1971-1980

  • Martin Ritt – Norma Rae (1979)

    1971-1980ArthouseDramaMartin RittUSA

    The story is based on Crystal Lee Sutton’s life as a textile worker in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, where the battle for the workers union took place against a J.P Stevens Textiles mill. Her actual protest, in the mill, is the scene in the film where she writes the sign “UNION” and stands on her worktable until all machines are silent. Although Sutton was fired from her job, the mill became unionized, and she later went to work as an organizer for the textile unionRead More »

  • Stanley Kubrick – The Shining [International Cut] (1980)

    1971-1980HorrorStanley KubrickUSA

    As some of you are aware, Stanley Kubrick personally re-edited The Shining after the initial US release, shortening it some 20 minutes. The original version, clocked at 144 min is only available in the US (and is available here on worldscinema) but everywhere else, there is this 119 min version, which according to some sources, was Kubrick’s preferred version.Read More »

  • Melvin Van Peebles – Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song (1971)

    1971-1980BlaxploitationDramaExploitationMelvin Van PeeblesUSA

    After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black prostitute goes on the run from “the man” with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

    “Run, motherfucker.”

    Quote:
    “Sweetback was politically unacceptable on the one hand, but it made a lot of money on the other. And I thought it was a stroke of genius to suppress the political aspects and highlight the cartoonish aspects, and there you’ve got your blaxploitation. In essence, blaxploitation ushered in a bunch of counterrevolutionary films….The upside was that because the films were so markedly “urban”–and I’m using the code word–they had to use minorities in central roles. So a lot of people got to learn a craft that had always been denied them.”Read More »

  • Nobuhiko Ôbayashi – Furimukeba ai AKA Take Me Away! (1978)

    1971-1980ArthouseJapanNobuhiko ObayashiRomance

    Quote:
    Kyoko met Tetsu during her trip to San Francisco. Soon they fell in love but getting married was not in his mind. They were to meet again back in Tokyo but Tetsu didn’t turn up.Read More »

  • Luis Alcoriza – Mecanica Nacional AKA National Mechanics (1972)

    1971-1980ClassicsCultLuis AlcorizaMexico

    This is a satirical look at Mexican contemporary life. It makes fun of its culture in many ways. Even though it has many dramatic and serious moments, it’s a very effective comedy.
    The movie is simply about two families from Mexico City that go camping to the mountains outside the city overnight to see the conclusion of a cross country car race. Most of the movie takes place the night before the race. There is a lot of drinking, dancing, and many other things that happen in a big party. And there’s like two hundred vehicles camping waiting for the race the next day.Read More »

  • Stanislav Barabas – Inferno (1973)

    1971-1980DramaStanislav BarabasSweden

    TV production of August Strindberg’s great novel ‘Inferno’ purportedly depicting his own mental disintegration.

    Quote:
    The narrator (ostensibly Strindberg, although his narrative variably coheres with and diverges from historical truth), spends most of the novel in Paris, isolated from his wife (Frida Uhl), children, and friends. He associates with a circle of Parisian artists and writers (including Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch), but often fears they are ridiculing and persecuting him. In his isolation, Strindberg successfully attempts alchemical experiments, and has his work published in prominent journals. He fears, however, that his secrets will be stolen, and his persecution mania worsens, believing that his enemies are attacking him with ‘infernal machines.’ He also dabbles in the occult, at one point casting a black magic spell on his own distanced daughter.Read More »

  • John Cassavetes – A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

    1971-1980DramaJohn CassavetesUSA

    Quote:
    A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is a love story of a troubled marriage between a working class man, Nick (played movingly by Peter Falk), and his wife Mabel (played with brilliant attention to emotional nuance by Gena Rowlands). Mabel appears to be experiencing a breakdown, though there is not much difference between her normal and abnormal behaviour. The film explores the impact of her fragility, neediness, and shifts of feeling on Nick, their three children, relatives, and friends.Read More »

  • Arthur Marks – Friday Foster (1975)

    USA1971-1980ActionArthur MarksBlaxploitationExploitation

    A woman looking for adventure finds romance, excitement and danger in her viewfinder in this action-packed comedy-drama. Friday Foster (Pam Grier) is a beautiful and ambitious young photographer who is working as an assistant at Glance Magazine, edited by the hard-boiled Monk Riley (Julius Harris). When Riley can’t get in touch with his first-call photographer, he calls Foster with a very important New Year’s Eve assignment — reclusive billionaire Blake Tarr (Thalmus Rasulala), often called “the black Howard Hughes,” is expected to be coming to Los Angeles, and Riley wants pictures of Tarr’s arrival.Read More »

  • Claude Mulot – Le sexe qui parle AKA Pussy Talk (1975)

    1971-1980Claude MulotEroticaExploitationFrance

    A beautiful executive lady at an advertising company realizes with horror that her vagina has started to talk and is leading her to indecent sexual acts. This was the first exclusive hardcore feature film produced and released in France to meet international success. It is based on a significant tradition in literature and art of talking vaginas, dating back to the ancient folklore motif of the vagina loquens, and in particular a story by Denis Diderot (1713–1784). Among future film makers involved in this production are Francis Leroi (producer), Didier Philippe-Gérard (script and actor), Gérard Kikoïne (editor) and Pierre B. Reinhard (assistant editor).Read More »

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