1973 was a year of progress. It was the year of the landmark Supreme Court ruling as a by-product of Roe v. Wade, which meant that the United States Constitution guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion, and thus a woman's right to have full control over their own have anatomy. . The US withdraws its troops from a long and bloody war in Vietnam, the three-day week was trialled in the UK and the Sydney Opera House opened.
Sadly, 50 years later and we, or those in power, have done a complete 180 with both the three day week and a woman's freedom to choose what happens to her own body. While certainly trivial by comparison, our film production is at least somewhat similar to that of 1973… Er, who are we kidding? Even the movies were better back then... These are some of the best movies now half a century old.
The day of the jackal
Adapted from Frederick Forsyth's seminal novel, The day of the jackal is one of the defining novels and movies of the 1970s for its paranoid conspiracy theory narrative. The political thriller is an edge-of-your-seat affair as a French criminal underworld organization conspires to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. When Edward Fox's trigger-happy hitman, "The Jackal", starts to get in the way, shrewd Detective Lebel (Michael Lonsdale) picks up on the conspiracy and his investigation gains momentum.
Highland wanderer
In just his second outing as a director, Clint Eastwood turned in this acting-bait-directing masterclass for the Western, Highland wanderer. Directly after Sergio Leone's 'Dollars Trilogy', Eastwood plays another nameless drifter, with that characteristic Clint Squint, laconic and elliptical in temperament.
Upon his arrival in Lago, he is greeted with an unwelcome point of view from the community. Dealing with an influx of illegal activities due to a criminal gang at work, the townspeople warm to this mysterious man who offers them a way out of their awkward situation.
Papillon
The 2017 remake was surprisingly competitive, but it was still a margin away from surpassing the 1973 classic original with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in the titular roles.
The historical prison drama Papillon (French for "butterfly") chronicles the lives of a convicted murderer, Henri Charriere (McQueen), and fraudster Louis Dega (Hoffman), who are trapped in the brutalist regime of a detention center in French Guiana. Struggling with the barbarity, physical exertion and psychological abuse they experience on a daily basis, the friends plot an escape.
Serpico
By 12 angry men Unpleasant Dog day afternoon, director Sidney Lumet was a man of almost incomparable stature in the world of cinema. His 1973 biographical film, Serpicoabout the real titular NYPD cop, was another jewel in his crown.
Al Pacino stars in this true story of a police officer of the utmost integrity and righteousness who battles the corruption that plagues the police force. As he takes on those in power who turn a blind eye to the misconduct under their jurisdiction, those responsible for the continued duplicity turn against him.
Paper moon
Paper moon is a film that not only features a real father-daughter duo in the cast, but also Tatum O'Neal, the youngest Academy Award winner of all time, won the award for Best Supporting Actress. 10. Think Dirty rotten villains meets Catch me if you can.
The crime comedy of the era is about two con artists, Moses Pray (Ryan O'Neal) and Addie Loggins (Tatum O'Neal), who go on a road trip through the American farmlands in the 1930s, taking out several con artists along the way. Paper moon is a fun, charming and funny film about a father's unconventional introduction to his potential but unconfirmed daughter.
Amcord
With three Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film to his credit at the time, it would have come as no surprise that Federico Fellini once again bagged the prestigious international gong for his sprawling, funny and intimate ensemble film, Amcord.
The semi-autobiographical photo tells the story of Titta, an Italian teenager growing up in an increasingly right-wing Italy in the 1930s under the leadership of Mussolini. While enduring a troubled relationship with his brutish father, Titta observes the people of his quintessentially Italian community, from the eccentric to those firmly indoctrinated in the cult of fascism.
The exorcist
As one of the scariest and most important milestones in the history of the horror genre, The exorcist still haunts and terrorizes us through flashbacks and memories of the first time we watched it. Adapted from William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel of the same name, William Friedkin's haunting film explores the story of Regan (Linda Blair), a young girl supposedly tormented by a demonic force. Concerned for her daughter's well-being, Regan's mother summons two priests to perform an exorcism.
Mean streets
Mean streets was culturally significant, as it symbolized the first time Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro began a collaboration that would last more than 50 years, leading to some truly exceptional gangster films. Inspired in part by Scorsese's childhood experience in New York's Little Italy, the crime drama follows two friends, small-time gangster, Charlie (Harvey Keitel) and his neurotic friend, Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) whose debts to a number of notorious creditors . Trapped in a tumultuous, contradictory existence, Charlie must choose between his criminal career, his love life, religion and friendship.
Badlands
By Bonnie and Clyde And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, according to Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, some really infamous criminal duos have been documented in the medium of film. Yet no one has been given a dramatization as chilling or as sober as Terence Malick's fictionalized account of the Charles Starkweather murders, in his directorial debut. Badlands.
The haunting image is a timeless representation of amorality in its most unadulterated, unsullied form; it depicts the murder spree undertaken by Charles Starkweather (Martin Sheen) and his absent-minded schoolgirl accomplice in 1958. Badlandsmain characters Sheen and Spacek are simply extraordinary, and the callous, hardened nature of their character's crimes are flawlessly reflected in their portrayals.
The stab
After the overwhelming success of 1969 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidGeorge Roy Hill, Robert Redford and Paul Newman joined forces again, this time for the 1973 crime drama, The stab. Redford and Newman respectively play Johnny Hooker and Henry Gondorff, two con artists who team up to seek retribution for a ruthless crime boss, Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), after Hooker's partner is brutally murdered.
A pulsating hairdresser that taps into that beloved morality story as the little man outsmarts the big man. An eternal film, which deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Picture, but still doesn't get the respect George Roy Hill deserves as a pioneer of filmmaking in the 20th century.
Comments
Post a Comment