Cinemascapes
Part of this website is to inspire film exploration. Even with so much content available for streaming it seems that viewers inevitably watch whatever productions are deemed worthy by the streaming service we're watching. But streaming service rarely curates the titles in its library very well. Netflix obfuscates the number of titles it has- and over the years the obscure titles available through the mail order DVD service was transformed to a service that whittled away to whatever their content mill decided was worth producing. Today that means that Netflix really becomes a Straight to Streaming service for films that wouldn't otherwise be that commercial-with film edits that tend to extend the viewing for content hours.
The curation aspect of these services is left in the wind then. For 2024 Netflix announced a series of films from 50 years ago - 1974. However when watching these films it becomes quickly apparent that this offering has glaring omissions. The films themselves just seem to be whatever rights Netflix could get a hand on- outside of the brief articles at the start of the year there wasn't much of a push from the Netflix app front page either (you had to really look for these films yourself by searching 1974 as opposed to other services that often put collections in their own page). So even getting to the content is cumbersome- but then really watching the films it's hard to say that this lends itself to the best viewing experience. Apparently every quarter Netflix will extend this to movies from the 84, 94, 2004. But what's the difference in showing these particular films than also watching a film from 1973? Or 1971? Good curation should give a feeling or structure for a particular viewing experience. A few movies from the same year just seems to be a lazy endeavor for a company that is supposed to be using a vast infrastructure to deliver recommendations to you. In my experience your "likes" of films just seems to put a tag on certain categories to your profile. Even with that it seems these films are only available until the end of March so it's time to binge the rest and see if they have much impact~
What films are there in this list of greats? Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Black Belt Jones, Blazing Saddles, California Split, Chinatown, The Conversation, Death Wish, The Gambler, The Great Gatsby, It’s Alive, The Little Prince, The Lords of Flatbush, The Parallax View, and The Street Fighter. Oddly the films The Front Page, Murder on the Orient Express, and Manoranjan weren't included in the press release for the 74 collection- even though they are listed on the app later it shows how just having the film come out in 1974 seems like a misnomer for "curation." Quite a few are known classics or fit within genre greats. The viewing experience is a bit split if you were to watch only these films however- so for my own experience I've also been watching films that pair well.
This is how I explore the landscape of cinema - and although this curation is a bit messy there are interesting things that arise when you watch films from a specific era. Certain actors that pop up in the background appear in other films- and especially for older films there tends to be a short list of actors that make up this fictional film world. They may pop up as different characters, but over time the meta awareness of the audience means that they come to expect certain things from actors. This meta awareness is also present when you watch particular creators- whether it be a Director or how the cinematography evolves. It gives a character to how the film experience feels to the audience that is watching- an example of how a giallo is different from other horror films~
I started with The Parralax View- for a political thriller this really hits on America after the Kennedy Assassination. Warren Beatty unwinds this tale of paranoia quite well as a reporter- leading to Clockwork Orange (1971) like brainwashing and an unease to the conclusion. Beatty has explored political thrillers throughout his career as well- I especially recommend Bulworth (1998) as a more modern exploration of American politics. The Director Alan J. Pakula also explored paranoia throughout the 70s with Klute (1971) and All the President's Men. Klute especially feels inspired by some of the mystery of the giallo genre.
Continuing this theme of 70s mystery and heavy performances I watched The French Connection (1971) to pair with The Conversation and Chinatown. Gene Hackman especially shows a bubbling up of isolated characters that seem on the brink in the Conversation. Chinatown has Polanski's ability to make the viewer feel Jack Nicholson's hopeless Investigator. The ending of both films leaves the viewer stifled by what has happened- the obsessed investigator has no outs- and this unrelenting aspect underlies many thematic elements of 70s narratives. The noir crime and seedy qualities flow into the exploitation genre with Death Wish- with Jeff Goldblum's first appearance as part of a menacing group of rapists and muggers. Are we to cheer the liberal turned gun toting anti-hero? In a way the ending where Bronson grins back at the camera with his gun pointer finger reflects the madness of the look of A Clockwork Orange-- this "hero" never really gets revenge.
Black Belt Jones also deals with the thematic push against crime- Jim Kelly given a lead role after starring with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973). The black hero fights against black drug lords- fighting for his community. The film never really gets the pacing right- and the fighting lackluster. The Street Fighter with Sonny Chiba stars as a gangster for hire against yakuza- with more bloody and fiercely depicted scenes. The plot itself becomes rather convoluted- but the fighting becomes the star.
The one horror film sticks out- "It's Alive" is more of a creature feature, but the underlying premise deals with some of the anxiety of birth- like a half brained Rosemary's Baby (1968)- but also the Roe court decisions on abortion may have had some impact on the film as well. The Roe decision also seems to come out in the coming of age 1950's greaser movie- The Lords of Flatbush. Stallone telling his girlfriend that he knows a guy that can handle an unwanted pregnancy seems especially poignant 50 years later when politically we're still dealing with this same issue. Henry Winkler basically plays a version of the Fonz- but it's interesting to see this nostalgic, romantic view of the 1950s in the 1970s.
Related to crime and obsession is gambling- with both The Gambler and California Split coming out as tales of addicts searching for their next high of winning. It's not just one game they play, but a total culture they embrace to get that "juice" or adrenaline feeling. Both are a bit dour, and although the Gambler has the stunning charisma of James Caan on the road to annihilation- I like that California Split feels more down to earth. Elliott Gould and George Segal embody men that simply keep going- until catching the win is meaningless. It helps too that Director Robert Altman is able to create more of a texture for the gambling environment with how other characters interact with the pair.
In its own way The Front Page is also about addiction- of a newspaper man breaking a story about an execution. Reprising a lot of the connection from The Odd Couple (1968), Walter Mattau and Jack Lemmon banter back and forth. It's occasionally funny, though the addiction of the newspaper man makes it clear that will be the "juice" in his life. Billy Wilder's Direction also makes it feel very much like a play (which it was based upon).
Murder on the Orient Express has a wide variety of star faces from the era- which moves a bit slowly to unfold, though the caricatures of the individual actors help propel the film. Poirot in particular seems more of an annoying figure than in the more recent eccentric portrayal by Kenneth Branagh. Sidney Lumet also makes more of a character out of the setting itself- the train speeding and having a weight to it that confines the murder suspects in a space that feels more isolated.
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore was built as a star vehicle for Ellen Burstyn after her success with The Exorcist- winning her another Oscar. She pulled Scorsese in to direct- and as such the film feels a bit removed from the themes of much of his work. In some ways however the same kind of hyper realism is at play- even with bursts of violence in men- jarring moments of handheld cinematography and Scorsese's musical tastes. Burstyn plays Alice as a bit histrionic- while her son's insistent presence really grates most of the screen time. The film starting with a very stylized Americana of the opening scene is as a dream that can never be reached. The husband's death also seems out of realism with the kind of Scorsese appeal to gore that would be at home in Goodfellas. The lasting impression of the movie seems to be Diane Ladd's wise cracking waitress with a spinoff sitcom that would last 9 seasons. Jodie Foster also has more confidence and charisma than most of the rest of the gnarled narrative so it becomes obvious why Scorsese cast her in Taxi Driver a couple years later.
Manoranjan is different from these films- itself feeling very 60s from some of the costume aesthetics (and being a remake of a 60s Billy Wilder film)- but also in being a romantic comedy supportive of sex workers. Coming around 3 hours though the musical interludes of fantastical numbers and somewhat silly premise of a cop turned apathetic strong man pimp wear a bit thin. It was easier to watch through by breaking it up as small sketches. It was cute for what it was, but had its own controversy as immoral in the 70s (and likely still today).
The Great Gatsby - This adaptation suffers a lot from the languid quality of the work- the light bland narration doesn't drive forward any insight to the ongoings- namely a soap opera surface affair with the idea of hope that's been romanticized as something deeper (Especially with jostled closeups). Robert Redford is affable because we as the audience know he's supposed to be. Mia Farrow as Daisy again offers another infantilized woman (as in Rosemary's Baby) that can't seem to have any idea of herself aside from the shiny thing held in front of her. She drifts through each scene crying or half doe eyed like she's been drunk or high constantly to deal with her sad rich life. Gatsby's projected image of her shows how shallow the whole thing is. There's no great tragedy here- just a muddy puddle. That aside, Bruce Dern as the racist and classist Tom Buchanan chews through the rest of the movie- delivering a wonderful villain.
The Little Prince and Blazing Saddles make for an interesting Gene Wilder pairing. While the Little Prince explores humanity from the view of a child, Blazing Saddles explodes absurd comedy to laugh at the evil within too. However Saddles seems to constantly push this till the meta narrative literally explodes out of the film production to the production of the movie itself. The non sequitor and zany antics seem to blend until it's no longer a narrative- a combustible non sequitur of a film. Cleavon Little especially gives his all to the live action cartoon with Benny Hill like antics. The Little Prince in contrast delivers a slower, in a way more mature delving into the subjects of war and love- of how we cherish things that are close to us. The theatrical moments are small, but given to push the imagination rather than a bright colored CGI Wonka factory that we're treated to in modern children's films. Gene Wilder's approach as a kooky fox also delivers a sort of human flair for how attached one can become to another- and feels like something out of a Wes Anderson film.
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Does this list of movies really encapsulate all that 1974 gave to cinema? Certainly it has highlights, but it misses the highest grossing summer blockbuster of that year- The Towering Inferno (and another disaster movie in Earthquake). It misses an all time great Wilder movie in Young Frankenstein, and most egregiously leaves off Godfather Part II. A Woman Under the Influence is also highly influential. Some international and exploitation movies are there though- and there's a lot to explore in 70s cinema that is more experimental than films today. The Night Porter and Foxy Brown being classic exploitation films. Along with The Street Fighter the Sister Street Fighter spinoff series will be interesting to watch. Lady Snowblood was also a great influence on Tarantino's aesthetic. The Shaw Brothers also continued releasing films like Five Shaolin Masters - so this is a golden age for well choreographed action.
Black Christmas was a revolutionary slasher movie- perhaps the first one, while Texas Chainsaw Massacre continues to be one of the best and most influential horror films. Pete Walker also had a couple of his best horror films in Frightmare and House of Whipcord- Not to mention that Zardoz came out in 1974. And who wants to miss out in a ridiculous space adventure with Sean Connery? Phantom of the Paradise was another odd musical horror comedy.
The thing that I really took from watching these movies however was how we as an audience perceive the expecation of the actors we see while viewing a film. Burt Young- Paulie from Rocky shows up in Chinatown and The Gambler. Stallone has some smaller parts in the background- and whenever we see films from different periods they'll exist within the cultural backdrop of the time. This is why it can be enjoyable to not have any preconceptions of a film by watching international movies where you don't know the actors. Over time you start to recognize and go back to your favourites- a recent example for me being Choi Min-sik as the star of Oldboy (and the Director Park Chan-wook) are both South Korean artists that I actively search for. Curation and film discovery needs more than a tired list~ it needs passion and insight for a connection of the audience to the films!