As I zig-zag through the decades, I just seem to be stopping at years as they stand out to me.
I have already tackled
2003,
1988, and
2013...and now we are diving back further to the 70s.
I have said multiple times on this blog that I have very passionate opinions about the 70s as a decade for film. I might be someone who often likes to bemoan that Hollywood couldn't consistently keep up with the international film market in the 50s and 60s, but I feel like the 70s are where we finally caught up to the rest of the world.
Granted, I wouldn't say that 1978 is a truly spectacular year. It is certainly a very good year for film, but the output in the 70s was stronger in other years...particularly in 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1979.
Sidenote: I will be tackling 1973 for a 50th Anniversary Retrospective soon, so I will save my thoughts on that year until then.
When looking at 1978, I don't feel particularly surprised by my selections. You have a couple of international features and even, spoiler alert, that year's eventual Best Picture winner...but we are also going to get a double dose of horror and even our first mention of a documentary on one of these lists.
Let's get into the list itself and I will save any remaining thoughts for the end of the journey.
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#10 - The Last Waltz
(Martin Scorsese)
I like to think that all of my lists offer some variety in terms of the kinds of films I present...but for some reason, I tend to often leave off documentaries.
I don't mean to do that intentionally, but I often consider documentaries to be in a class by themselves in a way. Even if I might think of a documentary rather highly, I just never seem to acknowledge them for a top 10 list for the year.
As guilty as this is, sometimes I will put a documentary on a top 10 list if I don't feel that a narrative film managed to wow me enough to make it...and honestly as I type that, I feel like it is the wrong way to go about it. If a documentary is worthy of being on my top 10 list, it should be there.
I think The Last Waltz manages to be one of the greatest documentaries to delve into the world of music...and it is really about music considering most of it is a farewell concert with a few interview pieces carefully placed in.
Thankfully, the interviews manage to be highly insightful to listen to and Scorsese does a great job at filming the concert itself.
While other music-based documentaries would arguably improve upon it (Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense), I do think a lot of those music documentaries that followed owe a debt to The Last Waltz.
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#9 - Halloween
(John Carpenter)
On one hand, you could look at a movie like Halloween and just scoff because it set off so many copycat films and opened the door for some truly horrendous content.
I just think that when watching the original Halloween, one of the biggest things I walk away with is that John Carpenter is a master at crafting a truly eerie atmosphere out of what is essentially nothing.
His musical compositions are so simple but effective; they add so much to the film.
The film does suffer due to some of the acting (even Jamie Lee Curtis has moments that aren't exactly polished), but it is often grounded by the work of Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis.
While a lot of the weak acting is balanced by the cheesier writing of the "lighter" scenes, I think Carpenter's monologues that he gives Loomis are first-rate.
And the key thing about this film that also works in its favor is the lack of gore. It is a film that works so well thanks to its atmosphere and while some may find it boring these days, I will always stand behind the original Halloween as being a defining example of how to do low-budget horror.
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#8 - Dawn of the Dead
(George Romero)
Speaking of low-budget horror...
When it comes to horror sub-genres, I have never been drawn to the "zombie" films.
Most of the ones I do like are more for their stories and how they were made, like 28 Days Later or Shaun of the Dead.
Then you get the Romero content.
I still think the original Night of the Living Dead is a masterpiece of not just "low-budget horror" but horror in general. What Romero was able to accomplish with that budget and in that limited setting was nothing short of revelatory.
That goodwill does extend to Dawn of the Dead.
I do have to admit that I have a certain fondness for these films because they literally hit close to home. I grew up about an hour outside of Pittsburgh and I have been to the Monroeville Mall where this was filmed.
While I love the unintentional stark political commentary that ended up being a primary fixture of Night of the Living Dead, I will also highly praise Romero's use of the zombies in the mall as an allegory for American consumerism. It hits so hard and to think this was even before Reagan took office in the 80s!
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#7 - The Deer Hunter
(Michael Cimino)
"Don't let it be forgot; that once there was a spot; for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot".
It is hard to think of another filmmaker who had such a powerful and acclaimed break-out film only for their success to basically die almost as quickly as it began like Michael Cimino. If you want to learn more about Michael Cimino's downfall from his own personal Camelot, just check out the production of and the eventual release of his 1981 film Heaven's Gate.
The 1970s were the decade of New Hollywood. Younger filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdonavich, Brian de Palma, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola were taking the cinematic world by storm and just as the decade came to a close, it seemed as though Michael Cimino was ready to join the club.
But alas...
At any rate, The Deer Hunter proved that the man did have strong abilities as a filmmaker...and to this day, it packs a punch.
Along with Coming Home, The Deer Hunter was one of the first major films to delve into the Vietnam War as a main theme...even if most of it occurs post-war.
The film contains a truly strong ensemble and while it may not be DeNiro's best work, he is still quite solid. If anything, the film is mostly stolen by Christopher Walken (in an Oscar winning performance as Nicky) and a young actress named Meryl Streep in what was only her second film and first substantial performance. Right away, she shows such grace and vulnerability onscreen and simply put...you just know she's a star.
This is a bleak film...and it made for a worthy Best Picture winner, even if the film I actually would've voted for is going to be a couple notches higher on this list.
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#6 - In a Year of 13 Moons
(Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
I sort of feel like I should be a tad harsher on this film, but I tend to be a little more forgiving due to the time period in which it was made...not to mention, it is very well made in every aspect.
In a Year of 13 Moons is a film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the queer German filmmaker whose films did often dive into homoerotic themes.
Fassbinder was often a director who delved into bleak territory, and in the case of In a Year of 13 Moons, this is him at his most personal and, in some ways, his most bleak.
The film tells the story of Elvira, a trans woman who had undergone the operation to win the full approval of her lover only for them to abandon her. In a sense, you could compare this to Hedwig & The Angry Inch a little bit.
I think where Fassbinder slightly struggles with this one of how some of the trans themes are developed and presented...in some ways, it seems to use the concept of trans people as a means to further unpack other issues. In the end, Elvira isn't truly trans...and this uncertainty certainly plays as more difficult to watch under a modern lens.
Sort of how, to use a less dignified example, on the sitcom Soap, Billy Crystal's "gay" character Jody opts to have a sex-change to appease his closeted football player lover Dennis...and once that ends up not working out, he has the chance to cancel the operation before making a mistake he might regret.
I think why In a Year of 13 Moons does work so strongly is that it works so well in how some viewed trans people in the 70s and also, this was a deeply personal film for Fassbinder as it was his response to the suicide of his lover Armin Meier.
I can see why this film would make people extremely uncomfortable, but I did find it, even for its flaws, to be a beautifully made film.
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#5 - The Tree of Wooden Clogs
(Ermanno Olmi)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs came out at a time when Italian cinema was seen as being on a bit of a decline. This was a decline that would last into the 80s and wouldn't be seen as revived until the 1988 release of Cinema Paradiso.
There are always going to be exceptions to the rule, and I would say that The Tree of Wooden Clogs was a massive exception.
Director Ermanno Olmi is clearly inspired by the famous Neo-realist directors of yesteryear like Roberto Rossellini or Vittorio De Sica but he seems to also be clearly in line with more of the avant-garde directors of his peer group like Andrei Tarkovsky or Werner Herzog.
The films serves as a glimpse into the peasant life of families living in 19th century Italy over the course of a year until an act of trying to provide for one's family leads to an uncertain future.
This is a great example of a film that is not exactly beautiful to look at and yet, it truly is beautiful.
Olmi's details are absolutely exquisite and the results just feel so natural and effortless. It is even more impressive when you realize that a lot of the background actors are real-life farmers. In a way, you could argue it was similar to what Chloe Zhao achieved with Nomadland, but I would say that you will find a far more intriguing film right here.
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#4 - The Meetings of Anna
(Chantal Akerman)
I am very happy to take a moment to praise the work of Chantal Akerman again!
As some of you may recall, there was a lot of buzz back in December about how Akerman's 1975 domestic epic Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles got selected as the greatest film of all time by the BFI's prestigious Sight & Sound Poll.
I was always under the impression that Akerman was a filmmaker felt like the best-kept secret amongst cinephiles and that her work would never get the attention it deserved.
With the newfound praise being lavished onto Jeanne Dielman, my hope is that it will lead other people to check out her other works...particularly what I would consider next best film: The Meetings of Anna.
Although...in some ways...I actually think this film flirts with being better than Jeanne Dielman. Maybe a rewatch is in order.
Anna plays a filmmaker (who you sort of get the sense that Anna is serving as representation for the late Akerman) who is traveling around Europe showcasing her latest work.
A lot of these meetings are encounters with friends and family and strangers. She is often seeking moments of happiness and clarity, but most of these people just seem to brush it off as they view her as someone who is successful and, therefore, shouldn't be complaining. If anything, they view her as being too unavailable in various ways even though she is seeking a deeper enlightenment from them.
It takes for one moment she shares with her mother, the one person who will listen and let her talk without much interference, for us to see the true vulnerability of Anna and how much we wish she could have.
This all leads to an ending scene where she receives messages on her answering machine, and we are left wondering what exactly is going on in Anna's head.
The late Chantal Akerman was bold filmmaker who did a lot to shape what could be appropriate for narrative film...and while she wouldn't have necessarily liked to be called a "feminist" filmmaker, she WAS...at least, she was able to tell stories of women onscreen at a time when many women weren't getting that kind of material to work with.
However, this is the first of 3 films which feature fantastic roles for women.
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#3 - An Unmarried Woman
(Paul Mazursky)
I am always a sucker for a film set in NYC circa 70s/80s, and I feel like as much as I may enjoy the earlier works of Woody Allen, he always seemed to focus solely on some kind of "fantasy" image of the city.
When it comes to a movie like An Unmarried Woman, I feel like Paul Mazursky managed to find a way to capture something of a happy medium with representing the city.
I can recall watching the movie for the first time during a TCM airing around 2002 and my mother making a comment that she seemed to wonder why I would even have an interest in that film.
Truthfully, at that age, it was really all about wanting to see films from that past that year nominated for Oscars (hence why I ended up ranking winners from the Best Picture, Actress, and Supporting Actress categories)...so it wasn't necessarily for any particular interest in the film.
However, this movie about a thirtysomething year-old woman getting walked out on by her husband for a younger woman just worked for me then and still works for me now.
The script and direction by Mazursky are obviously top-notch and he does a splendid job at normalizing great feminist themes and also capturing a world where the idea of casual sex should be acceptable. I think the fact he was able to net Jill Clayburgh to play Erica was one of the great masterstrokes of casting of that entire decade.
I think Jill Clayburgh not winning an Oscar for this performance is an absolute joke. Granted, there is one other actress who was equally worthy (spoiler alert: that film is coming up next), but nevertheless, the fact they gave Jane Fonda a 2nd Oscar for a movie/performance like Coming Home while this went ignored just simply shows how you often have to take awards like that with a grain of salt.
While a movie like Kramer vs. Kramer would come along the following year and sweep the awards as the first major film to focus on a separation/divorce, I think An Unmarried Woman was far more interesting in how it approached a person (a very captivating female presence) dealing with being abandoned.
A true gem in so many ways...and yes, this was the film I would've voted for over The Deer Hunter. Obviously, both were very worthy though.
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#2 - Autumn Sonata
(Ingmar Bergman)
Considering Ingmar Bergman stopped making feature films in the early 80s, I haven't had a chance to discuss him yet in this series...so let me take a moment to just say this.
I have often considered Ingmar Bergman to be my favorite filmmaker of all time. That is a very bold statement for me to make, but I feel like every single film that Bergman made was successful. Even some of his lesser earlier films were still quite good in their own right...but very few filmmakers in history worked at the high level of consistency that Bergman did.
Bergman is one of those filmmakers where if he released a film in a year, chances are that film would easily fall on my top 10. In recent years, only Paul Thomas Anderson has had that kind of high level of consistency (until Licorice Pizza) or to go back to Bergman's contemporary era, Stanley Kubrick, who often gets my vote for the greatest filmmaker in the English language.
Bergman excelled in his stories, his visuals, his framing, and being able to make his performers achieve peak greatness with his material.
Even though his 1982 miniseries Fanny & Alexander only received a theatrical release in the US, Autumn Sonata was technically the final theatrical film of his career. Not surprisingly, this was also a highlight of his career. This film also featured the final theatrical performances of the legendary Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman who...shockingly...had never worked with hm before and also, they were of no relation.
Ms. Bergman gets paired with Mr. Bergman's muse, Liv Ullman and it makes for a truly compelling mother/daughter duo.
Ms. Bergman plays Charlotte, a world-renowned classical pianist who is facing the end of her career. She is invited by her estranged daughter Eva (Ullman) to come visit her in her little village.
They have not seen each other in seven years and she is trying to build a bridge between the two...but they differ as Charlotte opted for a life of grandeur while Eva seems eager to play a devoted wife and mother and friend to those around her.
I actually think Ingrid Bergman gives the finest performance of her career in this...and it is crazy to think that considering she had given us some stellar work during the 40s.
While I would argue that Autumn Sonata might not be on the same level as some of his earlier works, Bergman always managed to balance out a lot of his films based on a particular focus.
He was always good at providing fantastic acting showcases, especially for women at a time where it seemed like women weren't getting anywhere near the same quality roles as men. Autumn Sonata is most definitely an actor driven film...but while those films have the potential to suffer if they may lack in other departments, very few directors could consistently hit it out of the park quite like Ingmar Bergman.
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#1 - Days of Heaven
(Terrence Malick)
Very few directors have the level of intrigue and fascination that Terrence Malick seems to cultivate. A lot of this was due to his reclusive nature where he very rarely ever makes public appearances nor would he grant any kind of interviews.
His status and pedigree rested solely on the quality of his work...and also the legendary gap where he didn't make a film for 20 years.
What I find particularly interesting about Malick is that he is a man of intense wit and intelligence as he received a Rhodes Scholarship which he used to study Philosophy at Oxford.
A lot of themes within his work are rife with analysis that are very prime for philosophy majors...which makes it all the more fascinating that maybe the greatest film of his career was, at its core, a Harlequin romance story.
Days of Heaven is a great example of a film that tells a very simple story but manages to make it feel far more epic thanks to the scope of its direction and its locale.
I personally feel that Days of Heaven is one of the most visually stunning movies ever made, right up there with Barry Lyndon. Sure, visuals alone don't make a movie fantastic...because if that were the case, I would probably praising a movie like The English Patient a hell of a lot more.
There was criticism at the time that some felt the story of Days of Heaven was a little too slight...and in terms of a story, it truly is very straightforward and does flirt with that concept of Harlequin.
Set in 1916, the film revolves around Bill and Abby (Richard Gere and Brooke Adams), who flee Chicago after he accidentally kills his boss in an altercation. They end up working to harvest crops from a wealthy farmer who lives in Texas (hence glorious shots of the Texas landscape), but the farmer (Sam Shepard) falls for Abby so Bill, looking for an easy ride, poses as Abby's brother so that Abby can marry the farmer and inherit his fortune because, as we soon learn, he is terminally ill.
A lot of the film is seen and told from the point of views of Linda, who is the teenage sister of Bill who tags along...and due to this, it gives the film this rather sensitive and delicate approach.
Strangely enough, this was almost out of necessity as Malick struggled for nearly two years to edit his film and make it flow, relying on the narration of actress of Linda Matz to fill in the blanks. Normally I would scoff at such a device, but Malick finds a way to give the film an extra layer with this trope. Her naiveté and innocence in a lot of ways make her seem like a tragic figure who is sadly placed in the middle of a conflict all caused by her brother.
I think where Malick succeeded so well in making a story like this so compelling was making all of the characters "gray" as opposed to black and white heroes and villains.
I wouldn't even necessarily say that the performances are spectacular by any means, but they are well enough to compliment the film strongly...though one aspect that DOES truly make the film feel epic aside from the visuals and direction would be the score by Ennio Morricone.
Aside from featuring Saint-Seans' Aquarium piece during the opening credits (one of those piano pieces you've definitely heard before but probably don't know the name), Morricone crafts a truly lush score that is among his best work.
This is a bit of a drastic example, but I could sort of compare Days of Heaven to Casablanca. It is a film that has a very simple story with some key moments of heightened tension, but it works so deftly thanks to everything working to its highest potential despite not being what some would consider a remarkable feat if maybe it had been led by lesser hands.
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IN CONCLUSION:
Days of Heaven has been something of a stronghold in this #1 spot for many years, and even when I rewatched it recently, I felt confident in that placement.
However, when making this list, I thought a lot about Autumn Sonata, An Unmarried Woman, and The Meetings of Anna.
All four of these films are worthy of a #1 placement for various reasons.
As I stated in my intro, there will be more years I intend to do a feature on in the coming weeks.
Upcoming years to be on the lookout for are:
1968: (55th) - Honestly, I was not planning on going back any further than 1973, but there were some truly great films I wanted to talk about from 1968 so I am going to add it on.
1973: (50th)
1983 (40th)
1993 (30th)
1998 (25th)
2008 (15th)
In my intro, you can find links to the previous years I have done so please check those out if you haven't already.
Until next time, happy viewing!!
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