We’ll get three Hitchcock films out of the way first – from 1927 and 1932 respectively there’s The Ring and Rich and Strange. The former is a silent film about a boxer trying to win back his girl and the latter involves a couple seeking adventure on the high seas. Neither are particularly brilliant but Hitch redeems himself in 1940 with Rebecca, his first US film, albeit one that perhaps bears more the influence of the producer David O Selznick (fresh from his Gone with the Wind success) than the traditional Hitchcock themes and touches. Nevertheless, it was the only one of Hitchcock’s pictures to win Best Picture Oscar, though Selznick ended up taking it home, leaving Hitch empty-handed.
From 1939 comes one of Jean Renoir’s most famous films – La Regle du Jeu. Critics often see this as his masterpiece, but although I can see its merits, I have to admit I much prefer Grande Illusion – bonus points if you remembered that won the G category in my blog.
From the 1940s I guess some would say that John Ford’s Rio Grande should be a contender, but to be honest it was one of my least favourite of his films. A better film is Rossellini’s Italian neo-realist Rome, Open City, a mixture of humour and shockingly bleak tragedy set during the war. Not easy viewing but perhaps essential viewing. Also essential viewing is Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes, a beautifully filmed piece of work from the duo. Okay, it’s not my favourite of theirs – A Matter of Life and Death (winner of the M category, remember!) takes that “accolade”, but it’s up there with their best work. From the same year (1948) came Howard Hawks’ Red River, and another Hitchcock film, Rope – his experimental movie, filmed in a series of long, unbroken takes, all in the one location, as two young men in an apartment try to hide the fact they’ve just murdered a fellow student from their professor, James Stewart.
Turning to Japan, and the master director Akira Kurosawa has three entries in this category. The lesser of them is Red Beard, though that’s no major criticism when you consider the other two are of the calibre of Rashomon and Ran. Rashomon, a film where the same event is told from different perspectives is a true classic, and incidentally proved the subject of one of my favourite Simpsons jokes when Marge is trying to convince Homer that he likes Japan and says “You enjoyed Rashomon, didn’t you?” and he replies “That’s not the way I remember it.” I guess it’s only funny if you’ve seen the film, but it made me chuckle. Ran, coming 35 years after Rashomon in 1985 is a colourful spectacle, retelling the King Lear tale and is a glorious experience. If you’ve not seen either of those two films I urge you to give them a go.
Other contenders from the 1950s, this time in the English language are the charming romantic comedy Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn taking the leads; there’s James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, though that left me a bit cold, and the excellent Rio Bravo from Howard Hawks, perhaps one of the quintessential Westerns. However, surely the best English language R film of the 1950s is another Hitchcock offering, Rear Window. Pure cinema, and with Grace Kelly and James Stewart, how could it go wrong? Answer is, it didn’t
Roman Polanski has 2 entries from the 1960s – Repulsion, starring Catherine Deneuve, and then the better known Rosemary’s Baby with Mia Farrow giving birth to the devil. Most unnerving and one of only 2 films Polanski made in the US – the other being Chinatown.
The 70s unusually isn’t a great well of excellence for this category – there’s the odd film like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Rocky, but I still have a grudge against the latter for beating Taxi Driver to Best Picture Oscar. There’s the original Rollerball too, but we’re clutching at straws in the 70s – like I say this is unusual as normally the 1970s along with the 1940s, provide the best films in these lists.
Things turn round in 1980 with Raging Bull, Scorsese’s boxing picture with standout performances from De Niro and Pesci, and brutal fight scenes. It’s said that when it didn’t win Best Picture Oscar, that’s when Scorsese gave up on ever winning one, and you can see why – it’s a marvellous piece of cinema. The next year another two renowned filmmakers teamed up for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Together, Spielberg and Lucas brought back the type of action movies seen during their childhood, as Harrison Ford took on the role of Indiana Jones in a rolliciking adventure. 1982 brings an interesting move as Gerard Depardieu stars in The Return of Martin Guerre as a man who returns to his home village after 9 years at war. But is he who he says, or rather an imposter? That forms the plot for the movie, and is rather involving.
Other notable contenders from the 80s are Woody Allen’s Radio Days; a fine comedy drama that gives a good sense of place and time; Raising Arizona from the always reliable Coen Brothers; Red Sorghum from the Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou; Rainman from Barry Levinson, and then Michael Moore’s breakout documentary Roger and Me, concerning mass unemployment after the car industry abandons Moore’s hometown.
Into the 90s and Yimou appears once again with his classic Raise the Red Lantern, a film that makes great use of colour as it tells the tale of a Chinese lady who becomes the fourth mistress to a man, although cleverly the man is never shown directly as he is only important in what he represents. In 1991 comes Mike leigh’s tale of a group of men on a building site in the excellent Riff Raff, then changing tack entirely, there’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; the film at fault for Wet Wet Wet being Number one in the charts for an interminable length of time. Red Rock West is an underrated film from 1992 and from the same year, Tarantino announced his emergence on the scene with his debut Reservoir Dogs. A good companion piece to Reservoir Dogs (perhaps!) is Remains of the Day, the Merchant Ivory film. I don’t normally go in for that sort of film, but I really enjoyed it and it certainly pulls at the heartstrings. Late on in the 90s came Ringu, Hideo Nakata’s Japanese horror which certainly outshines its later Hollywood remake. Ronin, Rush Hour and Rushmore are fairly good fun, and then we end the decade with the excellently frenetic Run Lola Run, in which Lola has 20 minutes to find 20,000 German marks. The story is told three times with three different endings. The pace is breathtaking as Lola, well runs and runs. The editing is almost like a music video at times, but it carries you along with it, and leaves you fairly breathless by the end.
Just a handful of films to finish up with from the last decade. Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums divided opinion somewhat, but I was a fan of its brand of humour. Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition was a movie with a stellar cast including Paul Newman, Jude Law and Tom Hanks. Taylor Hackford’s biopic Ray brought a Best Actor Oscar for Jamie Foxx for his portrayal of Ray Charles, and Wes Craven’s Red Eye was a low key little gem of a movie. Finally two fairly depressing films from 2008, both starring Kate Winslet, There was Stephen Daldry’s The Reader and then Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, where his wife starred alongside her Titanic costar Leonardo DiCaprio.
Anyhoo, they were the contenders. What about the final five?
Rashomon – Kurosawa’s breakthrough film exploring the nature truth; and investigating whether the camera sometimes does lie. The story is fairly simple; a man has been murdered and his wife raped. However from varying accounts from such figures as the suspect, the rape victim, the murder victim (through a medium) and an onlooker we get four differing accounts of how the events came to pass. Three of the four accounts end with the narrator owning up to the killing. How do we know who is telling the truth? We don’t really and perhaps that is the point; can we ever know the truth? Stunningly photographed, this is a film well worth watching again and again
Rear Window – James Stewart is the photographer, housebound with a broken leg who watches the lives of his neighbours from his apartment. He becomes convinced that one of them has killed his wife so with the help of his girlfriend, Grace Kelly, tries to uncover the truth, putting both their own lives in danger. More a film exploring the nature of cinema, Hitch’s use of the “gaze” and mise-en-scene has perhaps never been bettered.
Raging Bull - Robert De Niro stars in this acclaimed boxing drama as we follow his career up, and very much down. A great character study, rightly famous for his boxing sequences which have you almost ducking out of the way of the camera. Also stars Joe Pesci
Ran – Kurosawa again, this time with a beautiful looking film, based on Shakespeare's King Lear. A retired warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons, only for it to end in division, warfare, and tragedy. There are no close ups in the film- almost each shot looks like a painting. It may be over two and a half hours long but is a rewarding experience. The acting is first-rate, especially from the lead and also one of the son's wives as a Lady Macbeth type figure.
Run Lola Run – Frenetic editing, inventive shots, with even live action turning to cartoon shots at one point. It’s basically a young woman (Famke Potente) running and trying to save her boyfriend’s skin as he’s under threat from a drug dealer. We see 3 different outcomes and if ever a film will exhaust you, it’s this one.
And the winner is… Rear Window. Sorry, I know it’s my third Hitchcock winner, but when you mix Hitch with James Stewart and Grace Kelly, you know you’re on to a good thing!
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