1960s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 3)

[Dylan]

I've tallied, and I've seen nearly 1,000 from the 1960's. My list is done, so I'll submit it this afternoon.

My #1 from the 60s is also my #1 of all-time - Sundays and Cybele by Serge Bourguignon, a film that hasn't been mentioned once on this thread that I know of. It is notable for having won the 1962 Oscar for Best Foreign film, but outside of a VHS release in the 1980's it hasn't been easy to see in America (there is a great R2 available that preserves Henri Decae's beautiful 2.35 'scope cinematography). It stars Patricia Gozzi, giving a child performance that led to world-wide acclaim even though she ended up walking from cinema as an adult (her next role after this was the only recently-released Rapture, which many here loved). A DVD rip is available to watch on YouTube but of course I would advise tracking down the DVD to see it in the best-possible quality.

The wikipedia gives everything away so I would also avoid that. I'm pressed for time to truly express some succinct thoughts about about my favorite film (!) so I will have to return to this thread later, but seeing as there hasn't been a single mention of this on the thread and there's something like ten days left to submit lists, I wanted to get this out there.

[swo17]

Another several lists in and we already have a top 100. Let's see, what would make for some good clues today?

1. The top 3 are all from the same country, and two of them are from the same year.

2. About midway through the list, there are two consecutive two-way ties between the films of a single director, one American, the other French. You will never guess either of them.

[Tommaso]

1. The top 3 are all from the same country, and two of them are from the same year.

8 1/2, L'eclisse, L'aventura.

I hope I'm wrong. Even though my forthcoming #1 will also be Italian and from one of those years.

[swo17]

Those all came out in different years.

[zedz]

I saw them too late for my list*, and probably too late for anybody else's, but it'd be remiss of me not to mention, for the record, that Pere Portabella's first couple of films, No conteis con los dedos (1967) and Nocturne 29 (1968), are absolutely amazing. The first is a half-hour randomized farrago of disparate sequences in all manner of styles (faux documentary; expert, opulent chiaroscuro; glamorous commercial; semi-animation; gritty thriller), with occasional disjunctive narration, all adding up to - who knows? It's a head-scratcher, but one that displays an extraordinary level of craft. Nocturne 29 extends basically the same idea to feature length, but with a much greater level of stylistic consistency and even more superb cinematography (Luis Cuadrado, Spirit of the Beehive) that's so high contrast the whites are practically apocalyptic. Thus a sequence of Lucia Bose wandering around her apartment and removing her make-up becomes visually thrilling. The individual sequences all pretty much speak for themselves, but they bang up against the adjacent ones mysteriously.


* Well, I know I could still rejig my list, but it was painful enough fitting the hippo into my hand luggage first time around - I don't want to deal with the mess if I reopen it.

[domino harvey]

What's the over-under on zedz and I having 100 different films between our two lists

[swo17]

Your lists actually have two films in common!

[knives]

I'm sure one or two shared interests might come in.

Edit: damnit Swo

[Cold Bishop]

Since I've already fixed my focus on the 70s and 80s lists, to the detriment of this and the animation project, my larger write-ups will take a back seat. Nevertheless, a few Hail Mary passes for the adventurous viewer, in his last ten days of contemplation:

A couer de la vie (Robert Enrico, 1963) - If you have any plans to vote for An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, I implore you to track this down, the anthology film from which it came. It's certainly the highlight, but the two other Ambrose Bierce adaptations are also brilliant and make this one of the better film of its type. Enrico was one of my favorite discoveries for this project someone, who like Franju, represented a fresh voice in French cinema but who, for better or worse, existed outside the much more vaunted New Wave.

I, the Executioner (Tai Kato, 1968) - Remember how I was talking about "deep cuts" earlier? Well, this is clear-case example: Tai Kato doesn't bear any mention in accounts of 60s Japanese cinema, but this film is an absolute revelation. A would-be sleazy, misogynistic exploitation film turned upside down and inside out into a noirish, mysterious study of psychosis and revenge. Kato's formal audaciousness and his brazen approach to sexual politics makes this something worthy of Oshima's Violence at Noon and Imamura's Intentions of Murder - perhaps even echoing certain aspects of Koji Wakamastu - even as Kato himself remained firmly within the commercial studio system.

Joseph Kilian (Jan Schmidt and Pavel Juràcek, 1963) - A spellbinding short from two leading lights of the Czech New Wave. Just one look at the title, and you know you're in Kafka territory here. Communist Prague transformed into an absurd and incomprehensible maze, hillarious and frightening in equal measure.

More to come (I hope).

[bamwc2]

My #1 from the 60s is also my #1 of all-time - Sundays and Cybele by Serve Bourguignon, a film that hasn't been mentioned once on this thread that I know of.

Also on my list, but sadly not near the top.

[zedz]

Your lists actually have two films in common!

Oh this'll be fun.

My guess is a married couple of Les demoiselles de Rochefort and Cleo de 5 a 7.

(On the reserve bench: L'enfance nue and Violence at Noon.)

[domino harvey]

I was gonna guess Les demoiselles de Rochefort too, so that's obv one. Would say Psycho is the other one but seems hard to believe that'd be your only narrative American film, so god only knows

[zedz]

Psycho was one of my painful omissions, so no (the sole American narrative feature of mine is The Shooting). Paris nous appartient? Au hasard, Balthazar? L'Eclisse? I'm Godard-free, so that's half your list out. . .

[domino harvey]

L'Eclisse

Boom \:D/

[zedz]

Well, that's a relief. I thought we were about to discover a mutual fondness for Jancso or Paradzhanov or something, which would be completely unnerving. I can't imagine what horror you had in store for me!

[domino harvey]

I don't go to the movies to read

[knives]

I'm probably missing out on a joke, but Jancso has pretty much no dialogue in his films.

[domino harvey]

I don't go to the movies to read emotional responses on faces

[Dylan]

My #1 from the 60s is also my #1 of all-time - Sundays and Cybele by Serve Bourguignon, a film that hasn't been mentioned once on this thread that I know of.

Also on my list, but sadly not near the top.

That makes me happy! Hopefully a few of you have the time to see Sundays and Cybele (if you're motivated to do so) before the project ends...

[domino harvey]

Only five pounds on Amazon.co.uk FYI

[Mr Sausage]

I'm Godard-free...

How long've you been Godard-free, now? I'm not quite Godard-free, but I know a few people who've been Godard-free for years and they're doing very well.

[bamwc2]

Only five pounds on Amazon.co.uk FYI

Also available on youtube here with burnt in English subs. I had considered making this one of my spotlights, but I decided on two other titles instead. For those of you who haven't submitted your lists yet, this is one that's definitely worth watching beforehand.

[zedz]

I'm Godard-free...

How long've you been Godard-free, now? I'm not quite Godard-free, but I know a few people who've been Godard-free for years and they're doing very well.

Well, when I say Godard-free, I did watch all the DVG stuff a couple of weeks ago. And the rest of the Politique box set too. And I'll be seeing Pierrot le Fou projected next week. But other than that, I'm clean, officer!

As long as I get my colon scraped every couple of weeks or so, this level of Godard doesn't seem to be doing me any permanent harm. Permanent harm. Parma ham.

[swo17]

Only five pounds on Amazon.co.uk FYI

Speaking of ordering DVDs from the UK and having time to watch them before the deadline, I'm going to be cutting it close trying to fit in all the viewings I was hoping to in the next 10 days, especially with Mother's Day coming up this weekend. Would everyone hate me very much if I extended the deadline another week (or two)? This would of course also allow zedz to do some soul searching and find a place for Pierrot le fou on his list.

[matrixschmatrix]

If you extend it for about six months, I might actually be able to participate.