Last year I finished working my way through all the Best Picture winners.
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Last year I finished working my way through all the Best Picture winners. Since then I've been idly working on some other lists, and keeping current on the IMDb Top 250, but now I'm starting a new project in earnest: Palm d'Or winners. I'm at a shockingly low 30% for that, but with only 54 to work through, it feels a lot more tenable. It will still take me at least a year, of course. This will be the thread for my comments.
First up was The Silent World (1956), one of only two documentaries to ever win. It's what first made Jacques Cousteau and company famous. I expected a lot of pretty underwater photography of them doing marine biology, and got it, but some of their methodology was, uh, unexpected. For instance, dynamiting a reef to kill all the fish in the area, making them easier to count. Or when they motored into a pod of whales, hit one, then were so distracted listening to its cries that they completely run over a calf, mortally wounding it with the propeller. They chase the calf down, complete with extended underwater shots of it bleeding out, finally killing it with a rifle. Then they start pulling the sharks that arrive to eat the corpse up onto the deck and beating them to death with axes. As "revenge for the whale", the narration dares to claim. Simply astonishing.
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First up was The Silent World (1956), one of only two documentaries to ever win. It's what first made Jacques Cousteau and company famous. I expected a lot of pretty underwater photography of them doing marine biology, and got it, but some of their methodology was, uh, unexpected. For instance, dynamiting a reef to kill all the fish in the area, making them easier to count. Or when they motored into a pod of whales, hit one, then were so distracted listening to its cries that they completely run over a calf, mortally wounding it with the propeller. They chase the calf down, complete with extended underwater shots of it bleeding out, finally killing it with a rifle. Then they start pulling the sharks that arrive to eat the corpse up onto the deck and beating them to death with axes. As "revenge for the whale", the narration dares to claim. Simply astonishing.
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
An absolute lost classic, and it's a shame it took me 48 years to come across it. It managed to be an actually fairly nuanced examination of pacifism, seen through the lens of a Quaker community whose values are being tested by the US civil war. Really just a charming slice of life at first, it very effectively builds up fully human characters whose moral conflicts can be deeply felt when the war finally arrives. For a product of the studio system at the height of their blandness, it almost manages to be profound.
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Friendly Persuasion (1956)
An absolute lost classic, and it's a shame it took me 48 years to come across it. It managed to be an actually fairly nuanced examination of pacifism, seen through the lens of a Quaker community whose values are being tested by the US civil war. Really just a charming slice of life at first, it very effectively builds up fully human characters whose moral conflicts can be deeply felt when the war finally arrives. For a product of the studio system at the height of their blandness, it almost manages to be profound.
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Somehow I'd never actually watched this before. Some absolutely beautiful shots, but one of those movies where everyone is kind of terrible, and I just want them all to go away. But it was amusing to remember halfway through that the sleazy photographer being named Paparazzo wasn't a bit on the nose, it's the origin of that term!
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La Dolce Vita (1960)
Somehow I'd never actually watched this before. Some absolutely beautiful shots, but one of those movies where everyone is kind of terrible, and I just want them all to go away. But it was amusing to remember halfway through that the sleazy photographer being named Paparazzo wasn't a bit on the nose, it's the origin of that term!
Viridiana (1961)
I hadn't watched a Luis Buñuel film in a very long time, but my impression remains much the same. Weirdly intense, a bit too busy dealing with the director's issues with religion to be fully coherent, left me feeling icky. I guess maybe it was edgy and shocking at one point, but not in any interesting way to my jaded 2025 eyes.
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Viridiana (1961)
I hadn't watched a Luis Buñuel film in a very long time, but my impression remains much the same. Weirdly intense, a bit too busy dealing with the director's issues with religion to be fully coherent, left me feeling icky. I guess maybe it was edgy and shocking at one point, but not in any interesting way to my jaded 2025 eyes.
The Leopard (1963)
A gorgeous, lush historical production about the unification of Italy, a period of history I didn't know much about. And still don't, because that mostly happens off screen and is just kind of offhandedly mentioned now and then. Staring Burt Lancaster, who apparently did all his lines in English and just got dubbed into Italian? Anyway, I didn't hate it, and it was very pretty to look at. But my sympathy for a prince who is super sad because of the tackiness of the rising middle class is a bit limited.
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The Leopard (1963)
A gorgeous, lush historical production about the unification of Italy, a period of history I didn't know much about. And still don't, because that mostly happens off screen and is just kind of offhandedly mentioned now and then. Staring Burt Lancaster, who apparently did all his lines in English and just got dubbed into Italian? Anyway, I didn't hate it, and it was very pretty to look at. But my sympathy for a prince who is super sad because of the tackiness of the rising middle class is a bit limited.
The Given Word (1962)
Based on the logline ("A devout Christian makes a vow to Saint Barbara after she saves his donkey, but everyone misunderstands his intentions. Will he keep his promise?"), I wasn't really looking forward to this one. But it was so much weirder and more visceral than I expected, I'm very glad I watched it. And maybe the first portrayal of capoeira in film? Still not sure if I liked it, exactly, but I bet I keep thinking about it.
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The Given Word (1962)
Based on the logline ("A devout Christian makes a vow to Saint Barbara after she saves his donkey, but everyone misunderstands his intentions. Will he keep his promise?"), I wasn't really looking forward to this one. But it was so much weirder and more visceral than I expected, I'm very glad I watched it. And maybe the first portrayal of capoeira in film? Still not sure if I liked it, exactly, but I bet I keep thinking about it.
The Knack... and How to Get It (1965)
I feared this was going to be repulsive pickup artist bullshit, and it very much was. And much of it was the kind of wacky 60s comedy I don't much like. But it did do some very interesting things with language, throwing sentence fragments around in almost incomprehensible, staccato bursts. And there were elements that reminded me a lot more of If...., one of my favorite films, a lot more than I expected. But I'm having to squint a lot to say anything positive about it, and I'm not sure why I'm bothering.
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The Knack... and How to Get It (1965)
I feared this was going to be repulsive pickup artist bullshit, and it very much was. And much of it was the kind of wacky 60s comedy I don't much like. But it did do some very interesting things with language, throwing sentence fragments around in almost incomprehensible, staccato bursts. And there were elements that reminded me a lot more of If...., one of my favorite films, a lot more than I expected. But I'm having to squint a lot to say anything positive about it, and I'm not sure why I'm bothering.
The Go-Between (1971)
I liked this well enough, but I must have been more tired than I realized because I completely failed to realize there were interspersed scenes set 50 years after the main action until WAY too late in the movie. So I spent a lot of it being confused why I'd seen cars and a television set, yet someone had referred to "the war" and meant the Boer War! Though, reading the plot summary on Wikipedia, I think maybe you just needed to have read the book to understand everything that was happening.
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The Go-Between (1971)
I liked this well enough, but I must have been more tired than I realized because I completely failed to realize there were interspersed scenes set 50 years after the main action until WAY too late in the movie. So I spent a lot of it being confused why I'd seen cars and a television set, yet someone had referred to "the war" and meant the Boer War! Though, reading the plot summary on Wikipedia, I think maybe you just needed to have read the book to understand everything that was happening.
The Mattei Affair (1972)
Learning about Italian history is an emerging theme of this project. We're into the gritty 70s now, and this movie pairs nicely with The Conversation, which would win the Palme d'Or two years later. Quite enjoyable, though it does suffer some from the inherent problem of biopics -- how do you turn a life into a well-formed narrative, and not just a sequence of events?
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The Mattei Affair (1972)
Learning about Italian history is an emerging theme of this project. We're into the gritty 70s now, and this movie pairs nicely with The Conversation, which would win the Palme d'Or two years later. Quite enjoyable, though it does suffer some from the inherent problem of biopics -- how do you turn a life into a well-formed narrative, and not just a sequence of events?
The Hireling (1973)
It didn't help that I was watching this on a random youtube of dubious pedigree and worse encoding quality, but I found this to be an oppressive, claustrophobic movie. Which was at least in part the intention, I think, but being outside of British class anxieties, it didn't really speak to me. Like how the failure mode of clever is asshole, the failure mode of 70s grit is mildly repulsed boredom.
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The Hireling (1973)
It didn't help that I was watching this on a random youtube of dubious pedigree and worse encoding quality, but I found this to be an oppressive, claustrophobic movie. Which was at least in part the intention, I think, but being outside of British class anxieties, it didn't really speak to me. Like how the failure mode of clever is asshole, the failure mode of 70s grit is mildly repulsed boredom.
Scarecrow (1973)
Pure 70s grit with Gene Hackman and Al Pacino in a movie that I ended up liking a lot more than I expected to. I sometimes have trouble getting into rambling, episodic plots, but the nuances of their performances and the development of the relationship between them was really captivating. The abrupt ending hit particularly hard.
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Scarecrow (1973)
Pure 70s grit with Gene Hackman and Al Pacino in a movie that I ended up liking a lot more than I expected to. I sometimes have trouble getting into rambling, episodic plots, but the nuances of their performances and the development of the relationship between them was really captivating. The abrupt ending hit particularly hard.
The Long Absence (1961)
Jumping back in time a bit here as physical media for the unstreamable ones final arrive. Slow, subtle and heartbreaking. The unresolved ending felt fully justified as a way to put us in the mindspace of the protagonist, and not just a gimmick. Definitely underrated.
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The Long Absence (1961)
Jumping back in time a bit here as physical media for the unstreamable ones final arrive. Slow, subtle and heartbreaking. The unresolved ending felt fully justified as a way to put us in the mindspace of the protagonist, and not just a gimmick. Definitely underrated.
Padre Padrone (1977)
Brutal child abuse in Sardinia. Also a surprising amount of bestiality. All within a framing device that Wes Anderson might have filmed. Fascinating, but not exactly enjoyable.
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Padre Padrone (1977)
Brutal child abuse in Sardinia. Also a surprising amount of bestiality. All within a framing device that Wes Anderson might have filmed. Fascinating, but not exactly enjoyable.
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)
Another one I had to wait for physical media to arrive in order to watch. And now I own a copy of a vile movie about vile people doing vile things that I will definitely never watch again. Blech.
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The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)
Another one I had to wait for physical media to arrive in order to watch. And now I own a copy of a vile movie about vile people doing vile things that I will definitely never watch again. Blech.
Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975)
An understated epic on the lead up to the Algerian war for independence, seen through the eyes of a peasant who gets increasingly more involved as tensions escalate. Sadly I was watching a low quality scan with fairly bad captions, but it was still enthralling.
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Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975)
An understated epic on the lead up to the Algerian war for independence, seen through the eyes of a peasant who gets increasingly more involved as tensions escalate. Sadly I was watching a low quality scan with fairly bad captions, but it was still enthralling.
A Man and a Woman (1966)
Charming and vibe-y. One of those minor works that have an oversized emotional impact, by just doing the basic stuff super well. I kept trying to figure out what the significance of the sections filmed in color vs BW was, but like If...., I now see it was arbitrarily driven by the budget.
I'm now over 50% done with the Palme d'Or list! (Having started at about 30&.) It's going much faster than I expected, but having a list of movies to pull from has proven to be very convenient when combined with the new and exciting forms of insomnia I've been exploring.
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A Man and a Woman (1966)
Charming and vibe-y. One of those minor works that have an oversized emotional impact, by just doing the basic stuff super well. I kept trying to figure out what the significance of the sections filmed in color vs BW was, but like If...., I now see it was arbitrarily driven by the budget.
I'm now over 50% done with the Palme d'Or list! (Having started at about 30&.) It's going much faster than I expected, but having a list of movies to pull from has proven to be very convenient when combined with the new and exciting forms of insomnia I've been exploring.
The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971)
A messy but interesting film. Bonus: it featured lots of machining, though much of that was more of a cautionary tale when it comes to shop safety.
This one proved elusive, as it's not available for streaming, but luckily Scarecrow, the one big (really big!) rental store left in town, had a copy. Except the first time I carelessly grabbed the Blu-Ray instead of the DVD, and my region-free player is DVD only. Whoops. I'm enjoying going to the rental store after brunch as part of my normal Saturday routine, though. I think I'll keep doing that, even when everything on the docket is available streaming. Gods know that Google and Amazon don't need any more of my money.
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The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971)
A messy but interesting film. Bonus: it featured lots of machining, though much of that was more of a cautionary tale when it comes to shop safety.
This one proved elusive, as it's not available for streaming, but luckily Scarecrow, the one big (really big!) rental store left in town, had a copy. Except the first time I carelessly grabbed the Blu-Ray instead of the DVD, and my region-free player is DVD only. Whoops. I'm enjoying going to the rental store after brunch as part of my normal Saturday routine, though. I think I'll keep doing that, even when everything on the docket is available streaming. Gods know that Google and Amazon don't need any more of my money.
Man of Iron (1981)
An powerful, riveting portrayal of a spineless journalist sent to dig up dirt on the leader of a strike in communist Poland. It manages a delicate combination of being simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic. Pretty amazing that it got made at all, it just squeaked through during a short window of lax censorship following the events being portrayed in the movie. It's a sequel to Man of Marble, focusing on the father of the strike leader, and I think I'll have to watch that one too.
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Man of Iron (1981)
An powerful, riveting portrayal of a spineless journalist sent to dig up dirt on the leader of a strike in communist Poland. It manages a delicate combination of being simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic. Pretty amazing that it got made at all, it just squeaked through during a short window of lax censorship following the events being portrayed in the movie. It's a sequel to Man of Marble, focusing on the father of the strike leader, and I think I'll have to watch that one too.
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
A meditative, almost languid slice of life of late 19th century Lombard peasants. I found it surprisingly gripping -- I think because the cinematography was an amazing balancing act of being entirely understated and naturalistic while still somehow making every frame look like the work of an old master.
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The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
A meditative, almost languid slice of life of late 19th century Lombard peasants. I found it surprisingly gripping -- I think because the cinematography was an amazing balancing act of being entirely understated and naturalistic while still somehow making every frame look like the work of an old master.
The Tin Drum (1979)
A very strange movie, with some incredibly uncomfortable scenes. There was a surrealism to it I liked, but it never quite leaned into that. There were some sweeping historical epic elements that I also liked, but it couldn't really commit to those either. There was a holy fool, and I love holy fools, but he isn't used very well. I dunno. Maybe don't put 11 year old actors in explicit sex scenes, even if they are playing a 16 year old?
Anyway, I'm now done with the 1970s.
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