Russ Meyer

Artykuł nt. wzajemnych wpływów amerykańskiego kina eksploatacji i kina autorskiego. Tekst objaśnia m.in. wpływ okultyzmu Aleistera Crowleya na kino eksperymentalne Kennetha Angera, które "zapowiedziało" pojawienie się niskobudżetowych filmów motocyklowych lat 60., które były z kolei bezpośrednią inspiracją dla "Easy Ridera", czyli sztandarowego dzieła Nowego Hollywood.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) occupies an unprecedented position in American popular cinema. Somewhere between the studio-produced rock and roll vanity blockbusters of the 1950s and 60s, and the more thematically complex artist biopics of the 70s and 80s, lies this little known and even less appreciated film by America’s most titillating independent filmmaker, Russ Meyer. Many critics dismiss Beyond the Valley of the Dolls as an exploitation film, but as this essay will demonstrate, the film’s categorization is much more complex. Straddling the lines between melodrama, exploitation, musical and ‘women’s film,’ Beyond the Valley of the Dolls occupies a uniquely forward-thinking position in terms of its feminist aspects that warrants attention. This paper examines these aspects, arguing that, although Beyond the Valley of the Dolls does show women in sexually objectified ways, it also emphasizes female power, sexuality and ruthlessness in a manner that foreshadows post-second wave feminist film scholarship.