Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 9, 2015 18:56:20 GMT -5
24. Fanny and Alexander Year: 1982 Director: Ingmar Bergman Writer(s): Ingmar Bergman Starring: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Börje Ahlstedt, Anna Bergman, Gunn Wållgren, Kristina Adolphson, Erland Josephson, Mats Bergman, and Jarl Kulle Studio: Gaumont Country of Origin: Sweden Language: Swedish Running Time: 312 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Very, very, few directors have the luxury of making a magnum opus and then retiring but Ingmar Berman more or less pulled it off when he made Fanny and Alexander in 1982. The Swedish master would live another 25 years, direct a number of stage productions, write some screenplays that other directors helmed, and directed a handful of TV productions, but for all intents and purposes Fanny and Alexander feels like his final word on the cinematic form and a summation of his entire career. Technically a TV mini-series itself, the film runs a good 312 minutes and tells the story of a turn of the century family of theater actors. Much of the film feels in keeping with the director’s prior work from the theater backdrop to the subtle supernatural elements to the presence of a domineering Lutheran minister in the second half, but the film is more than a greatest hits package. The new element is that the film is frequently told from the perspective of two children and their uninformed perspective gives many of the events a unique spin. I could go on and on about the film’s themes, but more than a lot of Bergman films this is just a really good story which spans a number of years and feels almost like a novel at times.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Dec 9, 2015 19:07:39 GMT -5
I really like all the sections with the Lutheran minister. That material is excellent.
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Post by Neverending on Dec 9, 2015 19:14:06 GMT -5
I really like all the sections with the Lutheran minister. That material is excellent. Translation: the rest is shit. |
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Dec 9, 2015 19:17:13 GMT -5
I really like all the sections with the Lutheran minister. That material is excellent. Translation: the rest is shit. I don't think the rest is shit, it's just not as interesting to me. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Dec 9, 2015 19:37:59 GMT -5
25. The Red Shoes Year: 1948 Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Writer(s): Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, and Kieth Winter Starring: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, and Marius Goring Distributor: Eagle-Lion Films Country of Origin: UK Language: English Running Time: 133 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 “Why do you want to dance?” “Why do you want to live.” It would be hard to find a more succinct summation of the heart driving Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece The Red Shoes than that famous exchange. The film, which is set in the world of ballet but could probably just as easily be about any art form, looks at the triumph and the agony of dedicating one’s life to a single craft. Filmed in some especially lush technicolor, the film features some amazingly rendered dance sequences that bring the storytelling of the ballet to the forefront in a way that actual ballet does not. The real meat of the film though is in the backstage drama, where the film’s protagonist is put into a love triangle of sorts where she must choose between the man she loves and her craft as a ballerina. It’s a choice that mirrors the narrative of the ballet at the film’s center and ultimately leads to tragic results. It’s a film about the dark side of creative expression which is probably why it resonates so strongly with filmmakers and why we see echoes of it in so many other movies. One of my favorite movies. I'm always happy when I see people who enjoy it as much as I do. |
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 10, 2015 7:36:10 GMT -5
23. Bicycle Thieves Year: 1948 Director: Vittorio De Sica Writer(s): Vittorio De Sica, Cesare Zavattini, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Gerardo Guerrieri, Oreste Biancoli, and Adolfo Franci Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, and Vittorio Antonucci Studio: Umbrella Entertainment Country of Origin: Italy Language: Italian Running Time: 93 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Great ideas are rarely fully formed right out of the gate and I would argue that that was the case with Italian neo-realism. Few would argue that the film that really kicked off the movement was Roberto Rossellini’s Rome: Open City but to me the movie that really perfected the form was clearly Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. The Neo-Realists sought to use a gritty shooting style to tell down to earth stories about the difficult living conditions of post-war Italy. In this most famous example we watch as a father finally gets a job only to lose it shortly thereafter because the bike he needs for the job is stolen. The rest of the film is an odyssey he undertakes with his son to recover this bicycle and along the way he runs into a number of scenarios that were emblematic of the rough conditions of the time and place. Admittedly, the twist at the end is a bit on the nose, but not every film needs to be subtle and if there was ever a time and place to scream for fairness and decency in the world this was it. It’s remarkable how many movies owe a debt to the neorealists. Pretty much every movie that tries to tell a slice of life story about the lower class is going to be compared to them and Bicycle Thieves is clearly the flagship of the fleet.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 10, 2015 18:37:43 GMT -5
22. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Year: 1920 Director: Robert Wiene Writer(s): Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Fehér, Lil Dagover, and Hans Twardowski Studio: Decla-Bioscop Country of Origin: Germany Language: German Running Time: 71 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 They say that people are blessed to “live in interesting times.” I don’t know that that’s true, most of the people who live in “interesting times” end up suffering in “interesting” ways, but they can be good times to be an artist. That was especially true in the immediate aftermath of the first world war when painters, writers, musicians, and other creative types engaged in exciting ideas like Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism, Dada, and a variety of other artistic movements that are collectively referred to as modernism. In Germany the most famous of these was “expressionism,” which is notable in part because it received more input from filmmakers than a lot of these other styles did, and one of the earliest and most famous of the German expressionist films was Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. More than a lot of other expressionist films you can really see how this movie operates as an extension of a movement in painting, in part because its extensive use of stylized matte paintings and intentionally unrealistic sets really make it look like a semi-abstract painting come to life. It’s probably something that wouldn’t really work outside of the language of silent cinema but it’s very effective here at making the movie look like a nightmare captured on film.
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Post by Neverending on Dec 10, 2015 19:37:17 GMT -5
Dracula REALLY loves silent movies.
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IanTheCool
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Post by IanTheCool on Dec 10, 2015 20:09:11 GMT -5
Dracula: "Why won't all these actors just shut the hell up already??"
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 11, 2015 7:38:41 GMT -5
21. Battleship Potemkin Year: 1925 Director: Sergei Eisenstein Writer(s): Sergei Eisenstein and N.F. Agadzhanova-Shutko Starring: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barksy, and Grigori Aleksandrov Studio: Mosfilm Country of Origin: Soviet Union Language: Russian Running Time: 75 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 There are two sides to film analysis, examination of narrative and examination of form. Looked at from a narrative standpoint Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin isn’t necessarily the easiest movie to defend. It certainly tells a story compellingly, but it is also almost certainly a work of Soviet propaganda which is more interested in pushing the party line than it is in telling the unvarnished truth. It’s really when it comes to the film’s form and style that it more than earned its place in film history. The film was made during a period where Russian filmmakers were heavily experimenting with editing and finding ways to use the montage to create films with great energy and intensity. In the case of Potemkin, the movement’s most famous achievement, that led to some really amazing sequences like the famous Odessa Steps scene. Any director who rejects traditional editing techniques in favor of something a little more visceral, be they Sam Peckinpah or be they Paul Greengrass, owes a bit of a debt to Sergei Eisenstein. Now, I’ve established that this is propaganda, but one must remember the exact historical context in which it was made. This film came out just eight years after the October Revolution and before Stalin took over and started building Gullags. The Soviet experiment was still young and exciting and you can see how this sort of dramatization of the early victories would have been incredibly meaningful to audiences of the time, especially when it’s rendered this amazingly.
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Jibbs
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Post by Jibbs on Dec 11, 2015 9:21:32 GMT -5
We're really into the film school portion now.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Dec 11, 2015 10:35:47 GMT -5
I mean it's not like these aren't excellent choices.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 11, 2015 11:26:08 GMT -5
I told myself from the start that I wasn't going to punish any great movies for being "obvious" choices. Maybe that makes the list a bit more boring but so be it.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Dec 11, 2015 14:09:18 GMT -5
My guess is there's at least on more silent classic that has to show up still.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 11, 2015 18:44:43 GMT -5
20. His Girl Friday Year: 1940 Director: Howard Hawks Writer(s): Charles Lederer Based on: The play "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, and Gene Lockhart Distributor: Columbia Country of Origin: USA Language: English Running Time: 92 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 To me, Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday is the ultimate screwball comedy, and perhaps the ultimate Hollywood comedy of the early sound era. The film is based on a play called “The Front Page” by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, but Charles Lederer’s screenplay notably reworks that source material by making one of the two main characters a woman and having her be the ex-wife of the other main character, which really gives the whole thing a very different dynamic. It also makes the film a very interesting text from a feminist/gender analysis perspective, because it presented audiences with a tough-as-nails female reporter who is professionally the equal of her husband and more than able to take on the cynical world of front page journalism. What’s more, while the film’s central conflict is whether she’ll be marrying a dull insurance salesman or return to her first husband, the real conflict that’s going on there is whether or not she’ll return to her job or become a housewife, and the fact that the film clearly favors the former over the later was a quietly revolutionary concept in 1940. Beyond that though, this is just a really effective comedy. The script has some really amazing rapid-fire dialog that is both entertaining in its chaos and also gives you a good idea of the crazy world that these characters inhabit. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell have great onscreen chemistry in the film, and Russell in particular delivers a really iconic comedic performance that would influence the way “career dames” of the era would be played for decades to come. It’s often easy to underappreciate comedies when making lists like this, but this is one movie that manages to demand respect while still being light on its feet and highly accessible. It’s one of the few comedies of this era that really holds up and would still entertain most audiences today.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Dec 11, 2015 19:44:57 GMT -5
Dracula REALLY loves silent movies. I'm really hoping his next selection is Silent Movie. |
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Dec 11, 2015 20:19:54 GMT -5
His Girl Friday is excellent, easily one of the best screenplays ever written. The dialogue is excellent.
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Post by Neverending on Dec 11, 2015 20:49:37 GMT -5
Dracula REALLY loves silent movies. I'm really hoping his next selection is Silent Movie. Ironically, I'm a bigger fan of Silent Movie than him. |
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Post by Jibbs on Dec 12, 2015 1:18:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I like His Girl Friday.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 12, 2015 9:23:51 GMT -5
19. The Shining
Year: 1980 Director: Stanley Kubrick Writer(s): Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson Based on: The novel "The Shining" by Stephen King Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd Studio: Warner Brothers Country of Origin: USA Language: English Running Time: 144 Minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Some directors like Wes Craven and Eli Roth spend their entire careers trying to make the ultimate horror film, but Stanley Kubrick seemingly managed to do it in what appeared to be a thrown together side-project. Truthfully though, that happens more often than not. Often it takes an outsider like Ridley Scott (Alien) or Steven Spielberg (Jaws) to approach a genre in a new way that sees past the limitations of certain conventions and really make horror into something grander than it so often is. Of course Stanley Kubrick couldn’t be more of an outsider to this genre and the very idea of someone that lofty doing a Stephen King adaptation really is kind of bizarre if you stop and think about it. And yet, Kubrick was indeed able to take this pulpy novel and really craft it into a film that was both genuinely intense and also psychologically rich. The film makes great use of its isolated location to give the viewer a great sense of claustrophobia and to build the tension as Jack Torrance goes further and further off the deep end, and once he finally does become a monster in the second half things get incredibly intense. On top of that, Kubrick manages to fill the movie with puzzles and mysteries, knowing exactly what to leave unexplained in order to give his haunted hotel a mysterious aura and keep the viewer guessing. Many movies would kill to have just one scene as iconic as the Grady Twins or the “here’s Johnny” moment or blood coming out of the elevator or the “all work and no play” moment, but this movie is filled with moments like that and has been terrifying and mystifying audiences in equal measure for thirty-five years.
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Post by Neverending on Dec 12, 2015 11:07:29 GMT -5
Dracula chose The Shining over Raging Bull. I don't... disagree. The Empire Strikes Back Airplane! The Shining The Blues Brothers Raging Bull I know PG Cooper disagrees with the two of us. |
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Post by IanTheCool on Dec 12, 2015 11:29:57 GMT -5
I dont though.
Also, Hist Girl Friday is great. Hope it gets a bluray release some time.
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Post by Neverending on Dec 12, 2015 11:44:09 GMT -5
I wonder if The Shining is Dracula's #1 movie of the 80's or if he's gonna do the right thing and put Amadeus on the list.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Dec 12, 2015 11:50:22 GMT -5
I wonder if The Shining is Dracula's #1 movie of the 80's or if he's gonna do the right thing and put Amadeus on the list. The former. Sorry, I like Amadeus a lot but it ultimately proved to be a little too straightforward to really place. If this were a top 150 it probably would have made it. |
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Post by Neverending on Dec 12, 2015 12:00:32 GMT -5
I like Amadeus a lot but it ultimately proved to be a little too straightforward. |
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