Category Archives: 1970s

Spoilerless –

‘Wow. I really like the cinematography here. Sutherland’s perm is rockin. That’s actually a pretty creepy photo. Hang on, I don’t like where this is going… oh… There she goes. Jesus. That was a harsh opening. Okay, follow that. Well. That was quite a jump in time. Aaaah, Venice. Woah, Venice? Off season ain’t your colour. Actually, it is. It’s strangely bleak and melancholic and picturesque and AAAA! Jesus! Creepy Blind Lady is creepy as hell! A lot of people apparently drown in Venice. Julie Christie naked! Yes! Donald Sutherland naked! NO! Now, Donnie listen to your wife… Now, Donnie don’t go up the scaffold… WHAT DID I JUST SAY? See? Woah. What was that? No don’t follow it! Oh no, red? Broken glass? Water? Oh God. Oh crap. Oh shit. FUCK! AAAAAA! I SAID LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE, YOU TOOL!’

And I slept with the lights on.

Don’t Look Now . 1973 . Nicholas Roeg

Reviewed by Leo Cookman

Its only towards the end of Marathon Man when you realise how utterly ridiculous the plot has been, how narratively insane it is to go from a long-distance running University Graduate generally feeling bad about his deceased father, to being strapped in a dentist chair receiving tooth-based tortures from an old Nazi because of some diamonds he’s neither seen nor particularly cares about. But it’s the joy of the construction of how Schlesinger and Goldman get there that makes the film work. The story is crafted along at exactly the right pace; the careful release of information is faultless. The score is also worth a mention: late seventies synths screech and ping and slice their way into your brain like the ominous drill that will later reverberate over Hoffman’s molars. The narrative may be daft, but it’s the sounds that make you feel it, and believe it, and love it.

Marathon Man . 1976 . John Schlesinger

Reviewed by Screen150

It must be ten years since my last viewing of Apocalypse Now and one of the noticeably additional parts to the original is an extension to the surfing scene.

The extension brings out a more playful side to Willard’s character. With a glint in his eye he steals Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore’s prized surfboard, roping in the rest of PBR Street Gang’s crew into the escape. The search for the surfboard by Kilgore’s troops changes the Colonel’s character from the original Apocalypse and makes Kilgore comparable to a bully who has had his favourite toy stolen. In Redux, Kilgore appears more human and vulnerable whereas in the original release Kilgore is God-like and untouchable. Also, the relationship between Willard and Kilgore has altered. Previously, Willard seemed to be more respectful of Kilgore but in Redux this respect is gone and Willard is much happier to disobey orders and go against rank.

Apocalypse Now: Redux . 1979 (2001) . Francis Ford Coppola

Reviewed by Aaron Gow

Charlton Heston was, before the Republicanism and the NRA-ing, more famous for being an actor, and, as so often in these cases, he was actually pretty good at stepping in front of the camera as Ben Hur, or a Mexican policeman, or, in the case of The Omega Man, Robert Neville, a general, and government scientist, who finds a vaccine for the plague that has been visited upon America as the result of a Russo-Sino conflict (that is turning men into monochrome, cape-wearing, neo-religionists with a passion for destroying all evidence of civilisation, and repeating the last two words of any sentence their leader Mathias speaks) but only manages to administer it to himself before events overtake him and he is left almost alone in Los Angeles, in this brilliant film which would have been far easier to review if Dave hadn’t insisted I do so in a single sentence

The Omega Man . 1971 . Boris Sagal

Reviewed by Benjamin Judge

Whenever I was off school sick, I’d stick on a video. Picnic at Hanging Rock,
my go-to film, is an unusual choice, sure; it’s not perky, funny or feelgood.
Better, it is astonishing.

Schoolgirls in white corseted dresses have a picnic on Valentine’s Day 1900.
Three girls and one teacher go missing and frantic search parties head out.
One girl is found unconscious days later but can’t, or won’t, divulge details
or locate the others. Subplots of an orphaned student’s suicide and a local
man’s obsession with the missing girls both ramp up the levels of hysteria.
Intriguingly, the audience is left to make their own mind up about the girls’
fate.

Atmospheric music (including panpipes) contributes to the dreamy, but
haunting feeling. Almost too-bright colours, palpable heat and sundrenched
cinematography lend an ethereal aspect, coupled with the naturally dramatic
Aussie scenery.

(Also, Neighbours fans: Mrs Mangel is in it).

Picnic at Hanging Rock . 1975 . Peter Weir

Reviewed by Laura Maley

Filmed 6 years before Chernobyl, but seemingly portending the disaster, this haunting sci-fi film is an unsettling yet stunning piece of cinema. The Zone is an area of land where something out of the ordinary happened and is now closed off and guarded. Rumours of a room deep inside which grants your innermost desire is enough to encourage the foolhardy and desperate to break in and find it. They are led there by Stalkers, mysterious folk who are the only people who can navigate the treacherous and unstable landscape. Be warned; this is long, slow, tough filmmaking. But in the right frame-of-mind it is transcendant to the point of perfection. Tarkovsky was one of the greats, and its suggested that this film may have had a part in his death of cancer 7 years later. He leaves behind a masterpiece which stays with you for a long time after the creepy ending.

Stalker . 1979 . Andrei Tarkovsky

Reviewed by Screen150

Ever wondered what a film would be like in which Robert de Niro plays a garbage man? Just imagine that his road sweeper is a taxi, his litter-picker is a finger-decimating hand canon and the rubbish he removes just happens to be the most depraved drug abusers and pimps the New York underworld has to offer. Welcome to the world of Scorsese’s seedy urban drama. De Niro plays the infamous anti-hero Travis Bickle; an ex-soldier turned cab driver who suffers from naive delusions of how to attain the American dream of woman, respect and power. Naturally though, he chooses the less conventional, psychotic approach to realising his aspirations. The deployment of time-lapse photography and Bernard Hermann’s perversely romanticised saxophone instrumentation in the score embellish Bickle’s dangerously introverted fantasises as he strives for an unattainable utopia. Fasten your seat belts and prepare your fare, because it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Taxi Driver . 1976 . Martin Scorcese

Reviewed by Ross Leslie

The cantina scene of Star Wars is one of the great scenes in movie history. Decades before CGI reared its ugly head, a bar full of believable aliens exchange grunts and clicks over dirty plastic tubs filled with bubbling liquid to the tune of one of the most insanely catchy songs in the history of the galaxy.

It is the myth of the bar-going-silent-as-a-stranger-walks-in taken to its absolute limit. In the cantina everyone is a bad guy who wants to rip off your face. My friend doesn’t like you. I don’t like you. Your droids aren’t welcome here.

J. G. Ballard correctly pointed out that Star Wars was the first film in which space was portrayed as being dirty and shoddy. The cantina scene is the pinnacle of that artistic vision. From this scene comes Blade Runner, Alien, Moon and many more.

The rest of the film is shit though.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . 1977 . George Lucas

Reviewed by Benjamin Judge

In a superior reality than ours, Josey Wales would be the grandfather of HRH William Wales. He has marginally better one-liners than Prince Phillip, isn’t a racist and travels well. I’m not sure who would win in a spitting contest but I bet that Prince Phillip only gobs into a diamond spittoon and on pedigree corgis. Josey Wales is too much of a man to be seen even in the same state as a corgi. Josey would be such a better role model than William Wales’ dad too. He struck out on his own, made friends, and killed bad people with redlegs. Prince Charles talks to plants, couldn’t keep a beautiful woman happy and then swapped her for someone else’s wife and still got to keep the house in Scotland and the village in Dorset. Josey settled for Sondra Locke and a share in a small holding in rural America.

Screen 1: Superior

The Outlaw Josey Wales . 1976 . Clint Eastwood

Reviewed by Aaron Gow