Decades of Cinema - 10 Best of the 1970's

If you missed my previous decades lists you can find the 1920's here, the 1930's here, the 1940's here, the 1950's here, and the 1960's here. On we go to the 1970's, here are my ten favorite films from a remarkable decade.

10. Badlands

My man Terrence Malick, who crafted my favorite film of all time makes the list here with his incredible debut Badlands. The story of a teenage girl who gets swept up in a romance with the much older Kit, a man doing his best James Dean impression, and what results when they run away together is a killing spree spread across the badlands in South Dakota. Truly one of the most impressive debuts I have seen.

9. Jaws

How much really needs to be said about Jaws? It is iconic cinema and if the 1970's weren't so loaded with amazing movies, you would find this much higher than 9th considering it resides in my 100 favorite films of all time list. It is the film that made people afraid to go in the water.

8. Autumn Sonata

I only recently watched Autumn Sonata for the very first time and yet here it is, in my top 10 of arguably the finest decade of films ever. It's that great. Yet again Ingmar Bergman finds his way into these lists and with good reason. Brilliantly performed, powerful cinema that is impossible to shake after it ends, Autumn Sonata is simply masterful.

7. The Spirit of the Beehive

Do you see that look on the face of the little girl above? That was me while I watched The Spirit of the Beehive, a lyrical and spellbinding film about a young child who attends a screening in her town of Frankenstein and becomes fascinated with the monster portrayed. The Spirit of the Beehive takes place during the Spanish civil war and the imagination of a child is a form of escape for a mind too young to process the chaos around her. Guillermo del Toro declared this to be one of his all time favorite films and it obviously served as the inspiration for his very own masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth. 

6. Stalker

Stalker infected my brain both during and after I watched it and I couldn't let go of how brilliant and confounding of an experience it is. Seriously, if you have ever wondered why Andrei Tarkovsky is regarded as one of the finest auteurs since the medium of film was created, sit back and just let the oddness and beauty of Stalker totally envelop you. It is artistic, soulful, weird and haunting stuff.

5. Halloween

It's easy to freak people out when inside a world shrouded in darkness and shadows, and John Carpenter utilizes those factors with brilliance as well, but you know what else he does? He makes walking down the street on a bright, normal afternoon terrifying as well. Halloween is an absolutely incredible horror film that reminds us that pure evil not only exists, it can be roaming nearby under any circumstances.

4. Alien

I had the opportunity to see Alien at the beautiful old fashioned Tivoli theater in Downers Grove last year for the films 35th anniversary, a special midnight screening and it was an experience I will never forget. So many excited fathers ready to show their teenage sons what the phrase "In space, no one can hear you scream." really means, the place packed with eager cinema lovers ready to experience the nostalgic glow of one of their favorites on the big screen. Alien is a science fiction horror masterpiece.

3. The Godfather Part II

Some would safely say The Godfather: Part II is the greatest sequel ever made and it is hard to argue (although I would, as my choice for such an award will be on the 1980's list). This is pretty much a perfect film in every way and yet it only gets as high as #3 of its decade. That's because...

2. The Godfather

The Godfather is essentially perfect cinema as well and I will always have an ever so slight preference for it over its sequel. Something about the story of the original and the flow of it all, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. To some this is safely the greatest movie ever made, and for me it is in fact top ten, but it still can't win the 1970's.

1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

It's hard to beat Star Wars in my book. Not only is the trilogy packed to the brim with warm wonderful nostalgia for me considering how cherished the films were growing up, but they overflow when revisited as an adult and I realized, my goodness these are just great movies regardless. The start of the saga in 1977 is something glorious to behold, a space opera that builds characters and mythology was ease. Later this year I will be revisiting the entire Star Wars journey (yes, even the prequels) to prepare for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Next I will move into a decade I was actually alive during, the 1980's. Above is a picture from a film that will appear on that list.

Cronos Review

Back in 1993, long before he took us on a mystical journey through Pan's Labyrinth, introduced a wider audience to the world of Hellboy or brought his vision of massive Jaeger vs. Kaiju battles to the big screen in Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro released his debut feature film Cronos, a wonderfully unique take on a vampire tale, and thank goodness for that unique factor because honestly, I'm just about vampire'd out at this point.

My relationship with the sub-genre was tedious at best to begin with, and with the popularity that was ushered in from the True Blood series and Twilight franchise I had officially pushed anything involving a vampire off to the side into a category called "Not Interested". Last year Jim Jarmusch and his wonderfully deadpan comedic stylings brought the solid film Only Lovers Left Alive to the table and I appreciated its very interesting take on just how boring it could be to live forever, but rather than a potential revival of my interests it felt like an anomaly.

Thus I knew it may be a challenge to approach Cronos with an open mind, but I reminded myself of two things: Guillermo del Toro has earned enough of my admiration to be worthy of my trust that if anyone could make me entertained by vampires again, it would be him, and that this is a film released over 20 years ago, not just another lazy effort to catch on to a fad before it is exhausted from overkill.

GDT delivered. Cronos is a clever, entertaining gem.

The film tells the story of a man named Jesús Cris, an antiques dealer who happens to find a device inside an old wooden statue of an archangel. Jesús somehow accidentally activates this object and it grabs hold of his hand, doing all sorts of damage by the time he is free of it. Soon after the cravings begin, beginning a transformation for Jesús from a mortal man to a blood thirsty vampire.

I found it interesting to see del Toro making a little girl a central character of the film, much like in his crowning cinematic achievement Pan's Labyrinth. He has publicly mentioned his deep love for the masterpiece The Spirit of the Beehive by Victor Erice and I could feel the influences here again, this time in the shape of Jesús' granddaughter Aurora. Her presence adds an important component to the story, that piece of emotional attached Jesús still has to the mortal world, and his continuing desire to protect her despite his transformation keeps his character feeling rather human despite the fact that his physical appearance indicates otherwise.

As a directorial debut from Guillermo del Toro, Cronos is a pretty great work, a film that really makes you wonder if immortality is all it's cracked up to be.  

4/5

100 Favorite Films - #50 - #41

A continuation of my list counting down my 100 favorite films of all time.


50. The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

Earlier I listed The Decalogue as a favorite film, but it is not my favorite work by director Krzysztof Kieslowski as he also is responsible for the completely beautiful movie The Double Life of Veronique. The flow of this film was like listening to perfectly written poetry be recited, where you aren't even sure why but you fall in love with the words and want to hear them all over again. The plot revolves around two women who are seemingly exactly the same, including their appearance. They cross paths only once and very briefly, yet they experience some sort of connection that cannot fully be understood.



49. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

My Review of Pan's Labyrinth

Already listed was the Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive, which is the inspiration behind the next film, the spectacular film Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro. The story centers on a young girl named Ofelia and the conflict that surrounds her, a new home and an unwanted life as her pregnant mother marries a cold and ruthless Captain during the Spanish civil war. The way this film balances the unsettling reality with the realm of fantasy, with haunting imagery coming from both sides, is remarkable.



48. Goodfellas (1990)

A mob masterpiece by Martin Scorsese, what really needs to be said about Goodfellas? An amazing cast all delivery memorably great performances based on inspired material, everything that went into the production of this film is to credit for it not being considered not just one of the finest crime films ever made, but one of the finest of any genre.



47. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

My Review of My Neighbor Totoro

The god of hand drawn animation, Hayao Miyazaki has crafted quite a lot of amazing features working out of the factory of genius, Studio Ghibli, and one of his finest is My Neighbor Totoro, a film that focuses on the wonders of the imagination in a child and the ways kids find to cope with concern and grief. Truly a gorgeous film that should be treasured by people of all ages.



46. The Matrix (1999)

A defining moment in cinema for me came in 1999 when The Matrix was released and it very nearly literally blew my teenage mind. I had never seen anything like it and it pushed the limits I had come to understand in terms of what special effects were capable of. It also pushed my love for science fiction to new heights, and it remains just as effective a work today as it did back then.



45. The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece, The Shining is a film that kept me up at night as a child and it is easy to understand why. The real question is, what the hell was I doing watching this so young? The imagery, the dialogue and having to comprehend what it meant to be deranged, my mind raced and I wanted to cover my eyes...but I couldn't help looking through my fingers at the unsettling bliss on the screen.



44. The Night of the Hunter (1955)

The one and only film directed by Charles Laughton, The Night of the Hunter was inexplicably a critical and commercial failure upon its release, and watching it now it truly is impossible to understand why. Paced with eloquence, performed with tension, delivered spectacularly, this is a film that deserves the recognition it now receives. What a splendid work it is.



43. Halloween (1978)

My Review of Halloween

In the world of horror cinema, it doesn't get much better than John Carpenter's Halloween, a film that so effectively uses its setting and technical aspects like lighting and musical score, if it doesn't do anything for you I would hope you check and make sure you have a pulse. One of the most brilliant touches on this film was the decision to not shroud the entire feature in darkness, instead allowing Michael Myers to roam the streets and stalk his prey on a bright and typical suburban afternoon. The fact that this iconic movie monster can scare you at 3 P.M. makes you wonder...what is he capable of at night?



42. Oldboy (2003)

A completely unique and unsettling film, Oldboy tells the story of a man being suddenly and seemingly randomly kidnapped one night off a city street and being locked away in a single room for 15 years without any explanation why. Then, one day out of nowhere, he is released back into the world, and he must search for answers in order to obtain his vengeance. Director Chan-wook Park really delivered something special and disturbingly memorable here, with an ending that literally had me shout expletives derived from being totally caught off guard by the path it takes.



41. Good Will Hunting (1997)

A wonderful drama directed by Gus Van Sant, Good Will Hunting touches every emotion for me. I laugh, I cry, and I find the narrative to be constantly compelling. The screenplay really fleshes out these characters and allows them to become oddly familiar and authentic, allowing the famous faces to become real, believable people rather than just stars filling roles. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won the Oscar for writing this original and outstanding feature.

40 films left to list. What will come next? Above is an image of a film that will appear on the next list of ten.

The Spirit of the Beehive Review

As a child, seeing a film was the spark that lit my imagination on fire, from my first journey through a galaxy far, far away to the nights I couldn't sleep because a xenomorph might be lurking in the darkness. In The Spirit of the Beehive, a traveling cinema brings Frankenstein to a small Spanish village and people of all ages line their chairs up in excitement to catch a glimpse of the picture. Included in this group are two sisters, six year old Ana and the elder Isabel, and Ana is fascinated by the film, in particular a specific scene in which the monster plays with a little girl only to accidentally kill her.

The father of the family, Fernando, spends his time focusing on his beehives, while their mother writes letters to a former lover, dreaming of a different life. While these characters remain a family unit, at no point during the film do we see all of them together at the same time. The unrest exists both in and outside of their home, as their country recently had experienced civil war, and Ana turns to her imagination and the monster that lives inside it for comfort.

The debut feature film by director Victor Erice, The Spirit of the Beehive is at times perplexing if trying to make sense of all the symbolism that is clearly oozing out of every pore. I found myself falling in love with it when I let my mind go and simply embraced the passion that obviously drove the creation of the work. The set pieces are never glamorous or exciting, but they are beautiful in their authenticity. The doors of the family home feature a pattern of hexagon shapes, as if they are living inside a beehive when the yellow glow of the sun pours through them, the color flowing in like honey.

With each word I type in regards to this dazzling film, I find myself realizing just how much I adored living inside the world crafted by Erice for a mere 98 minutes. My only complaint regarding The Spirit of the Beehive is in actuality a compliment: I wanted more. Just as I was realizing the power of the imagery and the magical nature of each frame, the screen went black and the story was over. Perhaps that is the beauty of what was achieved here though, the tiny fraction of my mind that is left unsatisfied with the end of the journey will be what drives me to go back and revisit this masterpiece.


5/5