The ten films below are unranked and listed in no particular order. Enjoy.
Love and Death - Such a wonderfully weird picture, full of literary and film references that nobody gets anymore. I think that's why I like it so much. It's Woody Allen experimenting and being a geek over obscure subject matter close to his heart, taking the heaviest themes he can find in the most somber contexts imaginable, and using them as the basis for wacky farce and a few moments of insightful self-examination. In this way he's able to pay homage to his idols, notably Ingmar Bergman and the great Russian novelists, but also to indulge his penchant for the joyous and absurd.
Dog Day Afternoon - There are movies about bank robberies gone wrong and then there's "Dog Day Afternoon," where the crime turns into a tense standoff and hostage situation, and nobody knows how to end it. This is the movie I will remember Al Pacino for, giving a livewire performance that it's impossible to take your eyes off of. His character, Sonny, becomes an anti-establishment and counter-culture hero, as he tries to keep the situation from spiralling out of control. We sympathize with him, but we also sympathize with everyone else caught in this impossible situation.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - In a different era, Jack Nicholson's system-bucking Randall McMurphy might have been given more shades of gray, and Louse Fletcher's Nurse Ratchet might have been made more sympathetic. Here, however, they serve as perfect stand-ins for the rebel and the cold authoritarian system in one of the great modern fables about individual freedom. With a supporting cast full of great character actors, and a simple production that nonetheless turned a hospital ward into a microcosm of human society, the story may be heavy-handed, but this is undeniably one of the greats.
Nashville - There's a good case to be made that this is Robert Altman's masterpiece. Considered prescient at the time of release, it's become a canny snapshot of its era. The ensemble is vast and talented, the stories are wonderfully woven together, and I even like the musical performances. It is by turns hilarious, infuriating, moving, joyous, and deeply sad. The satirical elements made the film unpopular among the real musical community of Nashville, but I can't think of a better representation of the media circus that accompanies political and entertainment events like the one we see in the film.
Deep Red - The lurid imagery, the heightened atmosphere, and the maniacal women are all hallmarks of a Dario Argento film, and this is one of his most successful. I love the gruesome fairy tale nature of the flashbacks, the themes of spiritualism and trauma, and especially the eerie score from the Goblins. The violence is still jarring and the first-person camera still puts the viewer uncomfortably close to the horror. The use of children's toys and drawings in particular has been influential on so much subsequent horror media. It's a B movie through and through, but offers thrills as only a great B movie could.
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles - Chantal Akerman's most famous feature could be classified as an experimental film, because it defies conventional film structure almost entirely. It's over three hours in length, full of long static shots, and concerned with documenting the daily routine of a housewife played by Delphine Seyrig. The film forces the viewer to pay attention to oft ignored domestic drudgery and eventually uses it as a storytelling tool. The length and style can make this a challenging watch, but the experience is a uniquely absorbing one, and the payoff is worth the wait.
Fox and His Friends - I still cringe thinking about some of the scenes in this film, about a mentally challenged young gay man who comes into a fortune, and subsequently comes to ruin. Rainer Werner Fassbender gives himself a rare starring role as poor Franz Biberkopf, who is easily flattered and easily duped. Fassbender cuts such a pathetic figure, and Franz's trajectory is so clear from so early on. What really sells the tragedy, however, is spartan, rough style of production. It highlights how the hallmarks of economic success and social status are all very surface level things - and ultimately ephemeral.
Dersu Uzala - A curious entry in Akira Kurosawa's filmmography is this Russian language film about the exploration of the Russian frontier. It was the only film he ever made outside of Japan. Examining the friendship between an explorer and his native guide, it quietly explores themes of culture clash, coexistence with the natural world, and the destructive power of civilization. The imagery, however, is what I remember best. Kurosawa turns the wilderness into a place of great danger and great beauty. The use of color is bold and striking, especially in the sequence with the midnight sun.
Picnic at Hanging Rock - An unsettling, dreamlike film about a mysterious disappearance, this was Peter Weir's breakthough feature, and something of a breakthrough for Australian cinema in general. There's an intense psychological element to the story, often tied to features of the Australian landscape, and the stifling girls' school that the film depicts. This invite all sorts of speculation about the film's themes and messages. However, what makes it such a fascinating watch is its ambiguity and its break from traditional structure. It's a mystery with no solution, no release from tension, and no apparent end.
Jaws - I've come to appreciate the film more for the performances and the filmmaking over the years. The terror I associated with it as a young child has mostly faded, though hearing the score still makes me nervous. Instead, these days it's all about Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw drunkenly swapping stories. It's about the murky underwater POV shots, and that magical moment when we learn that the heroes are going to need a bigger boat. I didn't think of this as a horror film for the longest time, though it has all the earmarks of one. In my mind. "Jaws" was always in a class by itself.
Honorable Mention:
Barry Lyndon
---
No comments:
Post a Comment