Five Must See Films
You’ve likely never heard of :)
There is a silver lining to everything. The COVID 19 stay-at-home orders provide you with a rare opportunity to see movie masterpieces that you may not only have never seen, but possibly never heard of!
These films are not offered on Netflix because Netflix wants you to watch proprietary content. Not to worry, these movies are available on any other number of other venues; Amazon, Youtube, Vulu…
The decade of the seventies is considered by many, if not most, film historians to be an apex in creative film making.
The sixties was a decade of breaking the rules. Restrictions on language, sexuality and violence had loosened up. The studio system had collapsed and with it, in-house film-making teams. New and experimental film makers were given a voice. The sixties ushered in the next decade of film making with bold themes and exceptional technique.
The zeitgeist of the seventies has echoes in our current time. History doesn’t repeat but it rhymes. Film makers of the time explored themes of questioning official narratives with the Vietnam war coming to an end, the Watergate Scandal, and an energy crisis. Thus, the seventies were marked with disillusionment, a lack of faith in institutions, commentary upon the lunacy of war and the dark side of the American Dream. Film makers took the zeitgeist and made brilliant lemonade.
You likely know and perhaps have seen the commercial blockbusters of the era: The Godfather (1972), Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977), but there were several films that were stunning masterpieces that you might not be familiar with.
These are: “Network,” “Chinatown,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “The Conversation,” and “Love Story.” These movies grab you and never really let you go.
“Network” is a film you can not leave this earth not seeing simply because it exhibits wonderful story telling with a stinging commentary on the unhealthy nexus between media and its audience. It is a study on the exploitation of those in peril for any kind of economic gain. The performances are pure art from Faye Dunaway who embodies the thin beautiful amoral media executive to William Holden who represents the dying man of morality caught between the shifting sands of convenience. The movie made famous the now iconic line, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” Like every great film, the ending will leave you speechless.
“Chinatown” may be a film you have heard of because it is the example used in every film class of the perfect screenplay. It’s the height of craft because it pairs a likable main character, Jack Gittes, with a mystery that unfolds with clue by clue that draws you in with the precision of a swiss watch. The theme explores the inevitability of corruption in a true story about LA’s water wars. Featuring Jack Nicholson in a tour de force performance and again Faye Dunaway who plays an unsympathetic character until the big reveal. This movie also made famous not one, but two iconic lines, “she’s my sister, no my daughter, no my sister, my daughter. She’s my sister and my daughter!” and of course, “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown.” The ending not only hammers home the theme but will give you chills.
“Three Days of the Condor” features Robert Redford at the height of his good looks in a story about an everyman caught in a likely fatal situation. The set up is classic film noir: a mild-mannered researcher returns from lunch to find all his co-workers assassinated and soon realizes he is next. Why do they want him dead? The film was made at a time when the average American believed in the mission of the intelligence agencies. This film explores the theme that any organization that isn’t transparent is likely corrupt and does so with exquisite flair. There is Faye Dunaway…again! She either had impeccable taste in projects or she elevated everything she was in, possibly both. She plays an average woman about to go to away for the weekend with her boyfriend until she is kidnapped by the good guy. I’ve likely revealed too much but hopefully enough for you to sit back and spoil yourself with a classic that you will never regret seeing. While it doesn’t feature an iconic line, it does have an ending that will slap you in the face with its thematic brilliance.
“The Conversation” is rarely mentioned anymore in the list of great films but it was Francis Ford Coppola’s second film of 1974, the first was “The Godfather.” “The Conversation” isn’t a splashy epic about the corruption of a soul…but it is about paranoia and the deceit of the soul. The theme explored is ‘not everything is as it seems, even when you are an expert.’ Coppola was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay which delves into the study of a man who is the best at what he does and that becomes a problem. Gene Hackman demonstrates why he is universally revered in his performance of a man who is intensely private while peering into other’s lives. Hackman’s Henry Caul is a surveillance expert hired to record a woman’s conversation until he realizes this could lead to the death of the woman and her lover. The line that I can never forget but sadly is not iconic is Cindy William’s, “Whenever I see one of those old guys (on a park bench) I always think that he was once somebody’s baby boy.” The plot twists and turns and ends with a resounding twist that again leaves you reeling.
“Love Story” didn’t open with high expectations but became a box office sensation. People lined up to see it more from word-of-mouth than critical reviews. The movie tells the story of love between the classes exploring the theme of the cost of love. Ryan O Neal plays a wealthy Harvard freshman who falls for the poor but spunky Ali MacGraw. He has to choose between the two and the film does a superb job in showing us why. The chemistry between the two is palpable, the score haunting, and the ending will likely jerk a few tears from your eyes. The tragedy of deep love lost, as Shakespeare so aptly put, “Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation” is timeless and resonant. The iconic line that really is not true but sounds good is “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” This movie is a classic because it tells this story so well. You know people like Oliver and Jenny so the ending punches you in the gut.
You do not need to binge watch a 20-hour show when you have five magnificent films each around two hours that will definitely entertain but also illuminate. Enjoy.