The Finish Line

For the last three years I've been trying to track down and watch (without paying a fortune for hard to get DVDs) all 145 films from the IMDB top 250 (at that time) I hadn't seen. Well as of Friday night I have.

In the last week I've taken in "The Best Years of Our Lives", "The Battle of Algiers" and finally on Friday night the film I'd been dreading (and consequently putting off) since day one: "Gone With the Wind".

The Best Years of Our Lives was another Willian Wyler (Ben Hur, Roman Holiday), and like all of his work I've encountered it was a really strong character piece. He wasn't a director with an elaborate visual style (as far as I've seen), but his films shine on the performances of his actors. That said there were a few moments later in the film (particular in the aeroplane graveyard) where the image on screen is particularly effective. The story of the three former military men (a soldier, an airman and a sailor) struggling in different ways after returning from the war was fairly powerful. One of the three; a sailor who lost his hands, stands out particularly. That said at times I felt the story spent too much time on the airman's romantic story at the expense of the other two.

Next up was the last of the non-English language films (and there have been a few). Fortunately it wasn't another Fellini, who I've struggled with. Instead it was by a different Italian; Gillo Pontecorvo. The Battle of Algiers sets out to tell the story of the Algerian War of Independence, and although before watching the film I knew nothing about it I didn't get a sense of a strong bias towards either the Algerian revolutionaries or the French, although its possible there were even worse actions by either side the film doesn't show. The performances were strong and the film was shot in very realistic looking way though not quite documentary style. The thing that really stood out for me though was the score. Given that it was done by one of the all time greats; Ennio Moricone that isn't too surprising. It draws on military music, but also jazz and creates a real sense of terror and confusion that helps to seriously ramp up the tension where needed. This particular clip sums it up rather well. Now if only QT would stop stealing it and using it in entirely the wrong way (see Inglorious Basterds). I would definitely suggest that those of you open to subtitled foreign films check this one out.

Last of all we had the longest film on the list, and with its run time of 238 minutes (that's almost 4 hours) I'm extremely glad there wasn't anything longer. If there was I would never have finished. I know there are longer films (even discounting the art installations that crop up on wikipedia's list) but fortunately I didn't have to deal with them.

Gone With the Wind was alright. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it enough to not feel like I'd wasted my time in watching it. Parts of it were excellent, its just that it feels like two different films dovetailed together. The first of them being the story of the final days of the South in the American Civil War, and the second being a not really a love story starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. The performances from the leads were really good. Vivien Leigh could definately act, as I'd already seen in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Clark Gable was just that kind of leading man who could play a charming scoundrel as well as anyone. Visually it felt (and this is probably a sign that the film needed to wait a few years until after Citizen Kane had shown how it could be done) I was watching events unfold with one eye closed. The telling of the first half of the film needed more scale to really show the extent of the conflict and devastation. With a few more wide shots and sweeping panoramas (there was a good scene showing all the Confederate wounded) it could have been much better. The other issue with it has to be the supporting cast. Once again a sign of the times it was made it, but the portrayal of the black characters in particular was at best cringeworthy. Racial politics aside it isn't a bad film, but I'd need a very free Sunday afternoon to revisit it.

Anyway that's it done. I've had a look at the current IMDB Top 250 and there are about 30 films I've not seen. I did ask Hollywood to hold off on making new films until I'd finished, but clearly my polite request was ignored. Most of them are new films, released since I started my challenge, and given I wanted to see the classics, I feel no obligation to see them immediately, although I will eventually.

A Belated New Year Update

It's the New Year (or it was when I started writing this) and I didn't finish by the end of 2013. I'm down to the last nine films now though:

• Gone with the Wind (I just keep putting this one off. Might as well make it the last on purpose)
• The Grapes of Wrath
• Les diaboliques
• Judgment at Nuremberg
• The Best Years of Our Lives
• Shadow of a Doubt (Another Hitchcock!)
• Stalag 17
• The Battle of Algiers
• The 400 Blows

Since my last post I've managed to track down and watch

• Roman Holiday – My first exposure to Audrey Hepburn and she is a delight. That along with Gregory Peck's performance made it worth watching despite the film being a bit lightweight otherwise.
• The Seventh Seal – Unsettling, but brilliant. As with many of the best subtitled films I've watched after about twenty minutes I'd forgotten it wasn't in English. It felt like it belonged in the middle ages and definitely deserves its place.
• Wild Strawberries – Quite different to the other Bergman on the list. Still very character based, but a personal rather than supernatural drama. It doesn't suffer for it. I'm really looking forward to more Bergman now.
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – A rare modern film. Slightly off the wall feel to it that gives it a slightly otherworldly feel, but helps accentuate how strange it must have been to go through. Also a lovely film. Great viewing.
• A Streetcar Named Desire – I just don't buy Brando as the great actor. He was good certainly, but he never learned to talk with his mouth open. Vivian Leigh on the other hand was fantastic; brilliantly unhinged.
• 8 ½ – Surrealism from Fellini. It's apparently a comedy, but I didn't get it if it was. Unless it's only a comedy in the sense that it isn't serious. I've struggled with Fellini and this was no different.
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf – A master-class in marital craziness from Taylor and Burton, not much more to say.