HOLLYWOOD RENAISSANCE is an in-depth commentary on the American films of the Seventies and the work of seven of their most distinctive, provocative directors. Hollywood was then undergoing a vigorous creative regeneration, and such films as Nashville, Mean Streets, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, The Godfather, A Woman Under the Influence, and Apocalypse Now display a refreshing spontaneity, savy manipulation of popular culture, and political daring. And why were so many of these movies hits? Taking a film-by-film approach to the work of such auteurs as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, Diane Jacobs exhibits a joyous knowledge of Hollywood history and affirms the innovative energy of this American New Wave.