Nominees: That Obscure Object of Desire, The Ascent, Eraserhead, Providence, The Model Couple, A Special Day, Elisa, vida mía, Stroszek, Peppermint Soda
Oscars pick: Annie Hall
Nominees: The Goodbye Girl, Julia, Star Wars, The Turning Point
'77 was stocked with critical darlings -- there was Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Three Women, Saturday Night Fever, and for the arthouse crowd, Killer of Sheep, The Last Wave (Peter Weir's dreamy end of the world story set to Aboriginal mythology), and David Lynch's nightmarish Eraserhead.
Others that dipped their toes into the waters of greatness include...
Luis Buñuel's final feature, That Obscure Object of Desire, about the frustrated efforts of an older man to woo a younger woman named Conchita (played by 2 different actresses). It's a sexual game of cat and mouse (but who is the mouse?) – Desire is beautifully absurd, and of course, being a Buñuel film, it includes a mix of politics and religion. The old master capped off his career on a high note and it will be strange not seeing his name popping on these write-ups. I gave him his first Felix in 1928-29 for the short Un chien andalou, and for Best Picture in 1930-31 for L’Age d’Or, and again in 1967 for Belle de Jour.
The Ascent from Larisa Shepitiko, is a grueling war film about 2 soldiers, Soviet partisans who are captured by the Germans and tortured. One of the men sticks to his beliefs while the other gives in. The film is steeped in Christian symbolism and is thematically reminiscent of Dostoyevsky’s writings. The camera work and direction is extraordinary, the music often nightmarish -- It all matches the stark, brutal story to create a film experience that is harrowing to the core.
Annie Hall was Woody Allen's critical breakout, and while some rank it behind Manhattan. I disagree; Manhattan dances around many of the same relationship landmines but doesn’t have a 5th of the warmth and humor, nor is it as keen in its observations. Manhattan sometimes annoyed me, Annie Hall charms. It's an exuberant look at love told in flashbacks... and what a clever way of integrating those flashbacks. Hall boasts of an intelligent script, and it was also hilariously funny. All these years later, and the scene with the spider still gets me howling with laughter.
It has been a while since I went along with Oscar's choice (1960 and The Apartment to be exact) but when they’re right, they are right.
Note: I've since watched and added Providence, The Model Couple, Stoszek, Elisa, vida mía and A Special Day to my list of nominees.
With all those great movies, came lots of great acting. And I was really happy to be able to award one of my favorites, Dirk Bogarde. The film, Providence, begins with a story within a story (written by Gielgud's character). Bogarde plays his son, and though it's considered a supporting role, he has so much screen time and is so central to his father's novel that one could consider him a co-lead. What I liked about Dirk here, is that he has to play to two extremes. In one he's part of a literary melodrama, in the final (real world?) section, his acting becomes more natural. I also like the scene when his wife asks him who Helen is (whom he just spoke to on the phone). And he stops and looks confused. It's the first time we ever see him at a loss for words. When asked again who Helen is, he replies, "I don't know". Probably because the author (his father) hasn't fleshed out that character yet.
Also, while I gave Gielgud the Acting award. Marcello Mastroianni made it real close with some of his best work.
Honorable Mentions: Marcello Mastroianni, A Special Day * Richard Burton Equus * Sanjeev Kumar, The Chess Players * Woody Allen, Annie Hall * Fernando Rey, Elisa, vida mía & That Obscure Object of Desire * Bruno Ganz, The American Friend * Yves Beneyton, The Lacemaker * Ken Takakura, The Yellow Hankerchief
Honorable Mentions: Isabelle Huppert, The Lacemaker * Geraldine Chaplin, Elisa, vida mía * Shima Iwashita, Ballad of Orin * Sophia Loren, A Special Day * Smita Patil, Bhumika * Eléonore Klarwein & Odile Michel, Peppermint Soda * Yoon Jeong-hee, Night Journey
Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave, Julia (pictured left)
Also... Tatiana Papamoschou, Irene Papas and Kostas Kazakos in Iphigenia
