Stephen Sutcliffe
Artist/Filmmaker
UK
Voted for
| Film | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| The Gospel According to St. Matthew | 1964 | Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| If.... | 1968 | Lindsay Anderson |
| La Caduta degli Dei | 1969 | Luchino Visconti |
| La FEMME DE L'AVIATEUR | 1980 | Eric Rohmer |
| Der SIEBENTE KONTINENT | 1989 | Michael Haneke |
| The Thing | 1982 | John Carpenter |
| The Friends of Eddie Coyle | 1973 | Peter Yates |
| Sunday Bloody Sunday | 1971 | John Schlesinger |
| Despair | 1978 | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| High Anxiety | 1977 | Mel Brooks |
Comments
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
The films I like are never perfect and are often problematic but overall this is very moving as a political and naturalistic depiction of its subject.
If....
Of all the directors to emerge from this period I came last to Anderson. This film is every schoolkid’s fantasy, whether they were educated in a state or private school.
La Caduta degli Dei
Dark and brooding with a terrific camp-off between Bogarde and Berger.
La FEMME DE L'AVIATEUR
My favourite of those gentle meandering continental films of the time.
Der SIEBENTE KONTINENT
I have a fascination with bleakness and am often disappointed by the lack of it in films and books with reputations for dejection. This film however doesn’t disappoint.
The Thing
Probably not the scariest film ever made but definitely the most entertaining. The Russian Roulette guessing game with blood samples manages to be inventive, tense and funny all at the same time.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
I used to think the best place to be Irish was in a Celtic bar in America. This film disabused me of that notion, as Robert Mitchum's character gets screwed by just about everyone he associates with. I miss stories like this with utterly pessimistic endings.
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Schlesinger’s best film. Excellent performances and a great evocation of the melancholy and desperation of both complicated love-triangles and London’s all-night chemists.
Despair
Thought the book was unadaptable so I put off seeing this till very recently. It turns out to be hugely enjoyable with another masterclass in seething from Dirk Bogarde.
High Anxiety
Could have chosen The Producers but it doesn’t have Madeleine Khan. It’s worth seeing this if only for the brilliantly false-modest title song performance alone, but the rest is brilliant too.