In film history, the sixties are commonly known as the golden age of international cinema. The period from 1958 to 1969 saw a brilliant explosion of talent not just in Europe but throughout the world. From Sweden and Poland to India and Japan, from Brazil and Hungary to Spain and Czechoslovakia, young filmmakers seemingly sprang out of nowhere, challenging the stale conservativism of fifties cinema. With films like Jules et Jim, 8 1/2, and Breathless, to name but a few, they flouted taboos both sexual and political while bringing sharper, fresher, franker, more violent, and more personal visions to the screen than ever before.
In Revolution!, Peter Cowie discusses the themes, trends, and creative filmmakers of the period-including Antonioni, Bergman, Cassavetes, Fellini, Godard, Kurosawa, and Truffaut-while focusing on those whose voices still evoke thestruggles and achievements of the sixties and set the creative and intellectual standard by which today"s finest films are still held.