Category Archives: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Marketa Lazarova
Directed by Frantisec Vlacil
Written by Frantisec Pavlicek and Frantisec Vlacil from a novel by Vladislav Vancura
1967/Czechoslovakia
IMDB link
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] “I’ll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy.” ― Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”[/box]

One stunning image follows another in this violent tale of the clash of paganism and Christianity during an endless winter in medieval Europe.

I stopped trying to figure out who all the characters and what they were doing about half an hour in.  Notably, pagan robbers abduct and rape the title character, whose father had dedicated her to God.

The situation devolves into all-out clan warfare.  Did I mention that the winter is endless?

This is one of the most visually beautiful movies I have seen.  I might get more out of it on a second viewing.  The rape and other violence make that unlikely.

The Red and the White (Csillagosok, katonák)
Directed by Miklos Jansco
Written by Gyula Hernadi, Miklos Jansco, et al
1967/Hungary/USSR
IMDb link
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] “The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.” -Leon Trotsky[/box]

Extraordinary images.  Unfortunately, they are of wartime slaughter.

Hungarian Communists join the Russian Civil War on the side of the Reds.  In this particular part of  Russia, it seems that the Whites are in the ascendency.  All captives are stripped and cruelly executed by either side.  Throw in a few rapes and you have the plot.

This movie is absolutely gorgeous.  But all that gorgeousness is in the service of repetitive scenes of the sadistic games played before the execution of POWs.  Never again.

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Wavelength
Directed by Michael Snow
Written by Michael Snow
1967/Canada/USA
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Woman in fur coat: I just got here, and there’s a man lying on the floor, and I think he’s dead.[/box]

Neither cinema nor art in my opinion.  How many more of these things do I have to see before I die?

The above quote might lead you to believe there is a plot.  Not so.  This is 45 minutes of a camera zooming in on a window in a mostly empty room.  Occasionally people walk through.  One fell down.

Concept art does not entertain me.  Soundtrack starts out promisingly enough with John Lennon singing “Strawberry Fields”,  But no such luck.  Thereafter we are treated to at least half an hour of electronic noise.  You have been warned.

Point Blank
Directed by John Boorman
Written by Alexander Jacobs, David Newhouse, and Rafe Newhouse from a novel by Donald Westlake
1967/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Winkler Films
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Walker: Somebody’s got to pay.[/box]

Non-linear neo-noir is blessed by a sterling cast.

Lone gangster Walker (Lee Marvin) is prevailed on by his boss, Mal Reese, to join him in a heist of cash stored on Alcatraz Island. (The prison there had been closed by this point). They pull off the job.  Reese discovers that his share will not be enough to pay his debt to the organization.  He steals Walker’s share and leaves him for dead on the isolated island.  Reese has already taken up with Walker’s wife Lynne.

We are not shown exactly  how he does it, but Walker comes to be one of the few people to ever escape from the island.  He then begins a single-minded pursuit of his $93,000.  He needs to climb higher and higher in the organization chart.  No one will acknowledge a debt to Walker.  Concurrently, Walker gets an unlikely side-kick when he meets up with his wife’s sister, Chris (Angie Dickinson). Body count mounts throughout.  With Carroll Conner and Keenan Wynn as big shots.

I thought this was pretty good.  The acting is all first rate and the direction is stylish.  I’m not big on non-linear stories but this one was easy to follow.  Does well with unstated comparison between Walker and the Organization as a metaphor for the individual vs. the Establishment.

Hombre
Directed by Martin Ritt
Written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. from a novel by Elmore Leonard
1967/USA
Hombre Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Henry Mendez: Hombre, which name today, which do you want?

John Russell: Anything but bastard will do.[/box]

This is an OK Western.  Did I really need to see it before I died?

John Russell (Paul Newman) was raised by Apache Indians and currently lives with them on the reservation.  He puts on White Man clothes to go to town to sell some land he inherited.  Despite the fact he is white and everyone knows this, he is looked down on for his association with the Apaches.  Russell has to go to another town to seal his deal and sets off with several other passengers in a stagecoach hired by evil Indian Agent Mr. Favor (Fredric March).  If you think we are being set up for a Stagecoach (1939) style plot, you would be correct.

Mr. Favor is making a get away after having stolen a lot of money from the Indians.  This attracts bad man Grimes (Richard Boone).  Much drama ensues including a mild romance between Russell and “bad girl” Jesse (Diane Cliento) and multiple gun fights.

I will watch Paul Newman in anything and March and Boone make excellent villains.  I just didn’t think this was special or outstanding in any way.  This was apparently made as a commentary on Civil Rights but that aspect hasn’t aged all that well. Martin Balsam attempts an embarrassing Mexican accent throughout.

The Firemen’s Ball
Directed by Milos Forman
Written by Milos Forman, Jaroslav Papousek and Ivan Passer; story by Vaclav Sasek
1967/Czechoslovakia
Carlo Ponti Cinematografica/Filmove Studio Barrandov
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Di

[box]Firefighters don’t go on strike. – Dennis Leary[/box]

Everything goes to hell this hilarious political satire/farce.

Small-town firemen decide to hold a grand bash in honor of their former Commander’s 86th birthday.  (They should have done it when he turned 85 but forgot.)  Among the festivities are to be a raffle, a beauty contest, dancing, and as the big finale the presentation of a ceremonial hatchet to the old man.

Every single thing that can go wrong does go wrong and in hilarious fashion.  Lottery prizes start to go missing, the local talent mostly have faces only a mother could love and know it, and the celebration is interrupted by an actual fire.

I saw this years ago and had forgotten just how funny it was.  The gags just keep coming in rapid-fire succession.  Forman utilizes his cast of hundreds like a master.  Highly recommended.

Milos Forman fled for the USA during the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and the rest is history!

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The Jungle Book
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Written by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, et al inspired by the Mowgli stories by Rudyard Kipling
1967/USA
Walt Disney Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Oh, oobee doo/ I wanna be like you/ I wanna walk like you/ Talk like you, too/ You’ll see it’s true/ An ape like me/ Can learn to be human too. – “I Wanna Be Like You”, words and music by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman[/box]

Swinging Disney feature has lost none of its charm since original release.  And what a cast of voice actors!

Baby Mowgli is discovered in the jungle by soon to be mentor Bagheera the Panther (Sebastian Cabot) and turned over to the tender loving care of wolves.  Years pass and Bagheera worries that soon Mowgli will draw the attention of Shere Khan the Tiger (George Sanders) whose only enemy is man.  So Bagheera attempts to guide the Man Cub back to the Man Village.  Mowgli has no interest in leaving the jungle so it is a bit of a struggle.  Along the way, the pair encounter Baloo the Bear (Phil Harris), Kaa the Snake (Sterling Holloway) and King Louie of the Apes (Louis Prima).

I distinctly remember last seeing this at the drive-in in the back of my parents’ station wagon.  It has held up extremely well.  Love the music and the vibe.  Minimal scary bits compared to Disney’s other animated features,  Highly recommended family film.

Walt Disney died during the production of this film.  Its enormous success kept the animation department of the studio open for business.

Bonus version by my beloved Los Lobos

Belle de jour
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Joseph Kessel, Luis Buñuel, and Jean-Claude Carriere
1967/France
Robert and Raymond Hakim/Paris Film Productions/Five Film
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Madame Anais: You look a bit nervous. Relax. You’ll be out at 5:00. Don’t worry. You have someone waiting for you? A boyfriend? A husband? Oh, don’t think I’m prying. Kiss me.[/box]

Odd that one of Buñuel’s most mainstream films is also one of his most sexually explicit.

Severine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) leads an apparently idyllic life with adoring husband Pierre.  But she just cannot warm up to him in bed.  She was molested as a child and now all her sexual fantasies involve masochism and humiliation.  One day, Severine hears about an acquaintance who is now working in a brothel.  The friend does it for money.  Severine looks into it not for money but for sexual gratification.  The Madame calls her “Belle de jour” since she must depart for home no later than 5 pm.

We see both Severine’s real life trysts and her fantasies.  Pierre appears in many of the latter meting out punishment and calling her names.  I will not spoil the deliciously ambiguous ending.  With Michel Piccoli as a friend who discovers Severine’s secret.

This certainly qualifies as a must-see in my book.  Love the black humor and all the acting.

Playtime
Directed by Jacques Tati
Written by Jacques Tati and Jacques Lagrange
1967/France
Specta Films/Jolly Film
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] [on Playtime] The images are designed so that after you see the picture two or three times, it’s no longer my film, it starts to be your film. You recognize the people, you know them, and you don’t even know who directed the picture. — Jacques Tati[/box]

Since the days of Mon Oncle (1958), Paris has become one huge mid-century modernist nightmare that might have been designed by Hulot’s crazy sister.  The chairs are torture devices, all the buildings are dominated by plate glass windows that destroy privacy, and the people spend their money on the useless gizmos relentlessly advertised.

It might as well be a distant planet for the hapless Hulot, who innocently continues to create chaos wherever he goes.  At the same time, an American tourist searches for her version of the city without finding it.  Somehow human connection triumphs after all.

This movie has so much going on that I think you could see it 50 times without catching all the gags, many of which are occurring simulateously on the packed screen.  I laughed out loud many times.  The art direction is spectacular.  Somehow I prefer the more intimate earlier films but if you’ve already seen them, this remains a must see

Re-issue trailer

Les demoiselles de Rochefort (The Young Girls of Rochefort)
Directed by Jacques Demy
Written by Jacques Demy
1967/France
Parc Film/Madeleine Films
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Delphine: Did he have a camera?

Solange: No.

Delphine: Then how did you know he was an American?[/box]

Jacques Demy takes the classic Hollywood musical to new levels of romance, fanatasy and color.

Twin musical prodigies Solange (Catherine Deneuve) and Delphine (Francois Deloreac) live in the picture postcard seaside town of Rochefort.  They are admired by all the men but are holding out for their romantic ideal.  Somehow they agree to do a show for carnies Etienne (George Chakiris) and Bill (Grover Dale), who lust after them as well.

Solange visits the art gallery owned by her irritating boyfriend and sees her own portrait. She senses at once that the artist must be her dream man, dumps her boyfriend, and spends the rest of the film pining her unknown love.  Delphine bumps into a stranger on the street.  This turns out to be Gene Kelly!  It is love at first sight but they, too, must still locate each other.  Meanwhile, the girls’ mother (Danielle Darrieux) and music store owner Monsieur Dame (Michel Piccoli) inch closer to each other after having been separated by his embarrassing name several years ago.

Demy takes the concept of his The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) one step further.  This time most, but not all, of the dialogue is sung.  The big difference is that characters spontaneously burst into dance at the drop of a hat.  And what dancing!  Also, here, the romantic fantasy is taken to the max, foregoing the realistic denouement of the former film. The Easter egg colors are used masterfully.  Highly recommended to lovers of movie musicals or eye candy.

Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand were nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation).