How Coffee Has Evolved Over The Years In

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Cinema?

Coffee has become an integral part of our daily lives, and the caffeine itncontains is a psychoactive substance that has gained worldwidenacceptance, despite some initial resistance. Our culinary habits andnpreferences can be reflected in the way we brew coffee, how wenconsume it, and even the type of beans we choose.nAs one might expect, coffee has a significant presence in the media-nincluding advertising, novels, poetry, songs, and culinary writings. And,nof course, coffee also appears prominently in movies. From being just anprop on a table to having entire movies dedicated to it, coffee isnrepresented in films in a way that no other commodity is.nWhy Coffee Is An Important Part Of Cinema?

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Coffee, after oil, is the second-most traded commodity. Coffee has beennintegrated into many cultures throughout the world over the lastnhundreds of years. So, it’s not surprising that it has become an importantnstory element in cinema.nCoffee was already a daily commodity in western societies by the earlyn20th century. So, just about every scriptwriter's desk or every movie setnwas likely to be littered with Styrofoam cups filled with undrunk coffee,nwhich was a common scene in and of itself. Coffee is like cigarettes,ncars, hats, and telephones. You can’t make a movie realistic withoutnthem.

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Evolution Of Coffee Over The Years In Cinema

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Coffee has been a mainstay of movies, just not as pronounced as you’venthought. From the very early days of Hollywood, coffee has had its ownnpresence. It’s a beverage that makes a movie scene totally relatable tonour eyes and emotions. That’s why when you see an 18th-centuryncowboy drinking a mug of coffee in front of his campfire, it always makesnus feel like we’re there, also relaxing after a crazy hard day out in thenwild west.nThe early days of Hollywood movies were centered on Wild Westncowboys, grueling working-class men, and struggling middle-classnfamilies. Coffee was portrayed as exactly what it was back in thosentimes–a drink that energizes the common folks or a mug to contemplatentheir hardships.

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Movies from the post-World War II era have shown coffee as a boomingnbeverage. There was more swagger about it. A bustling city and its busyncitizens going to diners and having a mug of Americano with theirnbreakfast was a common scene from that era. Suddenly, coffee is not anmug of melancholy in movies but a prop that adds vibrancy to a scene.nIn the 60s, 80s, and 90s movies, coffee was placed on a differentnpedestal. These decades produced the greatest sets of movies innHollywood, and coffee was part of it as well. From suspensefulnconversations from mafia movies to a relaxing romantic breakfast at anrestaurant, a mug of coffee was there, placed beautifully as a prop.nThe 2000s have seen the emergence of big coffee chains. As thesenlarge coffee chains became the norm of cosmopolitan lifestyle and thenbeacon of the capitalistic echelon, they were used to define culture, city,nnation, status, or even a character in and of itself. Coffee is not just anprop now, it’s a whole scene of itself in a movie. Depending on the typenof coffee and which brand it’s from, it can tell a whole lot about anparticular scene without uttering a single word!

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The Different Ways Coffee Has Been Portrayed In MoviesnIn the movie Mississippi Mermaid (1969), starring Jean-Paul Belmondonand Catherine Deneuve, the most sinister clue about Catherine’s evilnintention was portrayed. She takes coffee for breakfast, but her letters tonJean-Paul state that she was a tea-drinker.nFritz Lang's classic film noir, The Big Heat (1953), portrayed coffee as anweapon of violence. Antagonist Vince (Lee Marvin), a cowardly mobster,nbecomes suspicious of his girlfriend, Debbie (Gloria Grahame). As anresult, he threw a pot of scalding coffee in her face. It left Debbie sonhorribly scarred that one-half of her face had to be covered withnbandages. It set her on a path of vengeance as she helped Glenn Fordndestroy the underworld crime rings and gave Vince his very own coffeentreatment at the end.nIn many westerns, a lonesome cowboy can still make a pot of coffeenover a campfire. The cowboy savors every sip of his coffee as if it werenclose to liberty, life, and solitude. The coffee here was used as a socialnexpression on the frontier before all the civilization and fancy city folksnwere a thing.nNora Ephron’s You have Got Mail (1998), starred by Tom Hanks, portrayednthe social conundrums of modern city life. Coffee places like Starbucks

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in the big cities aren’t for just coffee. It’s constantly visited by people withnzero decision-making ability who can absolutely define themselves whennthey order their favorite coffee of the day.nIn the movie Woman of the Year (1942), Katharine Hepburn’snsuperwoman status was neatly and amusingly offset when the audiencendiscovered that she couldn’t even make a decent cup of coffee for hernlover, Spencer Tracy. Thus, her feminist values are undermined.nMichael Mann’s blockbuster movie Heat (1995), showed a different usenof coffee. Pacino and De Niro argue over a cup of coffee about theirnethics, jobs, prospects, honor, and manliness as if coffee were the grim,nunsweetened philosophy of law and disorder at the time. It's an iconic,nhigh-toned artistic performance from two of the all-time greats.n10 Coffee-Related Scenes In Movies

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1. Fritz Lang’s 1953 film noir, The Big Heat. Lee Marvin’s horrific actnof throwing a boiling coffee pot onto Gloria Grahame’s face.n2. ‍Bryan Singer’s 1995 classic, The Usual Suspects. Agent DavenKujan, played by Chazz Palminteri, thought he had cracked thencase of Kyser Soze until he saw the coffee mug made bynKobayashi Porcelain.n3. Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 masterpiece, Pulp Fiction. One of thenmost memorable scenes in the world of filmmaking. Vince (JohnnTravolta), Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), and Jimmie had one hell ofnan awkward yet hysterical conversation over the quality of coffeenthey were having.n4. ‍Rob Reiner’s 2007 comedy-drama, The Bucket List. Edward Colen(Jack Nicholson) and his buddy Carter Chambers (MorgannFreeman) have a right laugh-off when they come to know that thisnluxurious coffee processing involves the stools of Sumatran treencats.n5. Jesse Dylan’s 2005 family comedy, Kicking and Screaming. Thenonly comedic relief from that movie is Phil's (played by Will Ferrell)ncaffeinated tailspin into lunacy, which gets him banned from hisnlocal café.n6. ‍Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 1994 romantic drama film, Three Colors:nBlue. Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche held a sugarnlump over her cup of espresso as it absorbed the coffee from herncup reflecting how her character had begun to disappear to escapenher terrible grief.

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7. Sergio Leone’s 1984 crime film, Once Upon A Time In America.nNo one can forget the cult scene in the film when Robert de Nironstirs his cup of coffee for a whole minute.n8. Michael Mann’s 1995 crime drama, Heat. The two protagonists, AlnPacino and Robert de Niro have a face-off in a typical Americanndiner with two cups of coffee.n9. David Wain’s 2008 comedy film, Role Models. Paul Rudd and thenwaiter’s interaction, whether venti is large or not, has become onenof the most liked internet memes.n10. Blake Edward’s 1961 romantic comedy film, Breakfast AtnTiffany’s. The movie created one of the most iconic scenes ever innthe world of the big screen. Audrey Hepburn stopped to look at thenwindow of the famous Tiffany’s store in New York while holding annAmerican pastry and a cup of coffee.nPlease note that there are lots of other coffee scenes but we’ve chosennonly our favorite ones.

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Conclusion

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Coffee is a daily commodity around the world. So, it’s only poeticallynfitting that we, humans, make something our own in every aspect of ournlives. Coffee in movies is a prime example of this. Coffee is there justnlike any other prop, and filmmakers and artists have found ways to buildniconic moments using a cup of coffee in films. Because, in reality, coffeenplays the exact same role in our lives.

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Author Bio:nThis is a guest post by Saleheen from Coffee AtoZ. CoffeeAtoZ sharesncoffee-related information like – brewing methods, recipes, comparisons,nreviews, etc.