As we continue wading through the mecca that was 1970s cinema, it is kind of hilarious that a year like 1971 would look very strong if it came out in any other decade whereas within the confines of the 70s, it will likely end up on the lower end of the "Best Of" list.
Spoiler alert of sorts, but 1970 was the only year of the 70s that will not have a single 5-star film on its list and even then, I do still think very highly of those films. 1971 will give us three 5-star films, and I am also going to give you 5 Honorable Mentions.
Keeping it a bit brief with the intro, let's see what we are working with today:
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
TAKING OFF
A rather loony effort about two parents who worry about their teenage daughter who ran away from home, only to connect with other parents whose children did the same. It does such a wonderful job at embracing the ideas of generational gaps and trying to make an understanding between them.
Also - a very young Kathy Bates makes an appearance in this!
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BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE
Considered by Queer icon and filmmaker Rainier Werner Fassbinder as the best of his own films, I think Beware of a Holy Whore has managed to be forgotten amongst his catalog. I do agree its very good, but it is also interesting to me what a filmmaker considers to be their best work compared to what most critics and buffs agree with. The meandering and slice-of-life approach of watching a group of actors drunkenly await for their director to finally show up does make for a concept that isn't as dour as Fassbinder could typically get.
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THE HOSPITAL
While not as successful as his 1976 satire Network, there is a lot of promise in the absurdity of The Hospital. I also love that the year following George C. Scott's epic performance in Patton where he snubbed the Oscars for their lunacy, they nominate him again for this marvelous performance.
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THE FRENCH CONNECTION
That year's Best Picture, this is one of those films where I really appreciate that the Academy was able to see a gritty crime thriller and say "Yes. This is an acceptable selection for the best of the year". I am not sure I think of it as highly as that (see my 1970 post for crime films I find a bit more superior). However, Gene Hackman was absolutely fantastic in this...but the man was one of the greatest actors who ever lived and was consistently in peak form. Oh and that legendary car chase scene is legendary for a reason.
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WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
While it wasn't considered a beloved film at the time in terms of its box office or even its critical esteem (except for Roger Ebert, who called the film's eventual status in his original review), I think many of us still hold a fondness for this adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel over the dreadful Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration. Gene Wilder was perfection in this, and it is a shame he couldn't get an Oscar nomination for it.
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#10 - MCCABE & MRS. MILLER
Written & Directed by Robert Altman
Co-written by Brian McKay
Has there ever been a coat more epic than this one? No. No Notes.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller is an interesting film in Altman's filmography and is a key example of how he could be varied in the types of films he would often make. I also would be remiss if I didn't point out that I do admittedly feel less enraptured with it as a lot of people are, but unfortunately Robert Altman is one of those filmmakers I have that experience with quite often.
Set in early 20th Century Washington State, a gambler and gunslinger named John McCabe (Warren Beatty) arrives in town and proceeds to make a name for himself, including opening a brothel. Not long after his arrival, a British madam named Constance Miller (Julie Christie) comes to town and convinces McCabe that she should be running the brothel.
I think a lot of what makes this film work is how captivating Beatty and Christie are together, and it's certainly a beautifully made film in terms of its tech achievements, but I do feel the film suffers a bit from being a bit sluggish at times.
Although, there is one line from the film that always stood out to me as being a "I felt that" moment for me: "I've never felt more alone in a room full of others".
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#9 - FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Directed by Norman Jewison
Written by Joseph Stein
It is no secret that I have a soft spot for musicals, even though I often admit that a lot of musicals are not exactly strong when trying to approach them as reaching the level of a "masterpiece".
However, there are a small handful of musicals I think come close to reaching that level and without question, Fiddler on the Roof is one of them.
There is one clear theme of Fiddler: tradition. The opening number goes into that straight away, but the big tradition that gets challenged is the idea of young woman getting paired up for arranged marriages.
A poor farmer named Tevye (Chaim Topol) and his wife Golde (Norma Crane) have 5 daughters and the plan is for all of them to get paired with a man by the local matchmaker...that is until the two eldest, Tzeitel and Hodel, both fall in love with other men and it leads Tevye to finding ways to justify that tradition is worth breaking. Not that it ends up helping middle daughter Chava in his eyes later on, but hey...the middle child is usually always suffering the Jan Brady Syndrome after all.
While I do think this is a musical that typically plays stronger onstage than it does as a film, I do feel this is one of the strongest stage-to-screen adaptations we will ever get of a Broadway musical. Even though I had seen it prior to this, we were shown the film in one of my middle school music classes and it was received rather warmly in a way by my classmates in a way that still sort of surprises me to this day.
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#8 - KLUTE
Directed by Alan J. Pakula
Written by Andy & Dave Lewis
Perhaps the crown jewel moment of Jane Fonda's illustrious career, Klute sees her in her Oscar winning role as Bree Daniels, a high-class call girl in New York City who may be the stalking of a previous "john" who recently went missing. With the help of Detective Klute (Donald Sutherland), they both go through the process of locating where this man could actually be.
A lot of the vibes in Klute scream of paranoia, particularly with the frequent use of audio tapes at a time when the idea of tapes would become synonymous with the Watergate scandal not long after. Pakula would become rather fond of the idea of these themes and would go on to make two more films that would form something of a "paranoia trilogy": The Parallax View and All The Presidents' Men, with the latter tackling Watergate outright only 2 years following Nixon's resignation.
While I would argue that some of the film's thriller elements may not hit as strongly in hindsight, I do think the work of Fonda and Sutherland makes this film a sublime experience in of itself. Fonda, in particular, is a marvel because even though she is playing a hooker, she doesn't fall under the cliche stereotype of the "hooker with a heart of gold".
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#7 - A NEW LEAF
Written & Directed by Elaine May
Much like Barbara Loden the year prior with Wanda, Elaine May wrote, directed, and starred in A New Leaf...but while she never intended on even acting and especially never directing it, her agent cut a deal with Paramount that she could do all three. In order to skimp by on a budget, Paramount paid May a meager salary of $50,000 on the basis that a first time director wouldn't warrant anything bigger...even though she was acting and wrote the script; a script that Paramount originally was going to pay $200,000 for.
The film was a critical success at the time, but a box office bomb that built up a stronger reputation over time...which is very good to hear as A New Leaf is a comic gem of a film.
When a playboy type named Henry Graham (Walter Matthau) runs out of his wealth, he plots to marry a rich socialite as a means to maintain his lifestyle. After wooing a shy heiress named Henrietta (May), he adamantly insists he control her finances and then begins to plot her murder obtain her fortune. The question is: will he go through with it or will he fall in love with her?
May directs this with such assuredness and honestly that isn't a surprise considering she was a comic mastermind, and it does make me wish that her legacy wasn't considered tainted by the bomb that was Ishtar.
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#6 - THROW AWAY YOUR BOOKS, RALLY IN THE STREETS
Written & Directed by Shuji Terayama
Watching Throw Away Your Books is a far cry from the kind of Japan you saw on film even just a decade prior. There is something both invigorating about it, while also a bit sad when you think about the far more genteel works of Ozu and Naruse.
As Japan descends further into a more materialistic society that would be comparable to that of Western civilization, a young man we only know as "Me" (Hideaki Sasaki) becomes very disillusioned with the world around him and in a lot of ways, the film itself becomes just as disillusioned not just with society like our protagonist but with the idea of art/film itself. A lot of this film takes on such an experimental and avant-garde in its approach that it plays out like a fever dream that would've made Godard likely applaud for a good hour.
While I would argue that the film's usage of sexual assault does border on being a bit exploitative, I also view it as a cold truth on how the idea of sex in a lot of art can be seen as exploitative.
Despite some of its rougher elements, Throw Away Your Books is a cinema at its most punk rock form. It is loud, it is aggressive and progressive, it is highly provocative, and it takes on angst in a very unrelenting manner.
"The film will be over soon, and no one will remember me. When it ends, only the white screen remains."
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#5 - THE EMIGRANTS
Written & Directed by Jan Troell
Co-written by Bengt Forslund
With the presence of Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow, younger me first assumed this was another Ingmar Bergman film.
I will admit that while I have had an extensive history diving into the filmography of Bergman, I have not seen much of Troell's work...and I do think it is a blind spot I should correct as I tend to have a fondness for the moody melancholic filmmakers who hail from Scandinavia.
The Emigrants is based on a novel by Vilhelm Moberg, who followed it with a series of novels about a Swedish family migrating from their native land to 19th century Minnesota. The second novel was also shot concurrently with The Emigrants (known as The New Land) which would come out in 1972...and spoiler alert...it will be making an appearance on that list.
It is no surprise that Ullman and von Sydow, two of the finest actors to ever live, shine brightly in this. What these two can convey with so little is spellbinding. You always hear about how great actors can truly have a world within their eyes to the point that hearing such praise becomes tedious to hear...perhaps as tedious as some claim The Emigrants might be as a film.
I would sit through hours of watching these two act if I could. While von Sydow is no longer with us, Liv Ullman is still alive as of this writing and I feel like she is one of the only performers I could meet that I'd truly feel tongue-tied over. Something about her as an artist feels luminous on a level that is unparalleled. What's even more hilarious is that this is neither her nor von Sydow's best work.
In a way, The Emigrants is one of those films that shows the promise of the American Dream but in hindsight, is even more depressing when you realize how these days, that hope is essentially dead.
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#4 - MURMUR OF THE HEART
Written & Directed by Louis Malle
As a coming-of-age story, Murmur of the Heart is one that doesn't get talked about as often these days but it is one of the more fascinating. It has such a warm and inviting atmosphere set in France of the late 1950s complete with a jazzy score and an effortless feel that makes you feel charmed...and yet...
Murmur of the Heart is presents a story that may be all those things I just stated, but it has a rather provocative undercurrent that leaves truly rethinking everything by the film's end.
Most of the film is seen through the eyes of 14-year-old Laurent (Benoit Ferreux), who is just trying navigate his life and has an obsession with jazz records. His two older brothers decide to take him to a brothel so he can lose his virginity, but not long after, he obtains scarlet fever which leaves him with a heart murmur.
Perhaps the one element of the film that is best remembered for its audacity is when Laurent's mother Clara gets drunk and ends up having sex with him, and while she tells him it'll never happen again, they should never regret it.
I remember when I first read that the film was considered semi-autobiographical, but that Louis Malle stated that he never had sex with his mother. In fact, Clara was apparently based more on a friend's mother than his own...but Malle's glimpse back at his adolescence is very much another example of how open a lot of European cultures were compared to the outright conservatism of 50s America.
Not to say that Wally and the Beaver should have been having sex with June, but still...
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#3 - HAROLD & MAUDE
Directed by Hal Ashby
Written by Colin Higgins
It is amazing what time can do to a film's reputation.
When Harold & Maude was first released, it was a critical and financial disaster. However, art houses would play the film over the next decade or so and it would eventually turn a profit in 1983 and had developed a devout cult following in a more subdued way than other 70s classics like Rocky Horror Picture Show or Eraserhead.
The script was by Colin Higgins, who originally conceived this as his grad school thesis, and he would go on to have a hand in films such as Foul Play and 9 to 5.
Harold (Bud Cort) is a young man who is living a privileged though stifling life by his aloof mother. He takes on a rather morbid fascination with death to the point that he will stage elaborate suicides, attend the funerals of strangers, and he drives a hearse simply because he wants to.
His mom tries to get him into therapy and even tries to set him up on dates and by him a brand new car, but none of that can steer him away from the thrill of mortality...but he then meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a lady pushing 80 who just so happens to be sitting on a stranger's funeral.
While Maude shares Harold's fascination with death, her outlook is far more chipper. She wants to embrace the eccentricities of life and feels that Harold should try to do the same...oh and then they end up falling in love. ;-)
While the idea of a man of his late teens and early 20s falling in love with an octogenarian as they share a fascination with death might be a bit much for some, there is honestly something so freeing and delightful about this darkly beautiful film that I think deserves to be seen by far more people and admittedly, the idea of embracing and enjoying life is something a lot of us should try to do more often.
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#2 - A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
Written & Directed by Stanley Kubrick
The fact I am ranking A Clockwork Orange at #2 is something I didn't think I would do. If you had come to me even a few years ago, I easily would've said this was my favorite film from 1971. Hell, there was a time when I considered this my favorite Stanley Kubrick film.
I wouldn't say that my love of the film has dimmed by any real estimation, but my #1 choice is a film just has a stronger emotional resonance that speaks to me more as I get older.
Imagine if you approached some of the people in Hollywood even just a few years prior and told them that a film about a group of thugs called Droogs who go around futuristic London attacking and raping people would be a Best Picture nominee. The erasure of the Hays Code and the embrace of the darker sensibilities of filmmaking and how swift the change would hit will never cease to amaze me.
As the main character of Alex, Malcolm McDowell is so charismatic and diabolical that he has got to be one of the best examples of a truly despicable character that you are oddly compelled to watch in spite of yourself. We see him and his droogs in action as the film begins but eventually, Alex is captured when one of his victims dies and he is sentenced to prison for murder.
Two years into his sentence, he is approached to take part in a new form of aversion therapy called the Ludovico Technique created by the Minister of the Interior. You are strapped to a chair with your eyes forced open by tiny metal clamps (see above for reference!) and made to watch repeated videos of sex and violence while being injected with drugs. To add to the procedure, they play selections of Beethoven (Alex is an avid listener of classical music) to pair something else he loves with the depravity he once took part it.
How the film focuses on the idea of criminal rehabilitation and how society will still view those who have made that journey is truly fascinating. It is also no surprise that after Alex's mental state faces a downfall in light of society still rejecting him despite now being supposedly "cured", he seems to resort to his old ways.
That last fantasy shot where the idea of having sex while getting applauded by a crowd and declaring "Oh, I was cured alright" then cutting to the credits accompanied by Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain"...a song that if you've seen the film will make you laugh despite its uncomfortable usage...I can't help but adore the dark cheekiness of Kubrick.
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#1 - THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Written by Larry McMurtry w/Bogdanovich
As I have gotten older, my admiration has grown for The Last Picture Show. That isn't to say that I didn't love it before, but it was always the runner-up in my mind to A Clockwork Orange.
What is there to truly say about this one?
For starters, a lot of this ensemble were unknown actors or they were character actors primarily working in theatre and television who hadn't truly had a big break in a film. The only who had any extensive film experience was Ben Johnson, and his gravitas is certainly a powerful asset to the proceedings.
Set in the small town of Anarene, Texas in the early 1950s, our main focus is on two friends: Sonny and Duane (Timothy Bottoms and Jeff Bridges). Both are high school seniors, with Duane dating Jacy (Cybill Shepherd), the most popular girl in school and part of the richest family in town. Sonny breaks up with his girlfriend because he has a secret crush on Jacy.
The setup sounds pretty straightforward enough, as does the fact that these two young men are at a crossroads wondering what their future will be like and if they will ever get out of their dying town. While Duane ponders joining the army, Sonny seems to have more of a bind being formed towards staying in Anarene.
Talking about The Last Picture Show is a bit strange because it does seem very basic on paper, but a lot of what makes this film is the writing paired with Bogdanovich's direction which makes this world feel so rich and real. The black & white cinematography adds to that feeling of being transported back to the past, which for the time was seen as an effective choice as B&W cinematography was viewed as nearly archaic as silent films were at the advent of Talkies. I brought up the ensemble before, but I will say I think this has got to be one of the best ensembles ever put onto film. If the Best Casting category had existed in 1971, The Last Picture Show would've won in a landslide.
For as great as our two leading men are, the supporting cast here shines.
You have Ellen Burstyn as Jacy's mother Lois in the film role that put her on the map; Eileen Brennan, then mostly known for her stage work in musicals like Little Mary Sunshine and Hello Dolly!, as the down-to-earth waitress Genevieve; but the two who really shine are Ben Johnson as local business owner Sam "The Lion" and Cloris Leachman as Ruth Popper.
These two both won the Oscars in their respective Supporting categories and in both cases, I would consider their wins to be among the top 10 in the history of the awards.
Johnson had been mainly known for doing westerns, particularly as a frequent sidekick for John Wayne. Bogdanovich famously pushed and pushed for Johnson to do it, even making the legendary John Ford call him to coerce him. The final plea to Johnson was "You in this part will get you an Academy Award!" to which Johnson replied "All right, I'll do the goddamn thing!".
Johnson's role is actually not super large, but his screen presence is simply majestic in such a sterling way. His monologues give off that rough but warm and wise energy that just make you sit up and listen.
As for Cloris Leachman, her win didn't seem like a foregone conclusion, but if you've seen the film, you know that once it ends, you will likely be thinking of her more than anyone.
Leachman's Ruth Popper is the wife of Sonny's coach, and she feels depressed and neglected to which he ends up sleeping with her...and eventually discarding her. The final scene when Sonny goes back for pity and she finally lets him have it is one of my favorite scenes I have ever seen an actress perform in a film. Her anger, her sadness, and then her capacity to forgive and still almost be a motherly figure to the young guy she had been sleeping with.
It is a fantastic final scene for the film, and the first time I watched it as a young teenager, I wasn't sure how I felt about the film. That final scene left me in awe to the point that I sat on it for a day and then rewatched the film again and grew to respect the journey more.
While something like A Clockwork Orange is a film I have revisited more, not to mention it being made by the true genius of Stanley Kubrick, I feel like The Last Picture Show was an example of a film that could've come off as so banal and somehow become a depressing but glorious work of art that captured a dying rural town of the 50s so beautifully.
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FINAL THOUGHTS:
My response to writing about 1971 kind of surprises me, because strictly from a quality and numbers standpoint, I gave more of these films higher marks compared to those from 1970. I think a lot of it has to simply do with the fact that a fair amount of these films feel more frequently discussed and it is as if I don't have as much to add to the conversation.
Nevertheless, I do love the variety of work we get here and the growing assuredness we see from the English-language filmmakers reaching the heights of seemingly the rest of international cinema.
With that in mind, get ready for 1972 as we are going to get an abundance of riches that make for one of the strongest years for cinema in that decade, which is certainly saying a hell of a lot!
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