Daily Archives: February 3, 2023

With one thing or another, it took me 18 months to watch less than 40 films for 1978.  I hope to get through 1979 at a more normal rate!  Anyhow, the following were my favorite films of those I watched.  I watched Reinhard Hauff’s Knife in the Head years ago.  It features Bruno Ganz in a fabulous performance as an amnesiac with a traumatic brain injury.  It would probably be on the list if it had been accessible to me during this round.

The Last Waltz (dir. Martin Scorsese)

Days of Heaven (dir. Terence Malik)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (dir. Philip Kaufman)

Dawn of the Dead (dir. George Romero)

Autumn Sonata (dir. Ingmar Bergman)

The Buddy Holly Story (dir. Steve Rash)

La Cage aux Folles (dir. Edouard Molinaro)

Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor) (dir. Juraj Herz)

Gates of Heaven (dir. Errol Morris)

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L’albero degli zoccoli)
Directed by Ermanno Olmi
Written by Ermanno Olmi
1978/Italy
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Don Carlo: Above all, try always to love one another. The love between two people is something money can’t buy. God says not to seek worldly riches but the blessings of paradise. And remember that paradise begins with the love that we show each other here on earth.

This film is three hours long with relatively little dialogue. I wasn’t looking forward to it but it is so beautiful in every way that it captured me from the start.

Film takes place in a feudal farm in Bergamo Italy at the end of the 19th century. All the dialogue is in the Bergamese dialect and the actors are amateurs. The story follows both the life of the community and the life of the members of the Bastini family. We get birth, love, a wedding, death, and unremitting field work. There’s plenty of love and help to neighbors in need to set off the poverty of the people.

Director Olmi did the fabulous cinematography himself. The music is dreamy. Recommended.

This is the last film I will watch from 1978. It took me 1 1/2 years to watch less than 40 films! 1979 looks to be a particularly good year so here’s hoping!