The words or opinions expressed by contributors to the BFI 75 website are not those of the BFI or its employees and the BFI takes no responsibility for such words or the opinions expressed. However please contact webteam@bfi.org.uk if you find anything offensive or defamatory and the BFI will consider removing it.
The best gangster movie of all time; a best drama so far. The best actor of all time, Marlon Brando with a spectacular role of Al Pacino. Two godfather in one movie.
This is quite simply one of the great feel good films of all time. But beneath the light hearted loveness is the sharp satire of pre/early sound. Lena Lamont is the silent goddess who's voice could cut glass and Debbie Reynolds (who had never danced before) is the sweet innocent with a bit of an edge. Donald O'Connor makes us all laugh and Gene Kelly is at the very height of his powers- which,even if the rest was dire,would be reason enough to watch. I have never been a fan of the ballet within a film, however in this case we have Gene and Cyd Charisse and a George Raft wanabee in Gotta Dance which I love against all odds. The best compliment I can give this is, as a Fred Astaire fan,this is the greatest film musical EVER!
Gregory Peck spoke for many when he told an audience at his AFI Life Achievement tribute that, ".artistry is more important than making a buck..". Of course, he was so right. These days one is lucky to see ten great films a year. There is so much crap. Directors like Lean, Wyler, Stevens, Kazan, Hitchcock, Ray, Welles, Huston, Visconti, Fellini, Peckinpah, Reed and Lindsay Anderson. These were film-makers that made the cinema a great art form. It's time to be great again..PLEASE!!
Well one thing that would help place modern filmmaking properly in context, in an industry ruled by the $$....
How about a film's box office status been dictated by bums-on-seats rather than earnings?
I'm truly tired of biggest opening weekend figures when the simple increased ticket price means at this rate Police Academy 28 could end up higher up the list than Titanic!
Artistically: The story is important, but let's not forget Cinema is a visual medium. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood are cases in point. Great plots, but it's Josh Brolin's profile on the bed waiting for Javier to stop outside his hotel room door... Daniel lit burnt orange by the glow from the burning oil... shot's that burn themselves into the retina.
A film student with impeccable taste!
I show The Devils and The Music Lovers to lots of people and have done since they have been available on video as both are still not released on official DVDs which is beyond my comprehension!
INGMAR BERGMAN MOVIES
Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa 1952
The future of cinema is quite bleak. There is a distinct lack of fresh talent coming through our cinema screens. The models aren't in place to create the new Spielberg's, Scorsese's or even the Alan Smithee's of the future. Cinema has lost the balance of art to finance and it's killed the hopes of future film making.
But fortunately in true Hollywood fashion, just before all hope is lost - our hero (cinema) has one last ace up it's sleeve... digital projection / distribution.
Digital distribution and display is the only hope for emerging filmmakers. The studio model has had it's time in the spotlight, but after one too many remakes and one too many dips into unoriginality, it is time for the new model of filmmaking to take over. Express movie making.
Argue me this... who needs a studio when you can get from the avid to cinema in one easy step?
Fair enough maybe the marketing will be less generic and with less spend but i say bring back the 'trickle-effect' and 'word-of-mouth' after all it did alright for our modern auteur's and weeded out the forgettable's. The cinema will be forced into producing worthwhile product.
Te future isn't quite here yet I know but when it does, it wont take any crap of anyone.
I saw this film in the cinema when it was released. Like Michael Nyman, I had not heard anything about Reygadas, or this film, beforehand. Like him, I was struck by its simple beauty. The finale (reminiscent of the final scene in Ordet) is totally wonderful...magical.
I've since seen his 'Japon' and 'Battle in Heaven', which I also loved. I believe he is one of the most exciting directors working at the moment and I am so glad that he is proving it is possible to make films like this today.
I agree with Cate Blanchett. This film helped changed my beliefs as to what was possible with cinema. This was the first Tarkovsky film I saw and I was unprepared for the experience. The sequence that moves over objects in the water is profoundly moving, as is the sudden rain outside the room. Although this film may seem impenetrable to some, I believe it pays huge dividends to those who open themselves to it.
Although I think it is an incredible, beautiful film, 'Mirror' holds more resonance with me personally. Perhaps this is because I saw it after 'Stalker', so I was more prepared for the type of film I was about to watch, or perhaps it was because the film seems to be more a reflection on the past, so I found it easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of it. I found 'Mirror' difficult to follow and I was often confused, but as it ended I found myself crying, suddenly and unexplainably. Somehow, through a combination of pictures and sounds, something had touched me very deeply. That, I suppose, is the magic of cinema.
I am happy that this film has been included on the list, and very happy that 'Silent Light' is here too. I believe in cinema as an Art and films like these are testament to its power as an art form.
One thing I love most about film is the constant emergence of films that prove themselves to be classics over time.
No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood are two great examples of films released in the past year or so that will be looked upon fondly for many many years.
New technologies and new ways of making and delivering film are all well and good but at the end of the day it's story and filmcraft that bring about those movies we really cherish.
Cinema is the imagination projected on a screen. It takes us to new worlds, forces us to put our emotions on the line and fills our minds with new and exciting images that in turn oils the audience's imagination. The history of cinema has so much wealth to inspire the new filmmaker, with narrative and technological feats encouraging further exploration of the medium, creating wholly original and unique ideas that will be influential themselves. It seems that cinema can't avoid exciting people - excitement being the tool that will further cinemas legacy. This ability to excite is as fresh as when the Lumiere brothers first filmed workers leaving their factory, and it will continue to do so.
Our future rests on our past. What excited me about the future of film is the dedicated recovery, preservation and research taking place now, to ensure that the film heritage is not lost to future generations. The DVD revolution is securing the library bit by bit (if you will excuse the pun) and proves there is a continuing audience.
The fact that we can submit our penni'worth on a BFI forum has to be an advance, how else will future generations know the thoughts of today's film spectator (wouldn't you just love to read a thread from, say - 1910)?
The current cinema climate is purely a money-making machine. There are so many films made with such huge budgets now that quite often the youth of today fail to have the opportunity to see some of the past greats. Having just finished school, I think its a great pity that so much emphasis is put on big explsoions and new technology. So few kids have seen the likes of The Pink Panther, The Magnificent Seven or Hitchcock's Psycho. Unless we can remember the past greats, Hollywood looses its meaning and there will be no more classics, with new releases constantly detracting from the past.
For me Ken's best are The Music Lovers and The Devils.Recently I showed THE DEVILS to a 23 yo film student studying in london and now thinks The Devils is the best film he has EVER seen.
Look at Hollywood today - all flashy editing and jump cutting/special effects. Computers are great and have revolutionised filmmaking for the better but imagionation is still needed. The British can't afford the effects-laden style of America (thank goodness). Let's remember that film is a form of photography and strip things back to the simple 1960s-90s style where good camerawork, lighting and acting prevail.
Use computers to edit, but don't rely on fake effects.
Films, like fashions, go round in circles and I look forward to things going back to a more imaginitive state of mind - remember how fresh 'Shallow Grave' was in 1995 - and Boyle kept his effects to the imaginitive kind and relied on stunning locations and realistic acting. 'Sunshine' was, for me, just Boyle playing with computers.
forgotten film!!!
DEATH IN VENICE - so sensitive, so loving, so disturbing,stars Dirk Bogarde
In my opinion, this is the best 90's film. Congratulations BFI!
Great to see them making a stab at comics, and classics. I'd rather see them copy good material if they can't come up with decent stories on their own. I'm tired of sex, violence and explosion filler.
Fingers tightly crossed for the prospect of a flourishing or evolving British Film Industry with much greater output. A complete ban on pointless, repulsive remakes. CGI taking a significant back seat so that talented celluloid storytelling (akin to the 70s) can dominate our screens.
One can only hope!