life, and the all-important sunset scenes are emotive high-points, the golden tint to these shots suggesting that these are truly pristine moments in these youth’s lives. Style is more integrated into story, character and theme than was present in the artificiality of the previous One from the Heart. Well-lit figures often stand out from deep blacks and the widescreen preserves the evolving sense of group dynamics in the compositions. It often uses primary colours for striking effect, and the delicate, flowing superimpositions add a poetic quality to the proceedings. The visual beauty is reserved for the sunsets and the golden moments where the youths are at their most secure – colour and darkness gradually revealing an emotional predicament, with Howell’s sense of self finally evident when his peroxided hair matches the golden moments that were so precious to him and the tragic Macchio. The use of gold suggests the ability, however fleeting, to rise above one’s condition towards something better – the process of adolescent yearning as it turns to adulthood.
Sound
The sound transfer on this DVD is equally fine, although only in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The full, vibrant spatial score is a delight in an accomplished mix. It is full of standout touches, for instance the drive-in scene cleverly uses the sounds of a screened film as background to the conversations of the characters, establishing a solid sense of place from scene to scene and location to location as sounds merge and flow. The voices are always crisp and well-defined. The mix is perfectly judged, also making good use of the difference in soundscapes between individual scenes. Although some critics found the score by Carmine Coppola too melodramatic it is nonetheless a fine complement, highlighting the journey these characters go through and further linking the movie to the filmmaking style of the period in which it is set. Incidental sounds are always crisp and there was no fatal hiss evident. It is a transfer that preserves the cinematic effects of the original film, with fine spatial moments and a consistent clarity throughout. It also makes good use of songs from the era to frame the characters’ movements and initial purposelessness – indeed the evocative score signals through its highpoints the growing emotional awareness of these characters to their true social circumstances. How they react is a measure of peer pressure, social expectation and individual will. In sound and vision it is a splendid evocation of period. The film has a deliberation not in evidence in the glut of teenage movies that proliferated in the early 1980s, and the transfer preserves this.
Special Features
There are no special features bar an original trailer. Sadly, this lack alone stops the DVD release from being an ideal collector’s item. Nevertheless, the film is excellent and the transfer is fine. It is especially beautiful to see this film in its original widescreen ratio and it rewards repeat viewing. The Outsiders is part of a number of Zoetrope releases finding their way onto DVD and is released alongside One from the Heart, The Escape Artist and the aesthetic joy that is Wim Wenders’ film of Hammett. Although these Zoetrope films failed to find much of an audience on their initial cinema release (except for The Outsiders,which has a dedicated following) they make for consistently intriguing viewing. In particular, Coppola’s second Hinton adaptation, now out on DVD, Rumble Fish, makes a perfect complement to The Outsiders.
