Category Archives: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Shame (Skammen)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Written by Ingmar Bergman
1968/Sweden
IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Eva Rosenberg: Sometimes everything seems just like a dream. It’s not my dream, it’s somebody else’s. But I have to participate in it. How do you think someone who dreams about us would feel when he wakes up. Feeling ashamed? [/box]

A beautiful but absolutely harrowing look at two troubled people whose troubles are made worse by a brutal Civil War.  One of Bergman’s best.

As the movie starts, we meet our protagonists, Jan (Max von Sydow) and Eva (Liv Ullmann) Rosenberg.  They are living in an isolated farm house on an island in an unnamed war-torn country.  Both are ex-violinists.  Eva has to wear the pants in the family because Jan is hyper-sensitive and, perhaps, mentally ill.  They clearly love one another though Eva gets put out frequently at Jan’s lack of practical help.

The Rosenbergs have no political views, repeatedly citing their “broken radio”.  Yet every aspect of their life is blasted by the terror of the war that soon engulfs the farm. With Gunnar Bjornstrand as a government official.

The below trailer gives a good sense of how up-close and personal Bergman brings us to the horrors of war.  The realism struck directly at my core.  These are lovers of art and beauty who are forever changed by their constant fear.  Needless to say, the acting, direction, and cinematography are beyond reproach.  Very highly recommended

Faces
Directed by John Cassavetes
Written by John Cassavetes
1968/US
IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Richard Forst: I’m serious.

Jeannie Rapp: Definition of serious: Blah blah blah blah…[/box]

This is the kind of movie that gets me excited about cinema all over again.  Love its raw emotion.

Richard (John Marley) and Maria (Lynn Carlin) Forst seem jolly enough at first but it is soon clear that there is a certain something missing from their marriage.  Richard goes out with the boys and they pick up Jeannie Rapp (Gena Rowlands).  She takes them back to her flat where all continue to drink.  Richard and Jeannie somehow click and Richard tells Maria he wants a divorce.  He is leaving tonight and never coming back, he says.

That same night Maria goes out to a go-go club with the girls.  They pickup party guy Chet (Seymour Cassel) and take him back to Maria’s place.  I will stop right there.

To start with I think everything about this film is perfect.  I wouldn’t want to leave anything out!  The acting and direction combined with the brilliant dialogue make me feel like I’m eavesdropping on these people’s most intimate moments.  I’m a big fan of Gena Rowlands and this is one of her most brilliantly crafted parts as the most authentic of the characters. Lost none of its impact on this repeat viewing.  Highly recommended.

Targets
Directed by Peter Bogdonovich
Written by Peter Bogdonovich; story by Bogdonovich and Polly Platt
1968/USA
IMDb link
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 Best Horror Movies on They Shoot Zombies Don’t They?
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Byron Orlok: Oh, Sammy, what’s the use? Mr. Boogey Man, King of Blood they used to call me. Marx Brothers make you laugh, Garbo makes you weep, Orlok makes you scream.[/box]

Not too shabby for a feature film debut, Mr. Bogdonovich.

There are two stories running concurrently.  In one, a writer played by Bogdonovich tries to convince elderly horror star Brian Orlok (Boris Karloff) to star in a straight role in his new movie.  Both are clearly playing themselves.  Simultaneously, a young clean-cut Vietnam War Vet plans and carries out mass murder.

Everybody meets up at a drive-in where Orlok is making a publicity appearance for his latest movie.

Bogdonovich was a huge film geek and just can’t help himself from going meta at this young age.  The really compelling story is the sniper’s and the other story gets in its way here.  That’s a shame because the other story features one of Karloff’s many memorable performances.  That too, might have made a great movie in the hands of a more mature director. This quibble aside, the film is well worth seeing.

Producer Roger Corman gave Bogdonovich a free hand with the film so long as he used clips from The Terror  (1963) and hired Karloff for the two days still owed on his contract with Corman.  The infirm actor ended up working five days and doing a splendid job.

Planet of the Apes
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Written by Michael Wilson and Rod Sterling from a novel by Pierre Boulle
1968/USA
IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Dr. Zaius: You are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself.[/box]

1968 was certainly a year for science fiction blockbusters!

The year is 3978 A.D.  Three astronauts emerge from deep hibernation to find they have crash landed.  The planet has conditions suitable for human life and is occupied by mute and wild humans and highly intelligent apes.

The lone survivor George Taylor (Carleton Heston) is the first talking man the apes have encountered.  Scientist Zira (Kim Hunter) and her sweetheart Cornelius (Roddy Mc Dowell) befriend Taylor and want to learn about what makes him tick.  Their superior, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), believes that he should be castrated and rendered mute ASAP.

Can’t help admiring the make-up, scenery, and special effects extravaganza that is this movie.  I have never liked Charleton Heston much so it’s not a fave.

John Chambers won an honorary Academy Award for “his outstanding make-up achievement in the movie.”  The first competitive award for make-up was not created until 1981.  The film was nominated in the categories of Best Costume Design and Best Music, Original Score for a Motion pictures.

Night of the Living Dead
Directed by George A. Romero
Written by John A. Russo and George A. Romero
1968/USA
IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 on They Shoot Zombies Don’t They

[box] Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?

Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up.[/box]

Every once in awhile neophite filmmakers produce a classic on a shoestring budget.  This is not only a classic but a game changer.

As the movie opens, Barbara (Judith O’Day) and her brother Johnny visit a cemetery to pay respects to their dead mother.  Johnny decides to try to freak out Barbara.  This doesn’t go on too long before, the two discover the danger is real.  A shambling undead ghoul is heading straight at Barbara.  When Johnny tries to save her, he is killed.  Barbara goes into an almost catatonic shock but is able to make her way to an isolated farm house.  There she encounters Ben (Duane Jones), who is holed up there.  He is frantically trying to keep the ghouls out.  Barbara is very little help to him.

Later, they learn that several people are holed up in the basement of the house.  Duane’s stance is they can either help him or go back to the basement.  They eventually come upstairs but one of the men is an obnoxious naysayer who is little help at all.  The ghouls just keep on coming.  Throughout, we hear radio and TV broadcasts telling us what is happening out in the world.  Turns out it’s the same thing.  Film has an unforgettable ending which I will not reveal.

Actually Romero and company had fairly extensive experience in the TV commercial business.  They decided they wanted to make a scary movie and succeed brilliantly.  The movie takes itself seriously and  is all the better for it.  Though Romero referred to his characters as “ghouls” he actually created the modern (non-Voodoo) zombie.  My definition of a must-see.

There are two commentaries to this on the Criterion Channel.  Both are well worth listening to.  It sounds to have been really fun to make.

2001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke from Clarke’s short story
1968/US
IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] HAL: Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.[/box]

A mind-blowing visual and auditory experience does not quite compensate for the lack of a story.

This movie has something to do with a monolith and how it interacts with evolution, I think.  It is divided into three parts.  One is about the evolution of homo sapiens; the second is about a space flight to Jupiter; and the final is about, maybe, the evolution of the next generation of intelligent life.  Or at least that’s what they tell me.

By far the best part is the second, in which the astronauts must interact with the on-board computer HAL-900.  HAL seems to be developing a mind of its own.  This stuff is witty and totally enjoyable.  Then we segue into psychedelia.  With Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood as the astronauts.

Stanley Kubrick on set. How did he make this movie without CGI?!

I saw this on original release.  I didn’t “get it” then and don’t now.  If you just sit back and enjoy some sensory overload, the movie is powerful.  It’s not a favorite, though, because it has no heart.

2001: A Space Odyssey won the Academy Award for Best Effects: Special Visual Effects. It was nominated in the categories of Best Director; Best Writing: Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen; and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.

Week End
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Written by Jean-Luc Godard
1967/France
IMDb link
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Roland: What a rotten film. All we meet are crazy people.[/box]

A film about everything and nothing.  Mostly nothing.

I will confess that I did not give this film my 100% attention.  Anyway, a married couple has many adventures on the way to see the wife’s parents on the weekend.  A film of endless traffic pile-ups, explosions, philosophical observations and other such rot.

It’s a red-letter day!  I never have to watch another film by Jean-Luc Godard as long as I live!

Viy
Directed by Konstantin Ershov and Georgiy Kropachyov
Written by Konstantin Ershov and Georgiy Kropachyov from a story by Nicholai Gogol
1967/USSR
IMDb link
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 Movies on the “They Shoot Zombies Don’t They” List

[box] “I am fated to journey hand in hand with my strange heroes and to survey the surging immensity of life, to survey it through the laughter that all can see and through the tears unseen and unknown by anyone.” ― Nikolai Gogol[/box]

Horror Soviet-style turns out to be entertaining if not particularly scary.

Khoma (Leonid Kuravlyov) is a bit of a sad sack and is studying to be a monk.  He and a few of his fellow students go on vacation, which consists of a lot of drinking and other sinful behavior.  They run out of money and don’t have a place to spend the night.  An old crone at a farmhouse agrees to take them in but they must all occupy different rooms. Khoma is left sleeping in the barn next to some livestock.  The old woman enters and tries to seduce him.  She talks him into letting her mount his back and flies off with him.

Clearly she is a witch and Khoma proceeds to beat her savagely.  As the old lady succumbs to the blows she transforms into a young beauty.  Khoma runs away.  On her death bed, she instructs her father to sent for Khoma to pray for her soul.  She dies and the father forces Khoma to spend three nights praying over her corpse.  She and monsters from hell try to scare him to death.

The plot summary may not suggest it but there is a good deal of comedy in this film.  Such a relief to get back to a List film that actually tells a story.  What these guys could have done with a bigger special effects budget!

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Terra em transe (Earth Entranced)
Directed by Glauber Rocha
Written by Glauber Rocha
1967/Brazil
IMDb link
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] The camera is an object that lies. – Glauber Rocha[/box]

Your cranky critic found this beautifully shot film to be too weird for words.

Paulo Martins is a poet and journalist in the fictional country of El Dorado.  He opposes both the populist and reactionary candidates for leadership.  Meanwhile, outright revolution fills the streets.

Ok, the first problem is that the hero is a poet and speaks in ridiculously didactic “poetic”dialogue.  The second is there really is no story – just a bunch of events that allow Rocha to take freakish Felliniesque close-ups of the bad guys.  I think experimental political cinema is not for me.  The English-subtitled print currently on YouTube looks great.

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