This is part of my continuing series looking back on films from the years before I began this blog. The ten films below are unranked and listed in no particular order. Enjoy.
The 400 Blows - The remarkable thing about Antoine Doinel was that he was allowed to act like a real child, and exist on the silver screen on his own terms. "The 400 Blows" comes across as such an honest portrayal of childhood because it views the world subjectively from a child's point of view without ever imposing the moral judgments of an adult. While it doesn't have many of the stylistic features that other New Wave films have, it is considered emblematic of the movement because it is such a deeply personal piece of cinema, a perfect example of filmmaking "in first person singular."
Some Like it Hot - One of the greatest comedies of all time, a cross-dressing romantic farce that puts Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag and on the run from mobsters. It thumbed its nose at the Motion Picture Production Code, and got away with some wild zingers, including the greatest final line of a movie of all time. Marilyn Monroe is at her most appealing here, but for me the clear star of the picture is Jack Lemmon gleefully getting to know his feminine side, Daphne. The scene of him declaring his intentions to get married to Osgood is one of the most delightful things I've ever seen.
Araya - A documentary on the lives of salt laborers on the Arayan Peninsula of Venezuela. The community is small, isolated, and seemingly untouched by outside civilization. Shot in stark black and white, the film's images are very beautiful, even as they reveal an especially difficult and sobering way of life. The filmmakers not only document the painstaking process of extracting salt from the peninsula, but how it shapes the lives of everyone in the community, their culture and their behavior. Especially striking are the burial customs of the Arayans, which reflect their all-important ties to the sea.
Les Cousins - An idealistic young man becoming disillusioned by life is a common narrative, but I've rarely seen one executed so viciously as Claude Chabrol's malevolent psychodrama, "Les Cousins." The naive hero is seemingly punished for all his morally upstanding values and good habits, while his profligate cousin succeeds without even trying, and gets the girl in the end. Of course, it's not as simple as that. This was only Chabrol's second film, and his style was still coming together. However, his preoccupations with crime, morality, revenge, and obsession were already very apparent.
The Bridge - Probably the best film I've seen addressing WWII from the Germans' point of view. Its scope is very small, focusing on a group of boys from a small town who are conscripted into the fight during the final days of the war, when Germany is being overrun by the American armed forces. There are some terrific action and suspense scenes, but the film is a tragedy through and through as we witness the hard coming-to-terms that the boys experience as they are faced with real warfare and all its horrors. Its allegorical storytelling sidesteps most real-world politics, leaning into a potent anti-war message.
The Nun's Story - A lengthy, but fascinating melodrama that charts the career of a Belgian nun, Sister Luke, who wrestles constantly with her own desires and spiritual difficulties. Played by Audrey Hepburn, Sister Luke is a rare cinema heroine who struggles honestly with her faith, and the film is unusually nuanced in its portrayal of both her and the Catholic Church. It's especially interesting on the subjects of obedience and self-abnegation, to the extent that all pride and self-determination are treated as personal faults. In the end, the film sides with neither the church or the sister, and is stronger for it.
Fires on the Plain - Kon Ichikawa delivers one of the bleakest of all Japanese war films, about an ailing soldier stranded in the Philippines who witnesses all manner of horrors among the abandoned soldiers trying to survive. Violent and despairing, many viewers balked at the grisly content and the extremes of human behavior that were showcased by the film. In retrospect, "Fires on the Plain" was far ahead of its time in portraying the darker side of warfare. I vastly prefer Kon's work here to Masaki Kobayashi's more self-important "Human Condition" trilogy that premiered the same year.
North By Northwest - Not one of my favorite Hitchcock films, but I can't deny that it's one of his most successful and iconic. The set pieces are stunners, especially Cary Grant being harassed by a crop duster in a corn field, and the finale taking place on Mount Rushmore. Even if you don't know the originals, you've seen the countless imitators and spoofs. The whole spy action/adventure genre owes this film immeasurably. And speaking of Cary Grant, I don't know why he didn't play spy films more often, because he's so perfect here trying to dodge enemy agents and suspicious characters on the run.
Pickpocket - I generally don't get along with Robert Bresson films, but I do enjoy "Pickpocket," a tense little crime thriller about a compulsive thief. It's a very psychological film, focused on the protagonist's inability to control his larcenous impulses, leading to his doom. The act of theft is not as important as the anticipation of it, as we're shown in several tense sequences where our thief fixates on potential victims. Bresson makes great use of close-ups and montage here, and it's amazing how much tension and excitement he can evoke from simple shots of hands and pockets and faces.
Sleeping Beauty - The film marked the end of an era, the last traditionally animated, high budget project that Walt Disney Studios would see during Walt's lifetime. Using 70mm format, stylized character designs, and a lot of cribbing from Tchaikovsky for the score, "Sleeping Beauty" was designed to be a spectacular, and it certainly fits the bill. Why I always liked it, though, was I realized that the three good fairies are secretly the heroes of the film, who have just as much narrative emphasis and screen time as Philip and Aurora. And who could say no to Maleficent, that masterpiece of animated villainy?
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