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Daily Archives: July 1, 2019

1966 Recap and Ten Favorite Films

Posted on July 1, 2019 | 15 comments

I have now watched 94 films that were released in 1966. A complete list can be found here. Despite my endless complaints, 1966 was actually a fairly strong year at the top. Not for Hollywood, however, which has only one film on my list. The films are only in very rough order. I gave the number one slot to the film I would be most likely to put in my DVD player if I had to choose today. I reluctantly left Alfie and King of Hearts off my list.

I’m excited to be moving on to 1967!

10. Nayak – Directed by Satyajit Ray

9. The Face of Another – Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara

8. The Endless Summer – Directed by Bruce Brown

7. Sword of Doom – Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

6. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – Directed by Mike Nichols

5. Blow-Up – Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni

4. Andrei Rublev – Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

3. The Battle of Algiers – Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo

2. Persona – Directed by Ingmar Bergman

1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Directed by Sergio Leone

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Posted in 1966, Top Ten Lists

Andrei Rublev (1966)

Posted on July 1, 2019 | 2 comments

Andrei Rublev
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Written by Andrey Konchalovskiy and Andrei Tarkovsky
1966/USSR
Mosfilm/Tvorsheskoe Obedinienie i Kinorabotnikov
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Andrei Rublyov: I am what I am. You couldn’t teach me integrity.[/box]

Frame after exquisite frame make up this sublime meditation on art, religion, faith, and life.

The setting is early 15th Century Russia. The film pivots on real-life master icon painter Andrei Rublev. Rather than an autobiography though, we get a complex portrait of medieval Russia delivered through several episodes, some of which do not feature Rublev. Included is a Tartar invasion, monastic life with a sort of Mozart-Salieri artistic jealousy thing going on, a very early hot air balloon, etc. etc.

My favorite episode is the one where a Prince orders a young man, the only survivor of a dynasty of bell-makers, to cast a humungous church bell. The penalty for the bell’s failure to ring will be quick execution. We get deep into the casting process and it is just fascinating.

This is a very long but endlessly rewarding film. In only his second feature film, Tarkovsky pulls off shots that are literally jaw-dropping in their scale and beauty. It ends by transitioning from B&W to glorious color as Tarkovsky takes an up-close view of Rublev’s icons. The score is fantastic. Very highly recommended.

I am ending 1966 on a high note. I was stunned when I discovered this was not a List film for 1966 but it turns out that is the IMDb date based on a private screening for Soviet authorities. The Book has the film dated 1969, which is when it was first publicly screened in the USSR. 1967 here we come!