{"id":51587,"date":"2020-09-15T13:11:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T20:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=51587"},"modified":"2024-06-28T10:46:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T17:46:29","slug":"greetings-1968","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=51587","title":{"rendered":"Greetings (1968)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Like cats, there are so many young people, wandering to and fro.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster-202x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-51588\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster-202x300.png 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster-689x1024.png 689w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster-182x270.png 182w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Poster.png 725w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThree friends &#8212; a draft-avoiding sex-seeker (Jonathan Warden), a Peeping Tom (Robert De Niro), and an obsessive follower of JFK&#8217;s assassination (Gerrit Graham) &#8212; spend time in New York City while the Vietnam War rages.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Allen Garfield Films<\/li>\n<li>Brian DePalma Films<\/li>\n<li>Counterculture<\/li>\n<li>Episodic Films<\/li>\n<li>New York City<\/li>\n<li>Peeping Toms<\/li>\n<li>Robert De Niro Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;seriocomedy, made in two weeks for a mere $43,000 by 28-year-old Brian De Palma, was one of the most popular &#8216;anti-establishment&#8217; pictures of the late sixties and early seventies,&#8221; and &#8220;was that rare film made for filmmakers and film students as much as for the young, alienated, angry generation.&#8221; He argues it&#8217;s a &#8220;splendid example of the type of independent films made then: there are technical lapses and sloppy editing and photography throughout &#8212; but there are moments of cinematic brilliance,&#8221; and while the &#8220;wild, slapdash humor&#8221; is &#8220;original&#8221;, at times it is also &#8220;smug, vulgar, and self-congratulatory.&#8221; He points out the theme of obsession woven throughout each of the three main characters, but also &#8212; and most especially &#8212; De Palma himself, who &#8220;reveals here that he is obsessed with and is exploring the very nature of film.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Peary elaborates upon all these points in his lengthier <em>Cult Movies<\/em> review, where he discusses the many cinematic influences on display. He writes that while &#8220;De Palma&#8217;s studio-backed pictures of the seventies and eighties invariably call attention to Alfred Hitchcock,&#8221; the &#8220;cinema-verite look to some of the scenes and the use of new footage and segments of Lyndon Johnson speeches&#8230; to counterpoint the disturbing images of &#8216;reality&#8217; we see, suggest the influence of such diverse documentarians of the period as D.A. Pennebacker [<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40287\"><em>Don&#8217;t Look Back<\/em>, (1967)<\/a>] and Emile D&#8217;Antonio [<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2410\"><em>Point of Order<\/em>, (1964)<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40315\"><em>Millhouse: A White Comedy<\/em> (1967)<\/a>].&#8221; Meanwhile, as Graham &#8220;starts examining photos of the Kennedy assassination and considers enlarging some to see if he can discover another gunman in Dallas&#8217;s infamous grassy knoll, he becomes increasingly like the David Hemmings character in Michelangelo Antonioni&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=69599\"><em>Blow-Up<\/em> (1966)<\/a>.&#8221; Finally, Peary points out De Palma&#8217;s obvious debt to Jean-Luc Godard, given that &#8220;the young characters who inhabit De Palma&#8217;s world could very well be acquaintances of Jean-Pierre Leaud and his compadres in Godard&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=89938\"><em>Masculin Feminine<\/em> (1966)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4535\"><em>La Chinoise<\/em> (1967)<\/a>.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Peary goes on to write about how &#8220;<em>Greetings<\/em> is most interesting today as a testament of its times&#8221; (I agree). He notes that &#8220;not only does it reflect the political unrest and malaise of 1968 America &#8212; and the despair in Vietnam &#8212; but it&#8230; has a left-wing, anti-government\/society\/authority\/status quo bias&#8221; and &#8220;is concerned with disillusioned young [white, heterosexual] males&#8221; (the genders, races, and sexual orientations of the protagonists would surely be more diverse if the film were made today) &#8220;who look for a direction in and meaning to life (another side to the previous year&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27573\"><em>The Graduate<\/em><\/a>.&#8221;) Indeed, much of this film should feel quite familiar in many ways to millenials, who are similarly skeptical of their government and seeking a point to their lives in the midst of rampant commercialism, greed, violence, racism, and (currently) a global pandemic. Even if technology has advanced, we remain &#8212; like the three characters here &#8212; obsessed with voyeurism, sex, and conspiracy; not <em>that<\/em> much has changed. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An intriguing time-capsule glimpse into a certain era of American history<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-51592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still1.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still1-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still1-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still1-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-51593\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still2.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still2-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many memorably quirky and\/or amusing moments<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-51595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still4.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still4-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still4-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still4-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-51591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still5.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still5-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still5-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Greetings-Still5-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a one-time cult favorite. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063036\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/greetings\/review\/129755\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1968\/12\/16\/archives\/the-screen-greetings-on-34th-streetissues-of-day-treated-in.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Like cats, there are so many young people, wandering to and fro.&#8221; Synopsis: Three friends &#8212; a draft-avoiding sex-seeker (Jonathan Warden), a Peeping Tom (Robert De Niro), and an obsessive follower of JFK&#8217;s assassination (Gerrit Graham) &#8212; spend time in New York City while the Vietnam War rages. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Allen Garfield Films Brian DePalma Films Counterculture Episodic Films New York City Peeping Toms Robert De Niro Films Response to Peary\u2019s Review: Peary writes that this &#8220;seriocomedy,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=51587\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51587"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98128,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51587\/revisions\/98128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}