As per tradition on this blog, as a final year-end capper, I present to you the top ten cinema classics that I only saw for the first time in the year 2012.
The Up Series (1964-present) - In 1964, fourteen British seven year-olds were interviewed for a half-hour documentary short called "Seven Up!" The short was nothing special, but what happened afterwards was extraordinary. Filmmakers would return to interview the same children again seven years later, and then seven years after that, and again and again, all the way up to the present day. The "Up" series is still ongoing, with eight installments produced so far, including "56 Up!" released in 2012. They present a fascinating picture of how ordinary people grow and change and live, telling deeply personal stories as compelling as anything in fiction.
Almost Famous (2000) - There have been an awful lot of coming-of-age movies about starry-eyed dreamers getting mixed up in the easy hedonism of rock 'n' roll. However, Cameron Crowe draws from his personal connections to the material, and brings such genuine affection to his tale of a young journalist touring with an up-and-coming band in in the 70s, "Almost Famous" becomes a love letter to a bygone era and its music. The characters are so well drawn and so well written, they make the clichés their own. And the greatest irony is that the picture's stellar cast is full of far too many talents who have never gotten nearly as much appreciation as they deserve.
Aparajito (1956) - The middle installment of Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy" moves from Apu's boyhood to his adventures as an adolescent and young adult. A promising scholar, Apu is able to go to school in Calcutta, but there are unforeseen costs to his ambition. The film is simple, but a deeply powerful and poignant experience. The struggles of Apu and his parents are universal, full of familiar tensions faced by many families. Perhaps this one hit closer to home for me than the other "Apu" movies because I'm closer to the stage of life examined in "Aparajito." Or maybe it's because of the beautiful depictions of India, as seen through Apu's curious eyes.
Shoah (1985) - A documentary about the Holocaust that has itself become a vital historical document, collecting interviews and impressions from dozens of survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders. It is the scope of the film that is the most arresting, almost ten hours in length, travelling from former concentration camp sites in Poland to suburban neighborhoods in Germany to the streets of New York City. Director and interviewer Claude Lanzmann imposes no narrative, and offers no historical recreations or supplementary file footage of wartime horrors. Instead, the focus remains on the present, on the lingering memories and the uneasy ghosts of the war.
Stromboli (1950) - The love affair of director Roberto Rossellini and actress Ingrid Bergman was one of the great scandals of its time, but the film that brought them together is nothing short of a masterpiece. Bergman plays a refugee who believes she's found salvation when an Italian soldier marries her, but is ill prepared for the life of isolation and harshness she faces when they return to his home on the volcanic island of Stromboli. Rossellini's stark, striking visuals make the island into as much of a character as any of the human beings in the movie, and his unsentimental approach to the psychological drama and hard-edged love story give them an uncommon power.
Babette's Feast (1987) - Two pious Danish sisters take in a woman who has fled from the violence of the Paris Commune, Babette, who becomes their loyal cook and servant. One day, after winning a great sum of money, she decides to repay their kindness by creating a feast for them. The simple Danes are taken aback by Babette's extravagant preparations, but she cannot be deterred. This is a film for foodies, for artists, and for anyone who values an occasional indulgence in the finer things in life. Slow-moving, with a great interest in spiritual contemplation, "Babette's Feast" reminded me of Ingmar Bergman - if Bergman had a hidden passion for divine earthly pleasures.
They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969) - Looks so innocuous at first, but this story of about a Depression-era marathon dance competition is one of the most harrowing, most wrenching films I've seen in ages. Far from all fun and games, the competition is a grueling endurance contest that preys on the desperation of its contestants. Director Sydney Pollack is absolutely merciless, capturing the increasing physical and psychic strain as the marathon goes on and on. The performances, especially those of Jane Fonda and Red Buttons, are devastating to behold. This is one of the darkest American classics of the 60s that sorely needs to be rediscovered.
Providence (1977) - A cast of superb British and American actors provide French director Alain Resnais's first English language film with some real bite. John Gielgud, in one of this finest performances, plays an aged writer whose existential night-time musings about a trio of lovers reveal the hidden depths and traumas of his own psyche. Like many of Resnais's other films, "Providence" is a puzzle with no answer, and it's never clear how much of what we're seeing is real. However, the characters are so well realized and so engaging, in spite of their very shaky metaphysical footing, that I just had to see how the scenarios they inhabited would play out.
Harakiri (1962) - Masaki Kobayashi is a lesser known Japanese director who created more than his share of classics. My favorite of his works so far is "Harakiri," a samurai revenge tale that comments on the corruption of the feudal system. It works as both a slow-burn action picture and as a thoughtful morality fable, reflecting how Kobayashi was willing to be more pointedly critical than many of his contemporaries. Tatsuya Nakadai, who would appear in many of the later Akira Kurosawa films, plays the gruff paternal hero here to great effect. He has a fantastic presence that serves the intimate dialogue scenes, but when the time comes for action - watch out.
Three Kings (1999) - I've been cool toward many of David O Russell's recent efforts, but I found it impossible to deny the joyously dark and pointedly political sentiments of his First Gulf War satire. The filmmaking is bold, the writing takes no prisoners, and the entire attitude of the film is one of fully engaged rebellion against the established order, both in Washington and in Hollywood. "Three Kings" follows a small group of American soldiers who are looking for a hidden gold stash they can loot, only to uncover more and more egregious depravities perpetrated by their own government and its allies. Now where were Russell and crew after the Second Gulf War?
And some honorable mentions:
Lacombe Lucien (1974), Woodstock (1970), The Swimmer (1968), Night Moves (1975), A Short Film About Love (1988), Angel Face (1952), Dodes'ka-den (1970), Late Autumn (1960), Kanal (1956), Daisies (1966), Les Amants (1958), The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985), The Holy Mountain (1976), Orpheus (1950), Hellzapoppin' (1941), The Life of Oharu (1952), La Terra Trema (1948), There's Always Tomorrow (1956), Show People (1928), The Man in the White Suit (1951)
---
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment