1970s

  • Raoul Servais – To Speak or Not to Speak (1972)

    1971-1980AnimationBelgiumRaoul ServaisShort Film

    Synopsis:

    ‘When the average man in the street is asked what he thinks of the political situation, there’s not much to be learned. Only a drop-out is willing to give a truly personal opinion.’
    – Raoul Servais FoundationRead More »

  • Abbas Kiarostami – Az Oghat-e Faraghat-e Khod Chegouneh Estefadeh Konim? AKA How to Make Use of Our Leisure Time? (1977)

    1971-1980Abbas KiarostamiIranShort Film

    Quote:
    Evidently the first installment in a series that didn’t continue, this instructional film shows idle twelve- and sixteen-year-
old brothers learning how to improve their surroundings by painting an old door. With the narrator giving step-by-step instructions, the boys go through the processes of sanding, applying primer, and mixing different types of paint. Whatever its educational value, the film’s quiet enthusiasm for its subject also reflects Kiarostami’s own interest in woodworking.Read More »

  • Jean Harlez – Le chantier des gosses AKA The Children’s Building Site (1956)

    1961-1970BelgiumDramaJean Harlez

    Quote:
    LE CHANTIER DES GOSSES

    THE CHILDREN’S BUILDING SITE

    JEAN HARLEZ, 1956-1970, BE, 35MM, OV FR ST ANG & NL, 83′

    The narrow streets of the Marolles are full with kids. Their paradise is a wasteland. One day, the wasteland is barricaded, disembowelling by machines, while the surrounding houses are pulled down. The amazement of the kids soon turns into revolt: they choose a leader, manufacture catapults with the shoulder straps of their parents and decide to start a war to the entrepreneurs and architects…
    “Le chantier des gosses” takes us on a journey into their little world. The kids (the youngest is 2 years and a half, the oldest 14) are the main actors, playing their role with a lot of spontaneity and a great deal of improvisation!Read More »

  • Robert Kramer & Philip J. Spinelli – Scenes from the Class Struggle in Portugal (1977)

    1971-1980DocumentaryPhilip J. SpinelliPoliticsPortugalRobert Kramer

    Quote:
    Combining newsreel footage, still photographs, interviews, and analytical narration, this documentary focuses on the antifascist, anti-imperialist efforts of labor groups, peasants, and working-class soldiers to liberate Portugal from the control of the government of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.Read More »

  • Tatsumi Kumashiro – Kurobara shôten AKA Black Rose Ascension (1975)

    1971-1980DramaEroticaJapanTatsumi Kumashiro

    Quote:
    This self-reflexive pinku eiga film may be to Nikkatsu softcore what Boogie Nights was to American hardcore. Shin Kishida stars as Juzo, a self-important pinku eiga director clearly modeled on Nagisa Oshima. Production is halted on his new film when lead actress Meiko is too obviously pregnant to film sex scenes. Looking for a replacement, he comes across the ubiquitous Naomi Tani, starring here in one of the rare roles which doesn’t require her to be bound with rope. Everything goes well until Tani starts a sex scene with Hajime Tanimoto, who got Meiko pregnant. Juzo realizes that he’s in love with his new starlet, so he cancels the film, marries Tani, and lives happily ever after.Read More »

  • David Hemmings – Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo AKA Just a Gigolo (1978)

    1971-1980CampDavid HemmingsDramaGermany

    Synopsis:
    ‘After the First World War a young shell-shocked Prussian officer returns to Berlin. He finds that the life he knew there has vanished for ever; he cannot adjust to the new times. He drifts along without direction until finally he becomes a gigolo employed by Baroness von Semering.’
    – BFIRead More »

  • Kiril Cenevski – Crno seme AKA Black Seed (1971)

    1971-1980DramaKiril CenevskiWarYugoslaviaYugoslavian Cinema under Tito

    This movie made from a wonderful book with the same name(Black Seed)give us a look of how were treated the Macedonian prisoners in the Greek Civil War after the World War 2.it is beautiful because it is so real,and the public could feel the exodus of those people.the director himself didn’t want to include a music in the film so the only sound that we could hear in all of in is rolling of the stones.the film won the Grand Prix at Pula Festival in Croatia and the director was named as one of the young directors who could give a great hope to the Macedonian and Europe Cinematography,but he only made four movies.For the end I would like to mention all the roles in the movies(especially the main one)are marvelous and some of them have been awarded at different Film Festivals.Read More »

  • Ritwik Ghatak – Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo (1974)

    1971-1980ArthouseDramaIndiaRitwik Ghatak

    Ritwik Ghatak’s final film (made two years before his untimely death) features Ghatak himself in the role of Nilkantha Bagchi (the name is deliberately chosen to draw parallels between Lord Shiva’s blue throat after having swallowed all the poisons-of-the-world during the churning of the ocean and the character in the film), an alcoholic intellectual nearing the end of his life who journeys forth through Bengal, deep into the fabric of his past life, loves, and friendships. It is a not-so-veiled self-portrait of the director himself.Read More »

  • Richard Brooks – Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)

    1971-1980CultDramaRichard BrooksUSA

    synopsis
    Theresa (Diane Keaton) is a dedicated school-teacher of deaf children during the day. Once she moves out of her parents’ place, she chooses to spend her evenings seeing adult films, cruising bars, and looking for abusive men with whom she can engage in ever more violent sexual encounters. She furthers her self-destruction by a rather aimless intake of drugs and alcohol, leading to both demeaning and dangerous situations, completely at odds with her daytime commitments. In need of a father figure, she makes herself available to numerous men and eventually pays a price for her hedonistic behaviour.Read More »

Back to top button