MovieChat Forums > A Most Violent Year (2015) Discussion > Not a feeling of 1981...at all

Not a feeling of 1981...at all

posted 9 years ago by Katz5
11 replies | jump to latest

I was living on Long Island in 1981 and made frequent trips to NYC (especially Queens and Brooklyn). New York in 1981 looked nothing like it looks in this film. Yes, they coated graffiti all over the subway trains (which is how they looked in the pre DisneyWorld New York City). But the highways looked nothing like that. The ramps leading to the bridges in this film are clearly 2014, not 1981. There was trash on the streets everywhere. Rats. A real feeling of danger. The set designers dropped the ball big time on that.

And the music....why open with a Marvin Gaye song from 1971? Wrong decade, guys!
If you want to invoke 1981, try these on the soundtrack:

Hall & Oates
The Cars
The Go Gos
Blondie
J. Geils
The Clash
Bow Wow Wow
Brian Eno
Talking Heads
The Police
Kim Carnes

Even Sheena Easton's Morning Train would have worked for Chrissakes.

Still, a solid movie with a good story, great acting, and it kept me interested. The set designers and music consultants just dropped their respective balls.

If you want to see what NYC looked like in 1981, try watching Fort Apache the Bronx, Wolfen or Prince of the City.

Got 13 Channels of $hit on the TV to Choose From

[–] davemccrea-1 9 years ago

I agree that the music seemed too old for the movie, I found that confusing

[–] evilbastard9 9 years ago

A lot of the cars they used also looked like mid 70s. Big Gas Guzzlers. By 1981 America had started driving mid sized cars.

[–] Prismark10 7 years ago

'A lot of the cars they used also looked like mid 70s. Big Gas Guzzlers. By 1981 America had started driving mid sized cars.'

Not everyone would be driving 1981 cars in 1981!

It's that man again!!

[–] jlam888 (582) 3 years ago

Some of the fashion also looked more like mid 70s.

[–] cookiela2001 9 years ago

The only 80's thing about the movie is Jessica Chastain's hair....which looks like Michelle Pffeifer's in SCARFACE.

[–] Flywiththeowl 8 years ago

I was going to start a thread on exactly this. The music is SO important for period pieces like this & they really did miss a golden opp' to spin some tracks that were hot at the time. (though I'm not sure the poppy, upbeat songs would've matched the feel of the film)
Would've also been a good idea to play some of the old school hip hop that was really starting to blossom from the streets at the time. *That* would've fit in perfectly with the gritty urban setting.
On the other hand, 2 things are also possible: securing the rights to several songs might've been too costly for the budget or the director didn't want too much music to distract from the story.

But still- Really a shame they missed that train, IMO.

[–] fartskiface 8 years ago

go make your own movie ya big batchagaloop

[–] swannie0-1 8 years ago

OMG you made me laugh so hard! Thank you!

[–] Red_Army 8 years ago

Hip hop wouldn't work and neither would most 80s music. The music choice was fine.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] buzzlightbeer (1820) 6 months ago

Good thread.