Imperfect, but interesting. The Harder They Come is a Jamaican film with a foot each in two different camps; one is a clear-eyed look at life among the Jamaican poor (there s fantastic music everywhere, but there s also a whole lot of poverty), and the other is a blacksploitation crime film of the sort flooding the Continue reading The Harder They Come (1972)
I was putting this one off as long as I could. Not because I didn t think I d like it, and not because I didn t think I d be interested. Quite the opposite I already knew about it, thanks to my theater background; I ve lived here long enough to see Broadway revive the show three times, Continue reading Cabaret (1972)
There s a detail about this film that you may have heard about, whether you ve seen it or not. I ll get to that, I promise. Marlon Brando is Paul , a middle-aged American expat in Paris, who is grieving the sudden suicide of his wife. Maria Schneider is Jeanne , a 20-something Parisian who s living with her mother Continue reading Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin) is a newlywed, who s just married Lila (Jeannie Berlin) and set off with her on his honeymoon in Miami Beach. But while there, he meets Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), the woman of his dreams . And despite his recent nuptials, he decides to pursue Kelly. .Yeah, so this is a black comedy. But Continue reading The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
So this was one of the films which I m not into, but couldn t necessarily tell you why. Petra von Kant (Margrit Carstensen) is supposed to be a fashion designer living .somewhere in Germany, but we never see her doing any design work; instead, she leaves most of that, and most of everything else, to her wordless assistant Continue reading The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)
Andrew Wyke (Sir Laurence Olivier), a genteel upper-class mystery writer, has invited a younger man, Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) to his country mansion for a chat. Tindle s a bit unsure why, though they met after Wyke discovered Tindle was having an affair with his wife. But surprisingly, Wyke seems fine with letting her go Continue reading Sleuth (1972)
I may have spoiled myself a bit for this I saw the 2002 remake from Steven Soderbergh, which starred George Clooney and focused a bit more on a love story hiding within Stanislaw Lem s original novel. Andrei Tarkovsky s original adaptation has more of a psychological mind-screw angle. Both are pretty faithful adaptations. Kris Kelvin Continue reading Solaris (1972)
This is the first time I noticed how well this film s story moves. I ve seen this before select scenes here and there as a child when it was broadcast on TV, or I d walk into a room when someone was watching. An old roommate from 20 years ago heard that I hadn t seen it Continue reading The Godfather (1972)
Of the many words I could have used to describe Pink Flamingos, “wholesome” was not one I expected to reach for. After all, this was the breakout film for both director John Waters – who’s famously dubbed himself “The Pope of Trash” and a “Filth Elder” – and drag icon Divine, who (in)famously nibbled on Continue reading Pink Flamingos (1972)
So now that I ve finally seen it, I m not sure what this was meant to be about. I don t mean the plot that s simple to describe, in terms of what happens, who was involved, when do things take place. What I m not sure about is the why in the why are we hearing this Continue reading Deliverance (1972)