Lists of top films will often appear in newspapers and online at this time of the year. My wife and I are avid film fans but rarely go to the movies anymore. We prefer to stay home and watch DVDs from Netflix or my own collection. I prefer to use a DVD rather than scanning because the DVD often comes with commentary and special features that can be interesting. Below find a list of films that we have enjoyed in the past year. I begin with eight foreign films.
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| Marcello Mastroianni, Divorce Italian style |
Divorce Italian Style: Director Pietro Germi’s hilarious and cutting 1962 satire of Sicilian mores and culture is one of the great Italian comedies. Marcello Mastroianni plays a Sicilian aristocrat who longs to marry his nubile young cousin Angela. One obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife. His solution? Since divorce is illegal, he hatches a plot to lure his spouse into the arms of another and then murder her in a justifiable effort to save his honor.
Italian for Beginners: A warm and playful story from Denmark about six perfect strangers and the shared journey of discovery that changes each of their lives. In a small Danish city, a mismatched collection of opposites have signed up for an Italian class in hope of spicing up their lives. The film was shot in “cinema verite” style without any special effects or overbearing sound track. 2002.
Arranged: An American film from 2007 about the clash of seemingly foreign cultures in contemporary Brooklyn. “Arranged” centers on two young women-- one an Orthodox Jew, the other a devout Muslim-- who learn that they share much in common, especially since both their families are arranging marriages for them.
Rabbit Proof Fence: A powerful true story of hope and determination from Australia. At a time when it was Australian government policy to train aboriginal girls as domestic workers, young Molly Craig leads her little sister and cousin in an escape from an internment camp. To get home they must travel on foot along the 1500 mile rabbit-proof fence that bisects the continent.
The Band‘s Visit: In this charming 2007 film from Israel, an Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When they take the wrong bus, the band members find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. With no other option than to spend the night with the local townspeople, the two distinctly different cultures realize the universal bonds of love, music, and life. This film has currently been adapted as a hit Broadway musical.
Se Dio Vuole ( God Willing): A 2015 Italian comedy about a dysfunctional modern Italian family. The father is an arrogant cardiac surgeon who has literally driven his wife to drink. The family is shocked and dismayed when their son announces that he wants to quit medical school to become a priest. The father, a virulent atheist, sets out to prove that the young man’s charismatic mentor is a fake.
Early Summer: A charming film about ordinary life in post war Japan. The Mamiya family is seeking a husband for their daughter Noriko. This seemingly simple story is one of famed director, Yasujiro Ozu’s most complex films.—a nuanced examination of life’s changes over three generations. Shot beautifully in black and white, this 1951 classic stars Setsuko Hara, one of filmdoms greatest actresses.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg: This French musical is one of the most beloved romantic movies of all time. Every word of dialogue is sung in director Jacques Demy’s masterpiece starring the beautiful Catherine Deneuve as a shop assistant madly in love with a gas station mechanic. Their ill-fated love story unfolds to Academy Award winner Michel Legrand’s enchanting score. Restored to its original pristine glory, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg won the grand prize at the 1964 Cannes film festival, and was nominated for five Oscars.
This year, in addition to the foreign films, I include some American “film noir” classics from the 1940s and 50s. These black and white thrillers have stood the test of time and can be viewed over and over again. Sometimes they were "B" movies on a double bill but now many are regarded as true works of art. Moreover, for seniors like myself they provide a glimpse of the world when we were young.
High Sierra: A ground-breaking 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. Bogart plays a prohibition era gangster released from prison only to find himself out of place in a new world. Written by John Huston, and directed with gritty intensity by Raoul Walsh, High Sierra signaled a new era in film.
The Set-up: A 1949 boxing drama starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. Ryan is at his best as an aging fighter at the end of his career, and Totter plays his steadfast wife. Famed director Robert Wise presents a real-time look at the stale-air boxing venue, the bloodthirsty fans, the ring savagery, and the delusional dreams of the boxing world.
The Narrow Margin: A classic train thriller with Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor, the dark lady of film noir. McGraw plays a cop guarding a gangster’s moll (Windsor) as they travel to L.A. to testify before a grand jury. Also on the train are determined hitmen who know the moll is on the train but don’t know what she looks like.
The Killing: Sterling Hayden stars with Marie Windsor in this 1956 heist drama directed by young Stanley Kubrick. “The Killing” is tough, taut, tense, and one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made.
Roadhouse. In this 1948 film a sultry singer upsets the friendship of two men with tragic results. Starring Ida Lupino, Cornell Wilde, and Richard Widmark, one of the premier noir villains.
Too Late for Tears: Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea star in this 1949 tale of a beautiful, scheming housewife who will let nothing stand in her way after a fortune drops into her lap.
Dark Passage: This 1947 film about a man who changes his identify is perhaps the least well-known of the films that starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It ranks with their best. My favorite scene is the one where an underworld doctor performs plastic surgery on a fugitive in a shabby office in the middle of the night, and makes him look just like Humphrey Bogart.
Impact: Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines star in this 1949 film about a successful San Francisco businessman whose wife and her lover scheme to bump off. The film also features famed Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong.
Boomerang: Director Elia Kazan won critical acclaim for this vividly portrayed true-crime drama set in Stamford CT in 1947. Dana Andrews stars as a District Attorney out to bring the suspected murderer of a beloved priest to justice.
In a Lonely Place. In this 1950 film Humphrey Bogart gives one of his best performances as a veteran screenwriter whose career is at a dead end. Unfortunately, after a chance meeting with a young hat-check girl he becomes a prime suspect when the girl is found murdered. Film Noir favorite Gloria Grahame co-stars.
Witness to Murder: Barbara Stanwyck stars in this 1954 film noir as a woman fighting to convince police that one sleepless night she saw a young woman being strangled in an apartment across the street. When a body cannot be found, the police suspect that she has either been dreaming or out of her mind. George Sanders and Gary Merrill co-star.
The Burglar: This little known 1957 crime thriller with typical noir twists and turns stars Dan Duryea as a cunning jewel thief hoping to pull off his final heist. Jayne Mansfield plays one of the accomplices in a surprisingly good early role.
I Wake Up Screaming: In a rare dramatic role Betty Grable plays the sister of a beautiful murdered model in this tense 1941 thriller. While police search for the murderer, Grable is falling in love with the prime suspect played by Victor Mature. The many plot twists and turns leave viewers guessing right to the end.
Lady from Shanghai: Orson Welles directed and starred in this spellbinding 1948 film that also stars beautiful femme fatale Rita Hayworth. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to Hayworth's crippled and sinister lawyer husband, Welles is drawn into a web of intrigue and murder. The climax is one of the greatest scenes in film history.
Nightfall. Aldo Ray and a young Anne Bancroft star in this little known 1957 film noir about a young man innocently trapped in a web of crime and murder. The film features some of the best work of two film noir masters: director Jacques Tourneur, and Burnett Guffey, the cinematographer whose dark city scenes and winter landscapes are classic noir.
The Asphalt Jungle: John Huston directed this 1950 classic noir heist drama that has often been copied but never equaled. Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, and Louis Calhern star as the principals in a plot to steal a fortune in jewels. The film also features Marilyn Monroe in the role that launched her into stardom.
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Arranged: An American film from 2007 about the clash of seemingly foreign cultures in contemporary Brooklyn. “Arranged” centers on two young women-- one an Orthodox Jew, the other a devout Muslim-- who learn that they share much in common, especially since both their families are arranging marriages for them.
Rabbit Proof Fence: A powerful true story of hope and determination from Australia. At a time when it was Australian government policy to train aboriginal girls as domestic workers, young Molly Craig leads her little sister and cousin in an escape from an internment camp. To get home they must travel on foot along the 1500 mile rabbit-proof fence that bisects the continent.
The Band‘s Visit: In this charming 2007 film from Israel, an Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When they take the wrong bus, the band members find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. With no other option than to spend the night with the local townspeople, the two distinctly different cultures realize the universal bonds of love, music, and life. This film has currently been adapted as a hit Broadway musical.
Se Dio Vuole ( God Willing): A 2015 Italian comedy about a dysfunctional modern Italian family. The father is an arrogant cardiac surgeon who has literally driven his wife to drink. The family is shocked and dismayed when their son announces that he wants to quit medical school to become a priest. The father, a virulent atheist, sets out to prove that the young man’s charismatic mentor is a fake.
Early Summer: A charming film about ordinary life in post war Japan. The Mamiya family is seeking a husband for their daughter Noriko. This seemingly simple story is one of famed director, Yasujiro Ozu’s most complex films.—a nuanced examination of life’s changes over three generations. Shot beautifully in black and white, this 1951 classic stars Setsuko Hara, one of filmdoms greatest actresses.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg: This French musical is one of the most beloved romantic movies of all time. Every word of dialogue is sung in director Jacques Demy’s masterpiece starring the beautiful Catherine Deneuve as a shop assistant madly in love with a gas station mechanic. Their ill-fated love story unfolds to Academy Award winner Michel Legrand’s enchanting score. Restored to its original pristine glory, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg won the grand prize at the 1964 Cannes film festival, and was nominated for five Oscars.
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| Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuove |
This year, in addition to the foreign films, I include some American “film noir” classics from the 1940s and 50s. These black and white thrillers have stood the test of time and can be viewed over and over again. Sometimes they were "B" movies on a double bill but now many are regarded as true works of art. Moreover, for seniors like myself they provide a glimpse of the world when we were young.
High Sierra: A ground-breaking 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. Bogart plays a prohibition era gangster released from prison only to find himself out of place in a new world. Written by John Huston, and directed with gritty intensity by Raoul Walsh, High Sierra signaled a new era in film.
The Set-up: A 1949 boxing drama starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. Ryan is at his best as an aging fighter at the end of his career, and Totter plays his steadfast wife. Famed director Robert Wise presents a real-time look at the stale-air boxing venue, the bloodthirsty fans, the ring savagery, and the delusional dreams of the boxing world.
The Narrow Margin: A classic train thriller with Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor, the dark lady of film noir. McGraw plays a cop guarding a gangster’s moll (Windsor) as they travel to L.A. to testify before a grand jury. Also on the train are determined hitmen who know the moll is on the train but don’t know what she looks like.
The Killing: Sterling Hayden stars with Marie Windsor in this 1956 heist drama directed by young Stanley Kubrick. “The Killing” is tough, taut, tense, and one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made.
Roadhouse. In this 1948 film a sultry singer upsets the friendship of two men with tragic results. Starring Ida Lupino, Cornell Wilde, and Richard Widmark, one of the premier noir villains.
Too Late for Tears: Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea star in this 1949 tale of a beautiful, scheming housewife who will let nothing stand in her way after a fortune drops into her lap.
Dark Passage: This 1947 film about a man who changes his identify is perhaps the least well-known of the films that starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It ranks with their best. My favorite scene is the one where an underworld doctor performs plastic surgery on a fugitive in a shabby office in the middle of the night, and makes him look just like Humphrey Bogart.
Impact: Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines star in this 1949 film about a successful San Francisco businessman whose wife and her lover scheme to bump off. The film also features famed Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong.
Boomerang: Director Elia Kazan won critical acclaim for this vividly portrayed true-crime drama set in Stamford CT in 1947. Dana Andrews stars as a District Attorney out to bring the suspected murderer of a beloved priest to justice.
In a Lonely Place. In this 1950 film Humphrey Bogart gives one of his best performances as a veteran screenwriter whose career is at a dead end. Unfortunately, after a chance meeting with a young hat-check girl he becomes a prime suspect when the girl is found murdered. Film Noir favorite Gloria Grahame co-stars.
Witness to Murder: Barbara Stanwyck stars in this 1954 film noir as a woman fighting to convince police that one sleepless night she saw a young woman being strangled in an apartment across the street. When a body cannot be found, the police suspect that she has either been dreaming or out of her mind. George Sanders and Gary Merrill co-star.
The Burglar: This little known 1957 crime thriller with typical noir twists and turns stars Dan Duryea as a cunning jewel thief hoping to pull off his final heist. Jayne Mansfield plays one of the accomplices in a surprisingly good early role.
I Wake Up Screaming: In a rare dramatic role Betty Grable plays the sister of a beautiful murdered model in this tense 1941 thriller. While police search for the murderer, Grable is falling in love with the prime suspect played by Victor Mature. The many plot twists and turns leave viewers guessing right to the end.
Lady from Shanghai: Orson Welles directed and starred in this spellbinding 1948 film that also stars beautiful femme fatale Rita Hayworth. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to Hayworth's crippled and sinister lawyer husband, Welles is drawn into a web of intrigue and murder. The climax is one of the greatest scenes in film history.
Nightfall. Aldo Ray and a young Anne Bancroft star in this little known 1957 film noir about a young man innocently trapped in a web of crime and murder. The film features some of the best work of two film noir masters: director Jacques Tourneur, and Burnett Guffey, the cinematographer whose dark city scenes and winter landscapes are classic noir.
The Asphalt Jungle: John Huston directed this 1950 classic noir heist drama that has often been copied but never equaled. Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, and Louis Calhern star as the principals in a plot to steal a fortune in jewels. The film also features Marilyn Monroe in the role that launched her into stardom.
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| Marilyn Monroe in The Asphalt Jungle |
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