Belle de Jour (Director: Luis Buñuel)
Nominees: Marketa Lazarová, La Musica, Le Samouraï, Scattered Clouds, The Plea, Two for the Road, The Graduate, Samurai Rebellion, Bonnie and Clyde, In the Heat of the Night, Cool Hand LukeOscars pick: In the Heat of the Night
Nominees: Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Doolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
A movie that gets better every time I see it, earns the Felix in '67.
In Belle de Jour, Catherine Deneuve stars as Séverine, a sexually frustrated Paris housewife who secretly spends her afternoon hours working in a bordello. The film has its toe in the surreal, and leaves viewers with unanswered questions (what's the deal with the cats - never seen but heard and referred to. And what's that buzzing thing in the box? It doesn't matter, what matters is Séverine's reaction to it and how that contrasts with the other ladies' responses). There's a nod to Godard's Breathless (but is that a tribute, Bunuel wasn't a fan of the director) another to Millet's painting The Angelus (which might actually be a nod to Dali, who had an obsession with the painting and was of the belief that it held messages of repressed sexual aggression). The Criterion essay called Belle a "...gently absurdist take on contemporary social mores and class divisions. Fantasy and reality commingle in this burst of cinematic transgression.” Oh, and Deneuve is stunningly beautiful, even covered in muck she's a goddess.
Of my nominees, The Graduate was a movie I loved as a teenager and still like today. Critic James Kendrick accurately noted the film's "...satirical view of the affluent American upper class as a morass of immaturity and corruption hidden behind beautiful houses and garden parties." The script has bite and a lot of laughs, The performances, and the Simon & Garfunkel tunes are memorable, and it boasts one of the greatest final scenes in film history.
Marketa Lazarová is considered the greatest Czech film of all time... and yeah it's hard for me to argue with that. It's a stark, brutal, yet poetic slice of medieval delirium. A second viewing was better than the first, a third helping might even see it unseat Belle.
In the Heat of the Night was Oscars pick, and it's a good one. Challenging, suspenseful and human. It addresses racism, big city North vs. small city South prejudices, all wrapped around a murder investigation. Steiger won a much deserved Oscar, but I'm going the Cannes rout and award this as an acting pair because he and Sidney Poitier were so good together. I like the contrasts between the two men: Steiger rough and loud to Poitier's elegance and educated manner.
As for my supporting actor, there was a bunch to chose from. Alan Arkin in Wait Until Dark, Terence Stamp and Alan Bates in Far From the Madding Crowd, Hackman, Bonnie and Clyde, Tom Courtenay, The Night of the Generals and Oscar winner George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke, I was originally going to go with Peter Cook in Bedazzled, but upon a re-watch I think he's more of a co-lead with Dudley Moore. Out of them all, I found I liked Peter Finch's work in Madding Crowd the best. Finch plays the older suitor to Julie Christie's Bathsheba Everdine. Watching the way he comes undone over this woman, just loses all reason, was quite impressive. The way that desperation plays out on his face - wearing the expression of someone trying to keep it together, but failing at every step.
Honorable Mentions: Robert Blake, In Cold Blood * Toshirō Mifune, Samurai Rebellion * Sidney Poitier, To Sir, with Love * Alain Delon, Le Samourai * Dustin Hoffman, The Graduate * Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke * Marlon Brando, Reflections in a Golden Eye
Honorable Mentions: Catherine Deneuve, Belle de Jour * Geraldine Chaplin, Peppermint Frappe * Anne Bancroft, The Graduate * Edith Evans, The Whisperers * Julie Andrews, Thoroughly Modern Millie * Ruriko Asaoka, Thirst for Love * Yōko Tsukasa, Scattered Clouds
