1961 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1961.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

And the nominees on the entries from 1961 for every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Splendor in the Grass
Last Year at Marienbad
The Pier
One-Eyed-Jacks
Lola
Breakfast at Tiffany's
La Notte
Jules and Jim
Viridiana
The Ladies Man
Through a Glass Darkly
Chronicle of a Summer
The Hustler
West Side Story

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1961 is…The Hustler

The Hustler

Robert Rossen's The Hustler, based on Walter Tevis's book, is a  showcase for Paul Newman as a pool hustler trying to harness and exploit his talent for the game. The highlights of the film are Newman (as Fast Eddie) playing against the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). But there is much else to recommend this film. One is Eddie's relationship with a troubled woman played by Piper Laurie, an unconventional but believable girlfriend for Eddie. Also effective is George C. Scott as Bert the conniving gambler. It's a nice piece with the black and white photography enhancing the feel of the musty pool room. Newman revived his Fast Eddie role years later in The Color of Money in which he won the Oscar he probably should have won for The Hustler.

The Hustler

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1961 is...Through a Glass Darkly

Through a Glass Darkly

The first leg of Ingmar Bergman's thematic trilogy (Winter Light, The Silence) about love, death, religion, despair, mental illness, belief, God, truth, sexuality and depression. (Not necessarily in that order). Truly a great beginning of a master decade for one of cinema's giants...Warning! It's not the feel good hit of the summer!

Through a Glass Darkly

1957 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1957.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

I really had to bypass some great movies for this year (Throne of Blood, 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory, The Cranes Are Flying). 1957 seems like a most underrated movie year!

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
12 Angry Men
The Seventh Seal
An Affair to Remember
Wild Strawberries
The Nights of Cabiria
Throne of Blood
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Gunfight at the O. K. Corral
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Mother India
The Cranes Are Flying
Paths of Glory
Sweet Smell of Success

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1939 is…The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai is...The Bridge on the River Kwai has got to be ranked as one of the greatest films ever made! At least that’s my initial reaction after seeing it for the first time last night. The question is why did I put off seeing it for over forty years?

I could try to list reasons why you should see it, but I really don’t want others to make the same mistake that I made and procrastinate for years and say “I just don’t feel like watching a three-hour 1950’s war film."

So, instead I will now implement hypnosis techniques I learned from Marshall Sylver’s home hypnosis kit to persuade you in a little stronger way to watch this film if you are for some reason still reluctant.

We begin:

I want you to listen carefully to my voice
as you close your eyes and picture yourself
in a clearing outside a Japanese jungle in 1943.
Do not be concerned, for you are not a prisoner of war,
You are free and just there relaxing, relaxing.

Deeper…deeper…

You hear whistling in the background,
The World War I Colonel Bogey March, I think.
But if that’s too jaunty for our purposes,
just imagine the more tranquil “Fishin’ Hole” theme
from The Andy Griffith Show.

Deeper…Deeper…

If you are a male, four female Thai water carriers
are bringing you fresh sustenance,
If you are a female, you are being brought an extremely dry martini
from a shirtless William Holden.

Deeper…Deeper

You are totally in control
just like Alec Guiness.
But the force is not with you,
because that’s a different movie.

Deeper..Deeper

You are now totally susceptible to the power of suggestion.
And I am suggesting that you watch The Bridge Over the River Kwai,
Now available on DVD and Blue-Ray from Columbia.

Deeper…Deeper.

When I count to three I will give my men the order to fire.
Scratch that.
What I meant to say is when I count to three you will awaken.

One…Two…Three…awake!

I hope you will now enjoy this film as much as I did.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1939 is...The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal is Ingmar Bergman at his most Bergmanesque. Since he is certainly on the short list of my favorite directors, I really I had to include this film about war, love, religion and, of course, death. Some also may not realize that Bergman films always have a dark sense of humor to them as well. So break out your chess board, form a conga line and let's have some fun!

The Seventh Seal

SUMMER WITH MONIKA (1952, SWEDEN), AUTUMN SONATA (1978, SWEDEN)

Summer With Monika

Ah, Ingmar Bergman. The man who brought us a series of Nordic, nihilistic, philosophical films from the 50's to the 80's that many (me included) consider some of the greatest works of art that cinema has ever produced. I had finished watching all the 1001 listings when the earlier Bergman film Summer With Monika popped up one of the updated editions. This story of young love and how youthful adventures can so often be stymied by the realities of the real world is a worthwhile viewing experience for Bergman fans, but I wouldn't put it in the category of his best. I'd start with The Seventh Seal or Winter Light and work my way back. You may even want to start with his uncharacteristically upbeat Smiles of a Summer Night. You probably don't want to start with Persona, though that one wouldn't  isn't a bad place to finish.

I also decided to see Autumn Sonata, one of the later Bergman films and not one that made the 1001 book. It is an emotional masterpiece that has at its center the relationship between a complicated daughter and an even more complicated mother. This story gives no easy answers to who you should sympathize with and that is to the films credit.

From the DVD extras, it's interesting to listen to the director talk about how difficult it was for Bergman (Ingmar) to get the performance out of Bergman (Ingrid) that he wanted. But the end result is as good as you could hope for and I can hardly imagine her ever being better. But let us not forget Liv Ullman as the daughter. Liv and Ingrid are great in their scenes together and this film is highly recommended if you are a fan of complicated family dynamics in your drama.

Autumn Sonata

THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957, SWEDEN)

Warning: If you take a college film class you will probably have to see this film.

Second Warning: Do not confuse with the Demi Moore 80's film The Seventh Sign

Some have said that it is a useful (I think it was critic David Denby) to view classics at different times in your life and though the work remains the same, how it affects you differs according to the stage of your life in which you view it. (See or read it as a whining-school boy, then when you are bearded like a pard and then when you are wearing pantaloons and pouchy…I think my all the world’s a stage speech might be a little off.)

I’ve seen The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet) three times now, in my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. It absolutely blew me away on my first viewing. The second time I saw it, I still thought it was a good film, but not as great as I thought it was initially. This latest viewing, made me think I was right the first time. (Perhaps on my second viewing I had a cold or something.)

Not only is this a movie you should see before you die, I think if you could time it right, this should be the movie you see ON the day you die. (Well, you come up with something more appropriate!)

A brief response to criticism of Bergman

He’s too depressing
There’s much heroism in this film that makes me feel better about the human animal. Besides, you try make a movie set during the Bubonic Plague or the Crusades and see how happy YOU can make it.

He has no sense of humor
The scene where death cuts the performer down from the tree is funny. Also, the knight’s squire and the acting troop performers are very funny. The dumb blacksmith is very, very funny. Give me a minute and I'll come up with a part that's very, very, very funny. What do you want? 1349: The Musical?

His films are boring
I don’t find him boring (Okay, not the greatest of comebacks. Deal with it.)

He's pretentious
Maybe a little.

I wanted to list some of the standout actors in this film and I really feel like listing the entire cast, so just go to IMDB and read the entire cast list for Det sjunde inseglet. I envision them forming a human chain with death leading the way and taking their bows along the way to a thunderous ovation. Well, I’ll list one personal favorite: Gunnar Björnstrand.

I meant to end this blog, but I had to mention what a great scene the procession of sinners and monks who are lashing each other for the sins they committed is.

And...the scene where the devout knight Antonius and secular squire Jons view the buring of the witch from different perspectives.

And...don't forget the scene where most of the cast is introducing themselves so casually to death.

It is finished.