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by Vadim Rizov



In 1962, Don Draper went to see La Notte and loved it. He"s up on his cinema, and that"s no surprise. When someone asked if he"d seen The Bridge on the River Kwai, he responded, "I"ve seen everything, and I have the ticket stubs to prove it." Not that Don could assimilate Antonioni into advertising that quickly. He"s much more likely to use Bye Bye Birdie as a starting point for his work; foreign innovations are, for now (the show"s up to 1964), just that. As Kieron Clark pointed out, "Advertising then did exactly as it does now: it co-opted, re-used and ripped-off cinematic culture, both high and low. As both Don Draper and Matthew Weiner know only too well, the Mad Men of Madison Avenue ignore the movies at their peril." Right now, Don"s viewing choices may not have much to do with his work. Soon, they may have to if he wants to survive the "60s gracefully.

Style-wise, the show"s oft-muted colors make the "60s seem more modern than a meticulous recreation: its influences are ahead of the chronological period, even as the characters fight to keep pace with the "60s. As James Wolcott notes, Don"s living in "Gordon Willis dark" rooms "without Godfather justification," a man out of time in a way that"s not fashionable yet. Maybe not quite The Godfather- eventhough Draper brooding in the dark in the fourth season"s premiere episode isn"t far off either-but visually, Don"s ahead of the times, meanwhile struggling to keep up with them.