It is very fitting that the 70s reached their peak right in the middle of the decade. I already wrote about 1975, which I will have a link for at the end of this post, but the combo of 1974-1975 makes up for quite possibly the strongest one-two punch of cinema in history.
Here's a tally of where we stand in terms of the films that received a 5-star rating in our 70s journey so far:
1970: none
1971: 3
1972: 7
1973: 3
1974: 9...at least.
I really don't try to give out 5-star ratings that easily, but 1974 is one of those years where I am truly in awe and cannot help myself. In addition to my top 10, I will be listing SIX Honorable Mentions instead of five as I couldn't pick one to remove to make a round number.
With that said, let's dive into one of the greatest years in cinematic history.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
THE MAN WHO SLEEPS
A bit of an avant-garde film of sorts, this French outing by Georges Perec follows an unnamed student (Jacques Spiesser) who wanders the streets of Paris as his inner thoughts are narrated by actress Ludmila Mikael...although the English language narration would be done by Shelley Duvall.
Perec's instincts were certainly far more abstract in how he perceived film even to the point that he avoided even trying as he felt filmmaking was too constraining and commercial.
I am admittedly not as familiar with his other works, but I do have to also comments him on such an epic look.
___________________________
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123
In what would be one of the worst nightmares of any New York resident, The Taking of Pelham 123 is about a group of criminals who hijack a train that departed from Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx with the goal of obtaining a $1 million ransom from the city within an hour otherwise they will kill each of the hostages one by one for every minute late.
One little tidbit I do love is that after the film's release the NYC Transit Authority would not schedule a single a train to leave Pelham at 1:23.
_______________
FEMALE TROUBLE
It makes me happy that John Waters' work has gotten a lot of positive critical re-evaluations in recent years for being what could be considered the finest of camp filmmaking.
As Dawn, Waters uses his frequent muse Divine, and I absolutely find them incredible in this...particularly the amazing Christmas scene that opens the film where her parents give her the wrong shoes (she wanted cha-cha heels) which leads her to smash all the presents and causes the Christmas Tree to fall on her mother, who yells out one of my favorite line deliveries ever: "PLEASE, DAWN...NOT ON CHRISTMAS!!!!"
_________________
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
Most people remember the concept of this film being adapted into a sitcom called Alice starring Linda Lavin, but as a rare example of a female-led Martin Scorsese film, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore contains a truly strong Oscar winning performance from Ellen Burstyn...although as you will see later on, I am not sure she should've won for this particular performance considering her chief competition.
However, that's the downside with awards and comparing other performances to ones that can be so drastically different. This still remains the only time Burstyn has won an Oscar, which is a shame considering how stellar she was in Requiem for a Dream, which was the performance of her career.
__________________
BLACK CHRISTMAS
To think that the man who directed a horny teenage sex comedy and an iconic family Christmas film also directed another kind of Christmas film that delved into a darker story.
Black Christmas, much like another film I will be talking about shortly, is one of the earliest examples of the slasher genre and the idea of combining a group of college girls getting murdered in their sorority house with the whimsical twinkling aura of Christmas is such a great contrast.
Maybe otherwise it could be seen as pretty straightforward, but Bob Clark does give this film so much tension and insanely creepy moments.
____________________
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE
Something of an outlier in Brian De Palma's career, Phantom of the Paradise was seen as a failure at the time but gained quite the following in years since. Written as a mix of elements from The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Phantom of the Opera, the film tells the tale of a songwriter named Winslow Leach (William Finley) is forced to sacrifice his life's work to a rather diabolical music producer known as Swan (played by Paul Williams to great effect considering how warm he is typically perceived).
A truly chaotic and creative film that was a highlight in what I have always considered the rather erratic catalog of Brian De Palma.
==============================
#10 - THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Written & Directed by Tobe Hooper
Co-written by Kim Henkel
Placing this one in my top 10 gave me a little pause because it isn't a film I exactly revisit all the time. In fact, I have only seen it in full once.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre can be seen as an early forerunner to the eventual slasher genre that would really take off with the success of Halloween in 1978. The film is credited as originating elements that would go on to be staples within that genre: using power tools as murder weapons, the killer being a man wearing a mask, and "the final girl". I think what really makes me admire it so much is how effective an atmosphere Tobe Hooper achieved with it.
With its very low-budget and grainy cinematography, the film almost comes across as if it were some kind of documentary. Although, Hooper does still give the film cinematic flourishes...such as that great shot where Sally (Marilyn Burns) jumps from the window and the camera is situated on the ground behind her, so we see her land and then start running away. For some reason, that shot always stayed with me.
It is a film that is rough around the edges in the best possible ways, and I think it could be nearly as comparable to effective low-budget horror as Romero's original Night of the Living Dead.
__________________________________
#9 - ALICE IN THE CITIES
Written & Directed by Wim Wenders
Co-written by Veith von Furstenberg
Considering I talked about a particular film of Wim Wenders in the past on my blog, I will go ahead and reference it again. Paris, Texas is one of my all-time favorite films and it is the masterpiece of Wenders' career. So much of that film is achingly beautiful, and when I heard about an earlier film of his that dived into similar themes, I had to check it out.
Alice in the Cities follows Philip Winter (Rudiger Vogler), a writer who loses his job when he cannot complete an assignment about traveling in the United States. After spending time in New York, he quickly boards a flight back to Munich, hoping to salvage his job. While at the airport upon entering Germany, he meets Lisa (Lisa van Dam) and her daughter Alice (Yella Rottlander). They all strike up a quick camaraderie which leads Lisa to ask Philip to watch Alice as she attempts to deal with a recent breakup asking them to meet her in Amsterdam after Philip helped obtain tickets for them.
Lisa doesn't show up on the flight, leaving Alice alone in Philip's care and with very little money left to spare. Philip hopes to get Alice to a grandmother that she barely remembers back in Germany, and they go on a road trip to try locating her.
While there is a clear sense of melancholy here, I also feel the film has so much charm and whimsy. I also think Rottlander's work as the precocious Alice has got to be one of the finest child performances ever captured on film; she's so real and genuine in how she approaches everything.
It is also a film that is very much of its time in that a lot of its story would be easily fixable in today's society, but that honestly isn't a valid criticism. I do think in the grand scheme, this is a truly wonderful film that should be talked about more.
_________________________________
#8 - CELINE & JULIE GO BOATING
Directed by Jacques Rivette
Written by Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier, w/Jacques Rivette
The French New Wave makes yet another appearance here, but it is interesting to see how the films made by those filmmakers evolve as they entered the 1970s.
Jacques Rivette was to me, if I were to compare him to a filmmaker, the Mike Leigh of the New Wave. Leigh is usually known for having scripts that are formed out of improvisational exercises. However, Celine & Julie Go Boating was not a film that fell under this practice. Rivette has said this was a film he meticulously crafted with his co-writers who also just so happened to be his actors.
We meet Julie (Labourier), a librarian with a vibrant imagination who crosses paths with a magician named Celine (Berto). The two of them hit it off and start a bit of a crazy odyssey where both try swapping identities and even becoming something of a Nancy Drew mystery duo as they try to uncover the mysteries of a haunted house.
Celine & Julie Go Boating is so weirdly indulgent in its presentation, but it is so uniquely itself. Perhaps another staple of Rivette is that his films tend to be lengthy as this one is over 3 hours long, and yes perhaps that can be a detriment at times. I will say I likely don't find myself thinking of his films as highly as I do some of his contemporaries, but I do very much love what he does with this one.
It's a very fanciful and imaginative work that I do commend for Rivette and crew taking the swing on.
___________________________
#7 - YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
Written & Directed by Mel Brooks
Co-written by Gene Wilder
Mel Brooks had a banner year in 1974. While he had won the Original Screenplay Oscar for The Producers a few years prior, it felt as though his true legendary prowess for comedy didn't take hold until the one-two punch of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein came out.
While I do admire a lot about Blazing Saddles, I still think that Young Frankenstein remains his finest achievement. The script that he co-wrote with Gene Wilder has got to be one of the best scripts for a comedy ever written and even just the simplest of gags are very humorous.
One that I always loved is when Frederick Frankenstein's Monster comes alive and Wilder proclaims this while Peter Boyle just quietly lays there as if he just woke up from a nap.
So much can be said about this film and all of the bits, from Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman) being the disdain of nearby horses and professing her love of Frederick's grandfather Victor (from the original Frankenstein). Leachman with that violin wailing "Yes. YES! Say it! He VAS...my BOYFRIEND!!"
What an amazing cast all-around. There is Teri Garr as Inga, the eventual love interest that comes between Frederick and his fiancée Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn). Garr has the more comedically written role and she does marvelously with it, but what Madeline Kahn is able to achieve with this role is astonishing. She was one of those actresses who could make any line funny no matter how banal it may be. Plus, her great moment when she sleeps with the monster and when she begins to climax, she bursts into "Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life!"
Oh, and Marty Feldman as Igor! That introduction where he informs Frederick that his name is pronounced EYE-gor and when Frederick says he was told it was Igor and Feldman sassily snipes "Well, they were wrong then weren't they?!"
God, what a comedic masterpiece. And I didn't even mention the great Gene Hackman cameo or the hilarious "Puttin' on the Ritz" dance routine.
_______________________________
#6 - ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL
Written & Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
The 70s were the peak time for Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who makes an appearance on my lists nearly every year of the decade.
Something of a departure from his other works that primarily delve into queer relationships, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul tells the story of a 60-year-old German widow named Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira) who meets a younger man in his late 30s named Ali (El Hedi ben Salem, who just so happened to be Fassbinder's partner at the time). Ali is from Morocco and everything about him intrigues Emmi.
Soon after, they form a friendship that turns into a courtship which then leads to a marriage done at the local civic court. Due to the age gap, not to mention his heritage, Emmi's family dismisses the union and consider it to be a sham.
The amount of vitriol this union receives is painful to witness, and you absolutely loathe those in Emmi's family like her daughter Krista (Irm Hermann) and her husband Eugen (played by Fassbinder). It is sad to watch when Emmi begins to cave under pressure and distance herself from Ali, but the thing about Fassbinder is that you typically expect him to fully embrace a tragic result.
While there is a little bit of ambiguity in the end, you get the sense that Emmi is going to be there for Ali as he is about to undergo surgery and that she will stay for good.
It's about as hopeful an ending you will get from Fassbinder.
___________________________________
#5 - CHINATOWN
Directed by Roman Polanski
Written by Robert Towne
Perhaps the 70s answer to Casablanca in how much its script was readily embraced and heralded, Chinatown also happened to be the last film Roman Polanski directed before his sexual assault allegations led him to flee to France.
Chinatown is a film that is dripping with style. It is somehow gritty and extremely elegant all at once, and when you have that script combined with Polanski's direction and all of the tech aspects, it is a truly glorious experience.
Set in 1930s LA amidst the California Water Wars, a woman named Evelyn Cross-Mulwray hires a private detective named Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) to follow her husband Hollis, who is the chief engineer at the Department of Water & Power. After Hollis is revealed to be having an affair with pictures being plastered in the papers, it turns out the Evelyn in question was an imposter. The real Evelyn (Faye Dunaway) comes forward. When Hollis soon turns up dead, things begin to unravel at an insane rate.
The first time I saw Chinatown, I truly went in almost blind with most of knowledge only being that it was a highly regarded film from the 70s that lost Best Picture and was directed by Roman Polanski, who at the time, just infamously won the Best Director Oscar for 2002's The Pianist.
I am not sure I truly appreciated it on the first watch, despite being rather positive about it, because in many ways, but I also acknowledged that it was a very bold film. I hesitate to even spoil the moment if you haven't seen the film, but the reveal of who the character of Katherine is to Evelyn must have been incredibly jarring to audiences of the 70s.
Chinatown is almost like a grand Shakesperean or Greek tragedy cloaked in the glory of what would become known as "neo-noir". A truly provocative suspense thriller that doesn't hold anything back.
__________________________________
#4 - A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Written & Directed by John Cassavetes
Would I be willing to listen to the belief that Gena Rowlands was the greatest actress who ever lived? Truthfully, yes. She was THAT good.
Rowlands was an actress who never tried to seek superstardom, nor did she even truly try to play the Hollywood game, but she built up a reputation as a great actress. Although in my opinion, calling her a "great actress" is frankly cheap because she was rather transcendent. She always felt so raw and genuine and like she truly poured her soul into everything she did.
For as incredible as she was in other Cassavetes' (her husband) works, I do think A Woman Under the Influence is not just her finest work, but I also would consider it to be among the greatest performances ever captured on film. Rowlands wanted Cassavetes to write a play for her to star in about the many conflicts that women were facing in the country, and when he presented her with the script, she knew it would be too emotionally and physically demanding to tackle 8 times a week, so it became a film.
Her Mabel Longhetti is a ferocious creation, a woman whose psyche seems to be crumbling along with her marriage to Nick (Peter Falk). I do have to sidestep for a moment to say that a role like this must've felt glorious for Peter Falk as it is such a far cry from his work as the titular Columbo. He is a marvel in this, and I do wish he had gotten an Oscar nomination.
I have sat through the film twice, and it is certainly a rewarding experience if you truly want to appreciate a great indie film about what is essentially a domestic drama to the max...but yes, it is also a very complicated and messy film and despite its brilliance, is not exactly the easiest watch.
_________________________________
#3 - THE CONVERSATION
Written & Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola had a banner year in 1974, and there was a time when the edgy film buff in me proclaimed that The Conversation was my favorite film of his. While I don't proclaim that anymore, I still think this film is nearly as masterful as his other film from that year (stay tuned for that).
As that year's Palme d'Or winner at Cannes, The Conversation centers in on Hary Caul (Gene Hackman), a surveillance expert who has been hired to eavesdrop on a couple as they are walking in circles around San Francisco's Union Square. Despite doing evasive work, Harry is intensely private about his personal life and feels that it isn't his responsibility what his clients will do with the audio recordings he obtains. In truth, Harry is racked with guilt as a past job of this caliber led to three people getting killed.
When it comes to mystery thrillers, The Conversation has to be one of the finest I have seen. Even more impressive is Gene Hackman as Harry because I always think of Hackman as an actor who exuded a lot of bravado and machismo in his work...but I mean that in a good way, because he was truly one of the greatest actors to have ever lived. Here, he is so subdued and quietly eccentric that it stands out as such a great departure for him.
I also love the supporting cast here which includes the legendary John Cazale, a young Harrison Ford, and Cindy Williams just 2 years before she began playing Shirley Feeney on Laverne & Shirley.
I do feel like with all the talk that Coppola gets with The Godfather films and Apocalypse Now, I do love when people rope The Conversation into that group because the film is an absolute masterpiece and a beacon of the thriller genre.
____________________________
#2 - SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
Written & Directed by Ingmar Bergman
This isn't the first time I have talked about Scenes from a Marriage on this blog, but I will go ahead and give a little history for those who might not be familiar.
Scenes was originally produced as a 6-episode miniseries that aired in Sweden in 1973 to immense popularity and acclaim to the point that streets would be empty as episodes aired and it also caused divorce rates to skyrocket as couples began working through their issues in a way that felt far more freeing...although a lot have disputed that this was necessarily a major factor.
The miniseries was edited down from roughly 5 hours to 3 hours and released as a theatrical film in the US, much like Bergman's Fanny & Alexander would do a decade later. So, for all intents and purposes, I am going to be basing this off the theatrical version rather than the miniseries. If I am being totally honest though, if I were considering the full miniseries, I would have to say that it is one of my favorites of all time.
Usually when I think about Bergman being my favorite filmmaker, Scenes is one of the biggest reasons why because it is such an honest and genuine viewpoint of us watching a marriage/relationship fall apart over several years.
We have Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson as our couple, Marianne and Johan. It is clear that these two were incredibly trustworthy and fond of each other as friends/colleagues in real life, because the trust/chemistry/bond these two have just makes the entire experience feel so real.
Josephson does such strong work here, but Ullmann's work might be the greatest of her career which is certainly saying a whole hell of a lot. Considering it had been a miniseries first, the film cut was deemed ineligible for the Oscars which is an absolute shame. Frankly, it would've been hard for me as a voter to have to choose between Gena Rowlands and Liv Ullmann. In terms of powerhouse performances, this might be the ultimate battle for me...even though Rowlands still lost the Oscar that night as I already brought up.
I do think this film version works...clearly, because I am putting it at #2 on a year that I have deemed one of the strongest in cinema history...but I will also admit that the miniseries is the best way to see it, and that perhaps it is the idea of it that makes me put it so high here.
_____________________________
#1 - THE GODFATHER PART II
Written & Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Co-written by Mario Puzo
Is The Godfather Part II the greatest sequel ever made? Yes.
Is it better than its predecessor? For me, that is debatable.
As I mentioned when discussing Part I, my late Nan was very much an admirer of this film series, and she always talked about how much she loved Part II to the point where it was her favorite film of all time.
I do think that while the original film might be a smidge better overall, I would argue that this sequel is a bit more engaging and entertaining on a rewatch level. It is certainly the one I have more of an interest in revisiting, so I suppose you can take that as you will.
The sequel/prequel element works well as we flashback to the rise of young Vito Corleone (Robert DeNiro) while witnessing the moralistic downfall of his son Michael (Al Pacino). DeNiro did win the Oscar for Supporting Actor, but Pacino infamously lost to Art Carney for Harry & Tonto which is clearly one of the biggest examples of a career win in Oscar history. Not to mention, Jack Nicholson was in the category for Chinatown and would've made a deserving winner...but speaking of Pacino, it is truly a crime he didn't win for this. Frankly, he should've joined the back-to-back club with Spencer Tracy and Tom Hanks with an Oscar win in 1973 for Serpico and then another in '74 for playing Michael. Hell, I'd even consider giving him a third in '75 for Dog Day Afternoon.
But alas...only one Oscar for 1992's Scent of a Woman which ironically enough was almost as weak of a win as Art Carney's was.
I know awards aren't everything and I am frequently talking about them, but I do think it is a bit bizarre that they nominated Talia Shire for this when she is barely in the film. It's not like Diane Keaton is the film a huge amount of time, but it does boggle the mind that when they went to nominate people, they didn't think about the chilling confrontation with Michael about her abortion. That nomination would've made a lot more sense.
Considering this is what even Coppola considers to be the true end to the saga as he deemed Part III to essentially be an epilogue, I do find the final moments very chilling as Michael watches Fredo get shot on the boat in the middle of Lake Tahoe followed by the flashback of the family showing how far things have fallen leaving Michael to sit all alone, ruminating.
If anything, it just makes the ending of Part III feel no different other than Michael is older. Then again, Part III has been raked over the coals enough, so I suppose there's no point dwelling on that now.
The simple truth is that The Godfather Part II is a masterpiece and as a full saga with its predecessor, it's pretty unparalleled.
================
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This is truly such a stellar year, and I have said that many times and it bears repeating.
As I wrote about Alice in the Cities, I thought to myself "How is this only #9 on this list?!?!" and it always makes me incredibly happy when a year of film is as rich as this. Admittedly, it isn't as common as you might suspect. Off the top of my head, I can't think of many other years that had as many homeruns as 1974...but...as I have stated, I already wrote about 1975 which you can read here.
1975 is somehow even stronger than 1974 in that not only is my entire top 10 filled with 5 star films, but even my #11 is a 5-star film. The year was so strong that I decided to list 8 additional films not as Honorable Mentions.
So, with that, I will get ready to prepare my list for 1976 which does contain a couple of stellar classics, but it will not continue the strength of '74 and '75.
But considering I also wrote about '78 and '79 already, that means 1977 will be the last year of the 70s to discuss! I will gladly say that it has been a joy to do these lists thus far!
No comments:
Post a Comment