Tony Kitson on the STATIS Top Ten Movies
The first thing to say is that there isn't a Top Ten Movies. It changes by the day - or sometimes even by the hour. That's because for those of us who love movies they touch us in some way, and therefore our Top Ten can be swayed by just how well or badly we're doing at a particular time.
For me, films can fulfil a number of functions. Some entertain. Some provoke thought. Some describe some or other aspect of The Human Condition. Some should never have been made - almost all of Cary Grant's films for instance.
My preference is for those which make me think, those which make me think even on the seventh viewing. So here goes.
First on the list is American Beauty which says an awful lot about humanity and our place in the world. Kevin Spacey is great in it and Annette Bening is even better - her real estate house viewing is a little masterclass of acting in which she conveys her life history in about 15 seconds.
Next up, a contrast from the personal to the epic, is Lawrence Of Arabia. Only David Lean could have done this justice and it's notable, amongst other things, for the quality of its editing - the struck match turning into the desert sunrise, Omar Sharif's almost endless trek out of the desert - and the preternatural beauty of Peter O'Toole in the lead role.
From the historical to the fantastic. David Lynch's Mulholland Drive is a masterpiece in two sections. The first depicts the Hollywood Dream as young, beautiful and talented Naomi Watts arrives for an audition and knocks everyone's socks off. This strand is inverted half way through: actors swap characters and the Dream becomes a Nightmare, all underpinned by a series of "visual-clues" which help unlock the story.
In the same fantastical vein but not as downright weird comes Night Of The Hunter. Charles Laughton's only film as a director is a fairy story as two children are relentlessly pursued by a demonic preacher with the words LOVE and HATE tattooed across his knuckles. Laughton devoted great care to the visual look of the film, borrowing from German expressionist style to create a gothic masterpiece.
The preacher is played by Robert Mitchum who also appears in Build My Gallows High (aka Out Of The Past). Mitchum's laconic style tended to hide the fact that he was a very great actor indeed. This is the best example of that post-WWII film style dubbed film noir and it exhibits all the archetypes of that genre: sensational lighting, action almost always confined to night, a doomed, obsessed antihero, a murderous, obsessed villain (Kirk Douglas) and a femme fatale (Jane Greer) who wraps both men around her little fingers.
Alfred Hitchcock also made a film about obsession: Vertigo. The usually wholesome James Stewart starts as a private eye tracking a blonde woman (Kim Novak) and becoming utterly entranced. It being a Hitchcock, there are dark forces at work and whilst it has its flaws it's the most powerful and emotionally truthful film he ever made.
I'm feeling the need to lighten the mood so we'll have This Is Spinal Tap for some comedic relief. It really is a gem. It follows the adventures of a gormless British heavy metal band as they tour the States promoting their new album Smell The Glove. It's famous for its brilliant spoof songs and for the guitarist Nigel Tufnell's amplifier volume which "goes up to 11".
Oh, that's funny. And now we've had a laugh we can turn our attention to Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. It isn't a comedy but it does have some hilarious moments: Warren Oates presenting his new 'fiancee" to the outlaw gang; Strother Martin and L.Q.Jones as a sort of demonic Laurel and Hardy; and the opening gunfight in which the hard drinking Peckinpah has a citizens in a temperance march caught up in a gunfight. The underlying theme of the film is its depiction of the impossibility of living with honour in the modern world, and William Holden puts in his finest work as the outlaw at the end of his time.
Another film about honour (and many other things beside) is The Godfather, arguably the greatest film of all. The story is relatively simple but the way it unfolds through character is a marvel to behold. Al Pacino dominates in a hugely talented cast, his Michael Corleone seeming to suck all the light out the corners and edges of the film.
Francis Ford Coppola's film has its horrific moments but it can't compete with the all-out assault of William Freidkin's The Exorcist. Surrounded by controversy on its release, it's a very moral film. Some of the effects look a bit hokey now to be honest but the whole thing still packs a powerful punch.
So, that's it. Ten films to keep you occupied. Looking back over them I've come to realise that they're not exactly a barrel of laughs - but they are exceptional examples of the 20th Century's most important art form. Happy viewing!
