All My Good Countrymen (Vsichni dobrí rodáci)
Directed by Vojtech Jasny
Written by Vojtech Jasny
1969/Czechoslovakia
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

“The moon does not care if the dog barks at it.”  — Czech proverb

This film, perhaps the last of the Czech New Wave, mixes savage political commentary, black comedy, and poetic imagery.

The story follows life in a rural Czech village from 1948-68.  The villagers’ customs and manual farming methods could have been used in any of the last three hundred years.  Their peace, so recently broken by the Nazis, is now blasted by a growing communist movement.  Finally, most farmers and small entrepreneurs are collectivized out of existence.  Thugs use threats to gain Party loyalty.  Rebels disappear suddenly.

We get some black comedy in a plot thread that follows a young “Merry Widow” as each of her many boyfriends and husbands meet with sudden accidents and worse.  We also get plenty of absolutely lyrical scenes in the fields and within the village.

This was a pleasure to watch and a nice way to end my viewing of 1969.  Recommended.

Clip – no subtitles

The Milky Way (La voie lactee)
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carriere
1969/France
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed. – Christopher Morley

There’s is something to offend everyone here, especially devout Catholics.  I thought it was pretty hilarious.

Two penniless bums are on a pilgrimage from France to Santiago de Campostela in Spain. They meet many strange people along the way from various eras.  All are talking and/or arguing about theology.

At the end of the film we learn that every bit of dialogue is taken from the Bible or old theological treatises.  I recognized some Q & A’s from the Catechism too.  Their application to the many absurd situations is pretty perfect.

I don’t know why I didn’t expect much from this film and was pleasantly surprised.  I had a blast and would recommend it to those who are not easily offended.

Le Grande Amour
Directed by Pierre Etaix
Written by Pierre Etaix and Jean-Claude Carrier
1969/France
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Pierre: Then one thing leads to another, like it or not. You never know how these things happen… but they happen.

Pierre Etaix delivers another wry French romantic farce.

The film covers the history of Pierre’s (Etaix) love life.  He plays the field and cannot decide between the numerous girls he dates.  He settles on Florence, who adores him and has a rich father ready to hire her new husband as a factory manager.  They are about the same age, which Pierre’s friend tells him is not such a good idea. The couple settles into the routine of married life, marred slightly by the wife’s domineering mother.

After about 15 years of wedded bliss, Pierre’s secretary retires and is replaced by lovely 18-year-old Agnes.  This coincides with Florence’s solo trip to the seashore.  The rest of the film is devoted to Pierre’s dream life with Agnes.

This is sort of a very Gallic The Seven Year Itch (1955) told with a light-touch and little dialogue.  I enjoyed it very much but would not suggest it as one’s first foray into Etaix’s work.  I was most impressed by his Yoyo (1965).  At any rate, those who love Jacques Tati should really give Etaix a try.

Katzelmacher

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
1969/Germany
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Everyone must decide for himself whether it is better to have a brief but more intensely felt existence or to live a long and ordinary life. — Rainer Werner Fassbinder

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a movie where less happens.

A group of twenty-something German slackers hang  out, play musical beds and bicker.  hey usually are found lounging in front of their apartment building.  One day appears to be exactly the same as the next.

Into their midst comes  Greek foreign worker Jorgos (Fassbinder) who begins boarding with one of the couples that comprise the group. Jorgos begins a relationship with one of the girls.  This makes the German boys furious and they even work up enough energy to exact revenge.

Probably not the ideal place to start with Fassbinder.  He would get much much better.

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Mississippi Mermaid (La sirene du Mississippi)
Directed by Francois Truffaut
Written by Francois Truffaut based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich
1969/France
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime

Julie Roussel: I don’t see evil everywhere. It *is* everywhere.

Despite some gaping plot holes, I enjoyed Truffaut’s Hitchcock-influenced thriller.

Louis Mahe (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a cigarette-factory owner on the remote tropical island of Reunion.  Louis strikes up a correspondence with Julie Roussel through the classified ads.  He decides to marry her sight-unseen.  He does have her picture and she appears to be a reasonably attractive brunette.  When he goes to pick up his intended from her ship, she turns out to be the blonde and exquisitely beautiful Catherine Deneuve. He is knocked off his feet and is easily convinced by her story of sending someone else’s picture.  They soon marry and Louis becomes an adoring husband.  He simply overlooks some of Julie’s odd behavior.

We spend most of the movie trying to work out what Julie’s game is.  The story has numerous twists and turns and I will not spoil it.

This was absolutely beautiful to look at.  I was engrossed in the mystery and suspense.  I expected the film to end with a big payoff revelation.  The ending let me down and I never did get some of my questions answered. I would still recommend the movie if the stars and director appeal.

The Joke (Zert)
Directed by Jaromil Jires
Written by Zdenik Blaha, Jaromil Jires and Milan Kundera from Kundera’s novel
1969/Czechoslovakia
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

There was a joke in Czechoslovakia: The Communist Party dance, it’s one step forward, two steps backward, and everyone is still clapping. — Martina Navratilova

The “last film of the Czech New Wave” leaves the political allegory behind in favor of a direct, savage indictment of life under Communism.

In the 1950’s, hapless college student Ludvik Jahn writes the following note to his girlfriend: “Optimism is the opium of mankind. A “healthy spirit” stinks of stupidity. Long live Trotsky! Yours, Ludvik”.  This is enough to get him expelled from both the University and the Communist Party.  He spends the following 15 years incarcerated – first in a penal military unit and then in a forced labor camp.

When Ludvik returns to society, he is bent on revenge against his “friend” Pavel who was his accuser.  He successfully seduces Pavel’s wife but revenge is not as sweet as Ludvik may have imagined.

This never exactly grabbed me but is undoubtedly a well-made act of not so thinly veiled political protest.  It was banned for 20 years after its successful initial release.  An interesting look at a pivotal time in history.

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Oh! What a Lovely War
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Charles Chiton based on Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop Production by, and the members of the original cast
1969/UK
IMDb page
First viewing/Netflix rental

Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig: Grant us victory, O Lord, before the Americans get here.

This, Richard Attenborough’s directorial debut, is unique among legit anti-war movies in being playful, theatrical, and full of good music.

Takes place from just before the First World War to its dismal end in 1918.  The production includes many songs of the era.  These range from the sentimental and patriotic to the graveyard humor of the songs sung in the trenches.  The style moves fluidly between frankly stylized theatrical sets and presentation to vivid realism several times.  Death is portrayed by the appearance of red poppies.  Not a drop of blood is shed.

The plot, such as it is, has at its center the patriotic Smith family and their three enlistment-age sons.  In Britain’s homes, streets and popular culture, there is great enthusiasm and enlistment is seen as heroic. The boys eagerly sign up and only too soon are exposed to the horrors of war.

Maggie Smith sings “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” while transitioning from an elegant chanteuse to a common prostitute.

Throughout the film vingnettes follow the fates of our heroes while teaching bigger history lessons along the way.  With performances by:  Michael, Corin, and Vanessa Redgrave; Ralph Ricardson; Ian Holm; Edward Fox; Dirk Bogarde; Jack Hawkins; John Gielgud; Kenneth More; Laurence Olivier; Susannah York; and Maggie Smith among others

I liked this quite a lot.  The unique storytelling style worked well with the equally unique staging.  The songs, which are all original to the period, are wonderful.  The relevance to the Vietnam War raging at the time was laid on with a very light touch, I thought.  Recommended.

Topaz
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Samuel A. Taylor from the novel by Leon Uris
1969/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Netflix rental

Michele Picard: Oh, the Cubans. I love the Cubans. They are so wild!

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!  Any one in search of the Master’s suspense or style will be sorely disappointed.

The story is set during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.  The plot is quite convoluted.  Any way, a Russian defector tells the CIA about his country’s plans to deploy medium-range ballistic missiles in Cuba.  He also informs CIA agent Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe) that the USSR has infiltrated French Intelligence and is leaking secret NATO documents to the KGB.  Nordstrom enlists French intelligence agent Andre Devereaux to ferret out the mole.  Devereaux has special insider access at the highest levels of Castro’s regime.  He also has a very troubled home life and is having an affair with a double agent.

A lot of skullduggery and a little romance ensues.  The investigation takes Deveraux to the highest levels of the French Embassy in Washington.  With John Vernon as a revolutionary and Phillippe Noiret and Michel Piccoli as French diplomats.

Poor Hitch got a decent amount of money to make this movie but didn’t attract one single Hollywood star.  Maybe the studio had premonitions of disaster — the film was a box-office flop.

The production seems to have been an unhappy one.  As a spy thriller it is mediocre.  It has just lacks what made Hitchcock great – his style, his mastery of suspense, and his black humor.  The script didn’t do him any favors.  I didn’t care about the characters and even less about the McGuffin mole.  Recommended to Hitchcock completists only – like me.

Double Suicide (Shinjû: Ten no Amijima)
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda
Written by Masahiro Shinoda, Toru Takemitsu, and Taeko Tomioka from a play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu
1969/Japan
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

I think love isn’t doomed, of course, but in real life, love doesn’t always work out. — Makoto Shinkai

Classical Japanese tragedy is elevated by Shinoda’s sublime and unique filmmaking style.

The story is set in the 18th Century.  Jihei is a samurai.  He has a sweet and adoring wife named Osan and two small children.  Koharu is a courtesan.  She is more or less a slave who is on sale to the first man who can meet her price.  Jihei and Koharu are having an affair.

Both our principals know their love is doomed.  They agree to commit double suicide in the event that Koharu is sold to another.  Osan is desperate to get her husband back. There can be no happy ending for this Japanese Romeo and Juliet.

The plot is straight-forward.  The filmmaking is definitely not.  The film starts off with people preparing to perform the story as a puppet drama, its traditional format.  Shortly thereafter, the real actors start.  The theatrical elements are captured in the art direction.  Surfaces are covered with scenes looking like old Japanese woodprints or calligraphy and some of walls look like modern art drip paintings.  The B&W cinematography is sensational.  I enjoyed this.

Opening