Movies that Capture an Era
Inspired by Chloe Caldwell's novella, Women
I recently read Chloe Caldwell’s novella, Women, which is being reissued by Harper Collins ten years after its original publication by the micropress Short Flight/Long Drive. Women had a very limited printing in its first run—around 300 copies—but it slowly caught hold and became a cult classic. (If you want to know more about the new reissue, check out Courtney Maum’s interview with Caldwell on her substack.)
Women is a love story, told retrospectively, from the point of view of a young woman who finds herself falling in love with a woman for the first time. But the woman she falls for is already in a relationship with another woman, and can only see the narrator secretly—an emotionally devastating situation for everyone involved. It’s an intense little book, and I think what I liked best about it was the way it captures the late aughts, a micro-era that is a bit hard to describe. Caldwell herself doesn’t specify the year, and I don’t think she necessarily set out to capture a certain time period when she wrote this book; instead, some of the details have only become historically significant in retrospect. As Caldwell writes in the afterword of the 2024 edition:
Women was originally released on October 1, 2014, eight months prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage. It was the era of Obama and Facebook and Android phones and the sepia Instagram filter . . . I communicated over email for the most part, so the characters in Women did, too—the same way my friends and I now shoot voice memos back and forth, and the emailing in the book is something my younger readers and friends tell me is ancient, unrelatable, and a generational gap.
Reading Women got me thinking about how books and movies that capture an era, and how a historical period comes across in artwork. In books, the time period is revealed through political and cultural events, technology, and physical and material details, such as objects, items of clothing and home décor, meals, and even specific locations. Finally, it exists in the vocabulary and syntax of the writing, which is even harder to pin down, but can be seen most clearly in dialogue when colloquial language is used more frequently.
Films can really bring home an era because, in addition to all the above elements, the actors themselves embody particular historical periods. It’s the way they carry themselves, how their bodies look—today’s actors, for example, are much more muscular and worked-out compared to previous generations—and how they speak. You’ll notice slightly different accents, enunciation, phrasing, and breath support, depending on the era. It’s fascinating, and one of the reasons I love watching older movies.
Anyway, this is a long way of saying that this month’s recommendations are of films that I think capture a particular time period very well. If you feel like it, let me know in the comments what movies you think are especially illustrative of their era.
Last Gasp of the Counterculture
Between the Lines (1977)
Directed by Joan Micklin Silver
Written by Fred Barron and David Helpern
Streaming Kanopy, Tubi, Mubi
I love this ensemble movie about a team of reporters and editors working for an indie newspaper that is about to be taken over by a corporate buyer. The characters are all in their twenties and trying to figure out their lives. Their way of dressing and speaking feels emblematic of the 1970s. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Dawn of the 1980s
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Written & directed by Amy Heckerling
Streaming Prime, VOD $3.99
This movie seems to represent the cusp of the 1980s: the fashion is still a bit seventies, but mall culture is emerging, as well as a popular culture that is more centered around teens and young people. The parents and teachers seem to be from another planet entirely, in a way that struck me as accurate to the time period, when the parents would have come of age in the 1950s. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Gen X Distilled
Reality Bites (1994)
Directed by Ben Stiller
Written by Helen Childress
Streaming Netflix, VOD $3.79
I mean, the actors alone—Winona, Janeane, Ethan, Steve—represent a lot of what we think of when we think of Gen X. Their thrift store attire. Their cigarettes. Their horror of selling out. It’s all there. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Early 00s
Lost in Translation (2003)
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola
Streaming Max, VOD $3.99
I watched this a few months ago and was taken aback by how different the world seemed—and this is an era I know well! I was about the same age as Scarlett Johansson’s character when it came out. What felt very different was the pace of life and the absence of a 24-7 news media. They were able to disconnect from their lives in the U.S. as they lived in a strange liminal space abroad. I’m not sure this happens in the same way anymore. You’d have to fight for the stillness that comes easily to these characters. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Last Gasp of Broadcast News
Morning Glory (2010)
Directed by Roger Michell
Written by Aline Brosh Mckenna
Streaming Paramount+, Kanopy, VOD $3.99
Set in a time period when broadcast news was dying but before social media completely distorted reality. Rachel McAdams’ and Diane Keaton’s styling is very late mid-aughts. This is a surprisingly rewatchable movie, very charming. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Late 00s
Tiny Furniture (2010)
Written & Directed by Lena Dunham
Streaming AMC+/VOD $4.99
I was so impressed with this movie when it first came out. As I recall, it seemed to represent a totally new aesthetic in opposition to glamourous Sex & the City visions of NYC. Now it’s hard to view it without thinking of Girls and the era of Girls-imitators that followed, but it does show a version of NYC that exists in a different technological era, similar to Caldwell’s Women. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
❤️ Link Love ❤️
A new memoir from Susan Seidelman
An interview with Brooke Shields, new president of Actors’ Equity
My novel, We Were Pretending, is available for preorder. Goodreads will also be hosting a giveaway which is open for entries on July 15.
This is such a great read down memory lane, thank you!