"A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT..." - The Best Films of 1971

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!

“Everyone would like to be different…” - The Best Films of 1970

I told myself when I started these lists of going decade by decade discussing my favorite films from each year that I would stick to that decade until I was done. Needless to say, I already found myself getting bored writing about the 2010s (it DOES get better later on but I don't want to do the years out of order).

So yeah, I am not on assignment. I am not making my living writing this blog...though one can dream...so I shall proceed to talk about a decade that will thrill me: the 1970s.

I have said many times on this blog that I consider the 70s to be the pinnacle of cinema. While international cinema did experience a glorious boom in the years following WWII and through the 60s, I think many a film historian/critic/buff would argue that the 70s would be when Hollywood finally caught up to the trend. 

Although ironically enough, 1970 as a year for film will not measure up to most of the other years. I have already talked about four years of film from this decade, so I only have 6 years to discuss which feels less daunting. Here are the links to those posts:

1973

1975

1978

1979

When it comes to the inaugural year of the decade, 1970 is still a year when international cinema dominates compared to Hollywood...but we do see glimmers of that gritty, indie vibe that would become more synonymous with the decade as it goes by. 

I will say that I had about 9 films that I selected pretty easily for the list, and then I had 3 more that battled it out for the 10th spot. The two films that missed out were M*A*S*H, which I have always liked but wouldn't say I loved it as much as some. I didn't even get into the TV series, if I am being honest...but I am admittedly not the most passionate fan of some of Altman's works, so I guess it isn't a surprise.

I also considered Loving, which does share a title with the non-related 2016 film which delved into the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case about interracial marriage. However, this Loving is about a cad of a man named Brooks (George Segal) who is balancing his career, his family, and a mistress...and while maybe not a stunning film, I do appreciate the energy and think that it was a great showcase for Segal.

I will also admit that on a 5-star scale, none of these reach that status. Instead, all of these films receive a 4.5 rating for me, except for my #10 slot which gets a 4/5. But for my #10 slot, I did choose a film that maybe I wouldn't rewatch anytime soon but is saved greatly by its leading man.

#10 - PATTON

Directed by Franklin J. Schnaffner

Written by Francis Ford Coppola & Edmund H. North

I think a lot of the legend of Patton comes from the iconic opening scene depicted in the photo above of George C. Scott standing in front of the American flag giving that speech with the immortal line "Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser".

Scott was also one of those actors who vehemently hated the idea of awards shows and pitting artists against each other, which frankly, good on him. He had every intention of declining the award if he won, but he was still expected to take it. When Goldie Hawn opened the envelope to announce the winner, she famously said, "Oh my god...the winner is...George C. Scott in Patton" and then broke into a gale of laughter. 

I suppose I hold a bit of a sentimental love for Scott as an actor, because I associate him a lot with my late grandfather. This isn't due to any kind of resemblance or demeanor, but he was a huge fan of A Christmas Carol as an artistic property, and he loved Scott's version from 1984 the most. To this day, I do consider that my favorite dramatic version of the piece because as a 90s kid, I do hold a fondness for The Muppet Christmas Carol. 

As a film, Patton is handsomely made...maybe a bit stuffy and a little bloated thanks to its running time, but it is that George C. Scott performance as the legendary WWII General George S. Patton that sees you through. It also doesn't hurt that Jerry Goldsmith's militant score is thrilling as well, but I can honestly see why the film hasn't been embraced as the years have gone by.

It isn't a film I necessarily LOVE, but that central performance is first rate and if Oscars are going to exist, I am glad George C. Scott has one. Hell, he should've been nominated and taken the win for Supporting Actor six years prior for Dr. Strangelove.

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#9 - THE BOYS IN THE BAND 

Directed by William Fredkin

Written by Mart Crowley

Considering it is 1970 and the idea surrounding homosexuality was viewed as abominable by most, it was rather remarkable that something like The Boys in the Band got made.

The story is simple: a group of gay friends meet up at Michael's (Kenneth Nelson) Upper East Side apartment to prepare a birthday party for Harold (Leonard Frey), who shows up at the party with Alan (Peter White), a man he claims is a super conservative straight man and that everyone needs to keep their flaming tendencies in check. 

There has been a fair amount of vitriol spewed at the film from the gay community, and I will admit that I totally understand that sentiment. While it is clearly a film that was groundbreaking in giving characters like these a voice and a platform, it also presented them in a light that was rather maudlin. Michael Klemm wrote in Cinema Queer that the final results were simply "gay men wallowing in self-pity". You could even argue that it presents this lifestyle as a cautionary tale, but to be frank, I sort of forgive the film (and original play also by Crowley) for how it is presented. 

Has it aged well in some ways? I would say no. However, it works as a rather dreary snapshot of a time when these people were living the life they chose knowing that the overwhelming majority considered them vile.

So no, it isn't exactly perfect, but I do think Fredkin and this ensemble capture such a vibe for the time. It also doesn't hurt that the film begins with that great montage set to Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" that blends into a cover by Harpers Bizarre that put me under a spell right away when I first saw it.

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#8 - DONKEY SKIN

Written & Directed by Jacques Demy

When it comes to the filmmakers who helped shape the iconic French New Wave, I think it is safe to say that the work of Jacques Demy that took on a more vibrant and decadent approach. In some ways, you could argue that he had a certain whimsy to that of Federico Fellini.

While most known for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort (and yes, I do prefer those films), you never really hear Donkey Skin being discussed in the same breath, but it is honestly a fascinating film in how it blends it musicality with romance and fantasy and comedy...especially when you consider what the film's main storyline. 

Demy's muse, Catherine Deneuve, plays a queen and her daughter. When the Queen is dying, she asks her husband the King (Jean Marais) that if he were to remarry, he must marry someone who is at her level. His advisers are quick to push him to remarry and produce another heir.

However, he has something else in mind. The only way to truly find a woman as beautiful as the Queen would be to marry someone who is of the same ilk: their own daughter, the Princess.

With the help of a fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig, Jeanne Dielman herself!), she goes into disguise to try to prevent herself from actually having to marry her own father.

So yeah...incest...

It is crazy to think that this is actually based on a real-life fairytale of the same name that was written in 1695 by Charles Perrault...and that it all turns into such a strikingly gorgeous piece of work. 

This is simply one of those films I don't quite know how it works, but it does. Demy was a master, Deneuve is one of the most compelling actresses to ever grace the screen, and in terms of visual aesthetics, you could always turn to work of Demy to find the most sumptuous offerings.

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#7 - WANDA 

Written & Directed by Barbara Loden

"If you don't have anything, then you're nothing. You may as well be dead. You're not even a citizen of the United States".

When thinking about the history of women becoming filmmakers, a lot of them owe a debt to pioneers such as Barbara Loden. She had worked as an actress steadily for years and happened to be married to legendary film and theatre director (and whistleblowing jackass) Elia Kazan. She felt compelled to create this film born out of her own feelings of boredom and reading about a woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for participating in a bank robbery.

Kazan had stated he wrote the original script, but Loden stepped in and rewrote it many times to the point it was pretty much her own creation. 

Set in rural Pennsylvania in the Scranton/Poconos area then booming with the anthracite industry, we meet Wanda (whom Loden also plays). She has left her husband and is ready to completely start over fresh to the point that she even relinquishes all rights to her children to him.

Wanda aimlessly moves around and intends to run away again with a man with she had a one-night stand with only for him to abandon her at an ice cream parlor. She is also robbed of everything after falling asleep in a movie theater...but things take an interesting turn when at a bar, she clings to an older man named Norman Dennis (Michael Higgins) who just so happens to be planning to rob the bar. He then proceeds to take her as an accomplice.

When Wanda was released, many prominent female film critics such as Judith Krist and Paulene Kael both trashed the film as being insufferable due to the character of Wanda being relentlessly unsympathetic and stupid. Loden herself called them out as likely being jealous for even having the opportunity for this kind of artistic expression. 

A truly bleak but captivating film and it is a shame that Loden died so young just a decade after the film's release of breast cancer. I would've loved for her to have more of an opportunity to grow as an artist.

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#6 - THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE 

Written & Directed by Dario Argento

Considered the Grandfather of the Giallo, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was the film that put Italian filmmaker Dario Argento on the map. 

Dripping with excessive style and violence and often eroticism to boot, the “giallo” (yellow) sub-genre of horror would be something of a forerunner to what would eventually become the Slasher…albeit maybe done with a bit more taste and class.

Tony Musante stars as Sam, an American writer who is vacationing in Rome with his model girlfriend (Suzy Kendall) who becomes determined to uncover the identity of a serial killer who is targeting young woman around the city when he sees a black figure attack a young woman in an alleyway.

Some critics, such as Roger Ebert who could be surprisingly receptive to horror films, liked the film but tried to compare it unfavorably to the works of Hitchcock. I do think this is a little unfair to both parties as Hitchcock was essentially making films under a whole other censorship system (Frenzy notwithstanding), while Argento was coming in at a time where it seemed as though a more liberal approach to what you could put on the screen and get away with.

I often don’t think as much about the giallo period, but I do think I ought to give credit where credit is due…and of course, Argento would strike pay dirt a few years later with arguably the most iconic film of his career: Suspiria.

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#5 - DEEP END

Written & Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski

Co-written by Jerzy Gruza & Boleslaw Sulik

When it comes to Polish filmmakers, I will often go on and on about Krzysztof Kieslowski as I consider him one of the finest to ever make a film.

In terms of name recognition, I would say his closest peer would be Jerzy Skolimowski, but I have never been as passionate about his works as they often leave me cold or I'll say "yeah, that was good".

Deep End is usually the one I consider to be the exception, and it happened to be Skolimowski's first real foray into English language filmmaking. 

Set in London, a 15-year-old named Mike (John Moulder-Brown) is hired to work at a bathhouse where he is trained by Susan (Jane Asher). Mike wasn't aware that it is expected of him to help serve the female clients that come in, which he at first feels a bit violated about...that is until he zeroes in on winning the affections of Susan.

When Paul Thomas Anderson made Licorice Pizza back in 2021, I couldn't help but notice the parallel of a 15-year-old boy pining for a 25-year-old woman. The difference is that PTA's film took on an aimless and frivolous approach while Deep End takes on an approach that clearly lives up to its title.

This is a darker trip into the mind of infatuation as Mike's obsession is essentially a snap in his psychosis, where he will not consider any other kind of romantic or intimate prospect with anyone else; he only wants Susan. 

The film is a little disjointed, to be sure, and can feel a bit like you're experiencing whiplash between the dark comedy that slips into creepier territory. It manages to still work for the most part, especially with the stellar performances, and also the score with selections by Cat Stevens.

You could say this was the time of Free Love, but unfortunately for Mike & Susan, it will cost them both.

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#4 - FIVE EASY PIECES

Directed by Bob Rafelson

Written by Carole Eastman

Shining like a beacon in what would be called the "New Hollywood" era of the late 60s into the 70s, Five Easy Pieces is one of those early glimpses into what we could see coming out of our own country.

Jack Nicholson had been a Supporting Actor nominee the year prior for Easy Rider where he made a very strong impression with his sly and mercurial personality...so it isn't a surprise that he got snatched up to lead a film not long after.

Five Easy Pieces is the film where we truly see what made Jack Nicholson such a compelling performer. He plays Bobby Dupea, an oil rig worker who is resentful of his life after having had a privileged youth as a piano prodigy.

He learns that his father is dying and decides to make the road trip back to Washington with his girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black), who dreams of one day becoming a country music singer. However, his family's upper-class background makes him nervous about bringing Rayette into their orbit.

Most people remember the diner scene in which Jack Nicholson spars with a waitress that ends with him telling her to hold the chicken "between her knees" and him swiftly brushing all the contents of the table before departing the diner. Yes, this scene is pretty iconic for a reason, and it is one of those indelible moments that just SCREAMS Jack Nicholson....but this film is so much more than that scene.

As a character study for self-loathing and alienation and hiding from your past (and present), Five Easy Pieces is a sneakily heartbreaking and devastating film...but it also somehow doesn't play as bleak as it could've. Having Nicholson play Bobby was a divine piece of casting, plus Karen Black was such an underrated actress who deserved a better career.

Of the actual nominees at the Oscars that year, Five Easy Pieces should've won the top prize. I can concede to George C. Scott beating Nickelson but honestly, he would've been equally worthy.   

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#3 - LE CERCLE ROUGE 

Written & Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville

I can't say that I am necessarily drawn to heist films, but I would be willing to claim that Le Cercle Rouge is my favorite of that subgenre. Of all the auteurs of the French New Wave, Jean-Pierre Melville was the one who was very adept at crime thrillers as his "niche".

A prisoner named Corey (Alain Delon) is released from a Marseille prison for good behavior but manages to hear from a warden about a very lucrative jewelry shop in Paris that could be prime to rob. He then begins his journey to Paris, complete with robbing a former associate of his that he is no longer friendly with in order to obtain an inauspicious American made car to drive there. 

On the commute, Corey encounters an escaped convict named Vogel (Gian Maria Volonte)) who had been commuting by train from Marseille to Paris to be interrogated by the very renowned Commissaire Mattei (Andre Bourvil), and eventually the two recruit an alcoholic ex-policeman named Jansen (Yves Montand) to join the heist.

I find myself not having a ton of rhapsodic things to say about Le Cercle Rouge, but that is clearly not due to lack of love or admiration of the film as it is officially a top 3 selection for this list.

I think the reason for that is I think it is one of those films that is hard to really talk about because on paper, it seems so simple and relatively inconsequential. This is one of those films that just has to be experienced for its presentation as Melville's pared-down script and slick direction are done with such intricate care that gives such a chilly vibe that makes you remain alert and intrigued. Everything about the film feels cold in how it looks and presents itself...and then you have the heist scene itself, which is roughly a half hour in length and contains barely any spoken dialogue. 

I think one thing about the French that I admire as artists is that even when they are making grittier films, they still somehow make the final product so fucking elegant. Melville may not be spoken of as frequently as Truffaut, Godard, or Demy but he really had these gritty crime films down pat. 

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#2 - THE CONFORMIST

Written & Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci 

Whoever thought that a glimpse into the world of a Fascist functionary would be so stunningly beautiful to look at...but hey, I guess that's what you get when you have Vittorio Storaro as your cinematographer.

In what is likely Bernardo Bertolucci's best work, The Conformist tells the story of Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), the aforementioned Fascist functionary under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. He is ordered to assassinate his former university professor Luca Quadri, who is an avid anti-Fascist. Marcello is married to Giulia (Stefania Sandrelli), but when he gets closer to getting Quadri, he falls madly in love with his wife Anna (Dominique Sanda). 

A lot of the film beyond this is told via flashbacks leading up to the events surrounding the assassination plot which actually greatly inspired Francis Ford Coppola as he was making The Godfather Part II. A scene in The Conformist involving Dominique Sanda running through a snowy forest was the inspiration for the oft discussed and debated Sopranos episode "Pine Barrens". 

There is honestly a lot to love about The Conformist. In many ways, Bertolucci, who was only 30 at the time, made a film that truly had a distinctive voice, but it also had the glorious flair of Fellini while being as gritty as the works of filmmakers like Melville.

As I brought up at the beginning, this is a truly stunning film visually. The use of light, color, and shadow is so enrapturing that even in moments where not a lot of coloring or shadow are being used, the cinematography is still very rich and vibrant. Just look at the pic I provided!

While the film did have its detractors for being a bit "all style, no substance", I disagree with that sentiment. I really appreciate how lived in, but heightened this world is and how even if a lot of its themes may be a bit on the nose and not rife enough for deep analysis, the film simply just works.

As long as you can present the story efficiently and with immense skill, that is quite the effort in of itself.

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#1 - INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION

Written & Directed by Elio Petri

Co-written by Ugo Pirro

This is a film that I can't help but get infuriated by while also being so enamored and captivated by the sheer level of cocky bravado and sleezy injustice on display.

Gian Maria Volonte, whom you may remember from Le Cercle Rouge, plays a recently promoted police inspector that we only know by his nickname: "Il Dottore" (The Doctor). With his new level of power, he decides he wants to try his hand at testing those waters.

He is seeing a woman that's married to a gay man, but he ends up killing her and does what he can to cover up his involvement in the crime. Due to his new lofty law status, he inserts him into the investigation framing her gay husband and also a radical leftist.

So, with all of this power and the ability to do everything to swiftly clean up his involvement in the crime, will Il Dottore manage to get away with it, or will others find out about the crime, or we will he succumb to his own guilt?

When the film premiered at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, it was praised for how bluntly it depicted police corruption and how easy it would be for that group to commit crimes and get away with them. The superiority complex we witness with Volonte's Il Dottore is certainly presented with a dark satirical element, but it also feels brutal to think about through today's modern lens. 

Seeing corrupt police officers face their comeuppance, just like anyone of power who abuses their authority, is something I think most of us can't help but enjoy witnessing. I think the amazing thing about Investigation is how we watch the film progress and take a morbid fascination in his sadistic corruption, but then all we are left with by the end is an existential parable that makes you sit and ponder everything you just witnessed.

The film ends with a quote by Franz Kafka: 

"Whatever impression he may seem to us, he is yet a servant of the Law; that is, he belongs to the Law and as such is set beyond human judgment".

A fascinating and troubling film all at once.

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

Even if I may not have given any of these a 5-star rating, I do think pretty highly of all of these films. Perhaps Patton is a bit of a holdout, but I opted to go for what worked about it in the long run. 

Although, we are going to be seeing a pretty big shift once we get into 1971. Not to spoil anything before that post is even up for grabs, but it will be a list that is primarily dominated by English-language films which feels like a real switch up for this time period. In fact, the top 2 films for 1971 are so close in admiration for me that I truly don't know what I will name as #1 at the moment. 

Stay tuned for 1971!

THE NEW WAVE IS ALIVE & WELL & LIVING ON NETFLIX - My Quick Review of Richard Linklater's NOUVELLE VAGUE

 Might I be a tad pretentious?

If you watched my face react to each reveal of these titans who were part of one of the true great movements of worldwide cinema, you might compare it to someone who was reeling over an Avengers movie. But no...this movement I speak of is what was known in France as Nouvelle Vague or as we call it: The French New Wave. 

An era that began in the late 50s and lasted through the 60s, the term had been coined by the legendary film magazine Cahiers du cinema to essentially describe the work that many of its own writers would go on to create themselves.

You could argue that the shots were fired in 1954 by one its premiere writers, a man by the name of Francois Truffaut. This piece entitled Une certaine tendance du cinéma françai challenged the French film community for their overreliance on unimaginative works based around literary adaptations.

The idea of the movement was to take risks and explore what film could actually be. Experimentation and iconoclasm were the themes du jour, the cinematography and editing would be scrappy and immersive, and embracing existentialism would be welcomed at the expense of something that might be deemed easily accessible or palatable. 

This isn't to say the cinematic aesthetic of the New Wave was that unusual. Italian Neorealism, namely the works of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, certainly showed a grittier edge that would give way to the New Wave. You could argue that the major difference is that the gritty realism of those films gave way to a certain allure among the streets of Paris. 

In fact, there was one American film that Truffaut singled out as being key to capturing the vibe of the New Wave: 1953's Little Fugitive, a film I had seen as a young boy about a kid who ran away from his Brooklyn apartment to Coney Island due to a vicious prank by his older brother and his friends.

Film may be a visual medium, but while these smaller films may lack the sweeping shots of epics of the era like Giant or Lawrence of Arabia, there is something so exciting and vibrant and edgy about how a lot of these films were presented...even when they would eventually be presented in glorious color a la Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. 

While Claude Chabrol's 1958 film Le Beau Serge is usually seen as the first film released in the Nouvelle Vague mold (Agnes Varda's 1955 film La Pointe Courte would not get a commercial release until decades later), it was Francois Truffaut's 1959 masterpiece The 400 Blows that would put the movement on an international scale...and it is that release that begins Linklater's film. 

The 400 Blows is considered to be a masterpiece by everyone within the community...and it truly was. I do consider it to be one of my favorite films of all time, and it is the film I most associate with the movement for that reason. However, there was one critic writing for Cahiers who felt like he was falling behind and he wanted his chance to make his own film following the rapturous plaudits that Truffaut was receiving: Jean-Luc Godard. 

Considering the kind of filmmaker and cultural figure Godard would become, even up to his death in 2022, it does seem crazy to think about his beginnings with Breathless, his 1960 debut film that would further cement the reputation of this group.

Breathless was a film that starred Jean-Paul Belmondo as gangster-loving criminal Michel and Jean Seberg as an American who sells the New York Daily Tribune on the streets of Paris. In Nouvelle Vague, Belmondo is played by Aubry Dullin and Seberg is played by Zoey Deutch. 

These two, along with Guillaume Marbeck as Godard and Adrien Rouyard as Truffaut, are practically overwhelming at capturing the vibe and essence of these legends.

In fact, Zoey Deutch is pretty much a revelation here as Seberg, who has got to be one of the coolest actresses to have ever lived, and she brings her to life in a way that feels like a rare case of an actress truly disappearing into the role. In a just world, I would love to see her in the Oscar conversation. 

I feel like a lot of this review has been more in line with being a history lesson, but a lot of that is due to the fact that this is simply one of those films with a subject matter that truly invigorated me. 

The idea of watching a film that recreates the behind-the-scenes development of one of the most influential films ever made might seem a bit like a tall order that borders on the indulgent...and perhaps that might be true to an extent.

I wouldn't say that Nouvelle Vague is a masterpiece nor a film that I would necessarily revisit regularly, but I found it to be a remarkable love letter to an era of films that I have adored for most of my film buff life.

Richard Linklater has had a great year when you take into account the truly wonderful character study he gave us with Blue Moon, but with Nouvelle Vague, he made early 60s Paris come to life again and I loved being in the world of these icons by proxy of these artists. 

The hilarious thing is that Linklater is basically known as a master of the "hangout film" and in a lot of ways, this film has that vibe as we watch these genius artists reinvent the artform. Maybe this film doesn't reinvent anything necessarily, but I love it for all of the joyous emotions it made this snobby film lover feel.

NOUVELLE VAGUE

Rating: 8.5/10

A Heist Fit for a Tortoise: My Quick Review of Kelly Reichardt's THE MASTERMIND

 Why do some films succeed?

Why do some films fail?

Why do some leave you feeling...unsure of what to feel? Maybe that uncertainty is due to discomfort with the topic at hand or even just a sense of bewilderment at how the content is presented.

Nothing about The Mastermind is a failure, nothing about is uncomfortable, but I wouldn't necessarily say it succeeds. The work of Kelly Reichardt is actually an interesting case for me, because she is one of those filmmakers who hasn't exactly had a mainstream breakthrough...not that I suspect she wants one. I don't think I've ever talked about her on this blog before, and I figured this would be the perfect time to do so considering she is the kind of filmmaker whose work I greatly admire, but don't really connect with. 

Reichardt is one of those filmmakers who specializes in the art of "slow cinema", and if you aren't familiar with the term, you can likely make an educated guess as to what that might be. 

If you were to look it up on Wikipedia, this is what you would find:

Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterized by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.^[1][2] It is sometimes called contemplative cinema.^[3]

Reichardt, in particular, is a filmmaker who is very minimalist which in of itself is something to admire in a filmmaker. She loves tackling works that deal with people in their everyday lives, often with a subtle subversive slant. Perhaps it would be an understatement to say that the idea of her doing a heist film was not what I had on my 2025 Cinema bingo card. 

The Mastermind is set in 1970 Massachusetts with an unemployed man named named J.B. (Josh O'Connor) who has a wife named Terri (Alana Haim) and two sons. He repeatedly asks his parents (Hope Davis and Bill Camp) for money, but both are getting fed up with him. He uses a ruse of needing money to set up a potential gig to milk more money out of his mother, but the reality is he wants the money to pay three men to help him pull off a heist: stealing 4 Arthur Dove paintings from a small Framingham art museum. 

For a heist film, you could say that doing one with Reichardt's typical quiet and methodical pace is a game changer for the genre...and I have to admit that I do admire that about it, but I will also readily admit that it was hard to truly care as deeply while watching it. 

Josh O'Connor is thankfully such a fascinating and charming and compelling actor, and it is no wonder why filmmakers keep wanting to work with him after his stellar work as Charles on seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown. Ever since then, he has shown so much versatility from film to film. Not only is this the same guy who was making out with Mike Faist in Challengers but he has FOUR films in 2025, including his leading role opposite Daniel Craig in the latest Knives Out installment that are all distinctive and lived in and varied. 

Beyond that, I have to commend Reichardt for her world building because the setting/scenery combined with the luscious sepia-tinted cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt and the exquisite jazz-infused score by Rob Mazurek. In terms of those visual (and audible) aesthetics, I might actually consider this to be Reichardt's most invigorating film...but I am not sure it comes close to being the film I connected with most emotionally compared to something like Certain Women. 

In the end, I find myself wishing there was more bite to The Mastermind but I still keep thinking about it and I still expect Reichardt to one day truly wow me with one of her works. I am not sure the full package has been prepared just yet.

I came across a review on Letterboxd that proclaimed this was the first heist film that could "put you to sleep". No, I didn't fall asleep, but I can't argue that this is not a film for everyone. It is a very delicate balance when making a film with this kind of methodical pacing. 

It has its merits, but it still leaves me on the other end of the velvet robe at a distance from the work at hand.

THE MASTERMIND

Rating: 6/10