THE WANDERERS

US, 1979, 117 minutes, Colour.
Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, Linda Manz.
Directed by Philip Kaufman.

One of several gang films of 1979. The stylised and symbolic The Warriors set a tone. Other films which followed tended to be more realistic and often more violent.

Los Angeles was the setting of Boulevard Nights and Walk Proud. New York was the setting of The Wanderers and Defiance. The Wanderers is set in the early sixties at the time of the assassination of Kennedy - a seeming age of innocence with its ending. The echoes are of West Side Story. This film has comedy routines but also uses quite a number of the songs of the time - in the manner of films like American Graffiti. The cast is largely unknown although the small Linda Manz had appeared effectively in Days of Heaven.

The film was written and directed by Philip Kaufman, maker of a group of interesting films which include The Great Northfield Minnesota Road and the remake of Invasion of the Bodyanatchers. The film has a particularly American style and is not as accessible in feeling as some of the other gang films of the period.

1. The gang genre of the thirties to the fifties? Life in the slums in the American cities, hardship, deprivation, self-asserting, crime? The transition to the seventies with social observation, violence? Sexuality and explicit treatment of themes? The popularity of gang films in the late seventies? How much was this film influenced by tradition?

2. The use of music and the echoes of West Side Story and American Graffiti? The importance of the music reflecting the early sixties? The atmosphere of youth? The appeal of this film to an older audience? Youth?

3. The use of the sixties music, dress, fashions? The background of military service - the marines and recruiting (and the comedy about the Baldies being called up)? The eve of involvement in Vietnam? The televising of President Kennedy's assassination? Themes of nostalgia, innocence before violence and the upsets of the sixties? The view of the late seventies?

4. The introduction to the gangs - Joey and the pursuit by the Baldies, the physical presence of the Baldies and their
terrorising the groups, Terror and his size? Richie and the Wanderers and the confrontation with the Baldies? Richie as leader, his relationship with Despite? The Wanderers as the more self-assertive gang? School, proving self, growing up? Violence, confrontations, sexuality? The rescue of Perry as an example of the activity of the Wanderers?

5. The reasons for the emergence of gangs - group and peer pressure, rivalries, self-assertion? Age? National and ethnic groups in New York? Interaction and violence? The posers? The music illustrating this?

6. The portrait of the Wanderers ? the variety of characters, their friendship, work, Richie and his family, shop? Despite and her devotion to Richie? Nina and her arrival, Richie’s attraction to her and the reaction of Despite? The other boys in the group - Joey Turkey, Buddy, Perry? The artists at work? The clashes? Examples of the Wanderers' behaviour, for example the street sequence and the attraction of the girls? Nina and her curiosity echoing that of the
audience?

7. The portrait of the Baldies, Terror and his size and ugliness, Pee Wee and her presence with the group? Their self-assertion? Their being called up for the marines and the interview?

8. The other groups around the neighbourhood - the Wongs, the Rays, the Dele, the Bombers, the Ducky Boys? The characteristics of each group?

9. The adults in the neighbourhood - parents, brothers, the overtones of the Mafia and their influence?

10. The innocent side of adolescent growing up - the dances and the friendships? Leading to the ugly side and violence?

11. The characterisation of Despite and her devotion to Richie, her jealousy? Nina and her changing because of her relationship with Richie?

12. The build-up to the confrontation? The choice of the football match as the sequence for the confrontation? American football, the possibility of violence? The match itself and the comic choreography? The various gangs arriving and the all in brawl? Serious, comic?

13. How well did the film explore themes of adolescence, identity, standards? Richie and the finale and his future? His becoming part of the neighbourhood, part of the mafia style running of the neighbourhood?

14. American myths and opportunity, urban life? What happened to these adolescents throughout the seventies?