Author: Colin
To celebrate the 75th birthday of the BFI Southbank, the British Film Institute asked 75 celebrities (some you may have heard of, the rest appear to be fillers) for their favourite film.
The idea behind this was to produce a list of ‘classic movies of the future’. Better yet, the top five as voted by the celebrities and the public alike, will be screened at the BFI Southbank from January 2009. If you go to their web site, you can read the responses to the two questions:
All the links are clickable, and the various celebs will tell you what they voted for and why. You are also invited to nominate your own choice(s) and given the opportunity to provide a comment.
There are some really good choices on there. Most of the celebs seem to have given it at least a little bit of thought. Here’s a few as a taster:
Naturally enough, this list of 75 movies produced the more-than-likely-anticipated rush of people to say just how wrong it was and why hadn’t their favourite been included, etc. The list is introduced as a catalyst for debate, but the usual suspects turn up whining on because ‘xyz’ wasn’t included.
Here’s a few that I personally disagree with, and why:
Perhaps more disturbing still is a – quite long – entry from someone dubbing himself ‘John Duck’. Among his list of all-time classic movies are:
His list actually goes on for a lot longer than that, and there is hardly a film on it anyone in their right mind would dub a classic, but it doesn’t seem to put him off. I suspect it’s an attempt to play agent provocateur, but if it’s not, I will say this: “Get help John, it may not be too late.”
My favourite classic movie? That would have to be A Night at the Opera (1935) – simply superb. Far too many great lines, with razor-sharp delivery.
OK, now you know mine – what’s yours, and why?
6 Responses to “BFI – British Film Institute, or Bad Film Ideas?”
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An interesting and difficult question. To choose a film, I would have to think about why a specific film should be handed down.
My first thought was Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004), the key event of the previous century and a terrible warning that should be passed onto future generations. However, although the death of the Third Reich exposed the rottenness and insanity of what was basically a death cult, it only tells part of the story. As Bruno Ganz (who was simply astounding as Der Fürher) said, the really interesting film would be about how this bunch of monkeys ever got into power, and that film has yet to be made.
I think I’ll go for Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). It has the message and a supreme mastery of the medium.
The future of the moving image will certainly be unpredictable and that’s part of the excitement. I think it will be more democratic and easier to get low-budget films made. Perhaps the internet will allow for new ways of distributing and viewing films. Will the film studios face the same crisis that the music industry is trying to survive?
What about technology? Will we ever get convenient 3D films? What lies beyond today’s technologies? It’ll certainly be interesting.
Hello Andy, nice comment.
And good choice of films, too – Der Untergang is simply astounding, while Dr Strangelove is probably Stanley Kubrick’s finest film, and that’s certainly saying something. Check out this extract of dialogue – a blackly, terrifyingly hilarious exchange between General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), who’s just ordered the B52 bombers against Russia to protect his “precious bodily fluids” and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellars), who is slowly but surely coming to the conclusion that a madman has sparked World War III:
General Jack D. Ripper: [Talking about the year that water-flouridation was introduced in the US] Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Uh, Jack, Jack, listen, tell me, tell me, Jack. When did you first… become… well, develop this theory?
General Jack D. Ripper: Well, I, uh… I… I… first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmmm.
General Jack D. Ripper: Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue… a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I… I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmmm.
General Jack D. Ripper: I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women uh… women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh… I do not avoid women, Mandrake.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: No.
General Jack D. Ripper: But I… I do deny them my essence.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Yeeeeees, Jack, yeeees.
To lay my card(s) on the table in answer to Colin’s question, I find that it’s always difficult to name THE best film. I have no problem with my favourite book, by contrast (it’s William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, both film versions of which, by Peter Brook in 1963 and Harry Hook in 1990, are distinctly average), but choosing one film ahead of all the others? Hmmm.
I suppose I will have to go for Joseph L. Manckiewicz’s Sleuth (1972) - it is certainly the film that I have watched most, and I don’t believe I will ever tire of the sublime (and increasingly dangerous) gamesplaying that is at the core of the story, adapted from the Anthony Schaffer play. Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine are nothing short of magical together. So, will that do you?
I think the film I keep returning to would have to be the one I nominate – Jaws (1975).
That said its an interesting list with a good mix of brain and brawn. It’s good to see fodder like Stalker (1979) up there with the blockbusters – even though, strictly speaking, it was telly.
I think Sergio Leone doesn’t really get represented as well as he should. Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) deserve more mentions, rather than Once Upon A Time In America (1984). Mind you, it would be great to see any of them on the big screen again, as they’re all so cinematic.
Missing movies: No one seems to have mentioned Groundhog Day (1993) which I think is as good as any Frank Capra or Powell/Pressburger movie and just as philosophical. In fact, I think it’s one of the most philosophical movies I’ve seen and yet remains so easy to watch unlike The Seventh Seal (1957), etc.
But, of the official, 75 I think I’d have to vote for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Again, it has that easy-to-watch air, but must have been so difficult to make – in the days when cavalry charges had to be filmed for real.
Hey Chris,
You back from Oz yet?
Thanks for the comment. You old traditionalist, you – Lawrence of Arabia? Nothing is written…
I’m pretty surprised nobody mentioned Psycho (1960) – Anthony Perkins was a thoroughly likeable murderer (up to a point) and it’s the first film I remember seeing where I had any sympathy for the ‘bad guy’. A relatively simple story (adapted from a novella by the great Robert Bloch) with some cracking dialogue:
“Norman Bates no longer exists. He only half-existed to begin with. And now, the other half has taken over. Probably for all time.”
“Did he kill my sister?”
“Yes. And no.”
I know it may be a bit of a hackneyed choice, and probably not cool or obscure enough, but it’s a classic, nonetheless.
Hi James,
Yep. I’m back from Oz and suffering acute jet lag. I saw Indy 4 on a screen the size of a stamp with a 747′s engines roaring in my ears, I’m not sure it would be much better on the big screen. Plus I saw The Happening (2008). Never have so many actors looked so embarrased delivering so much exposition.
I don’t mean to be a traditionalist. If I had my way Andrei Rublev would be top of the list. There’s nothing I like more than B/W Russian epics about medieval monks refusing to speak. Ah! Wait a moment. No! I’d choose Alien (1979) – a big scary space monster stalks people and impregnates them with baby space monsters. What more could an audience want?
Hi Colin,
Psycho (1960) rocks!