- Gandhi (won 1982)
- Terms of Endearment (won 1983)
- Silence of the Lambs (won 1991)
- Shane (nominated 1953)
"Gandhi" won in 1982, because it had to. As someone born in the 80's, Ben Kingsley's performance has replaced whatever I ever knew about the real Gandhi. As beautiful as its message and presentation is, I find that the movie struggles in its narrative during the transition from "independence from England" to "the Hindus and Muslism are at odds." It is not believable. Also, things start to get really weird when Candice Bergen and Cliff from "Cheers" drive up together in a jeep. I gave "Gandhi" a score of 7.1.
One of the oddest things about this project has been the recurring appearance of Daniel Day-Lewis in hilarious bit parts; and in Gandhi we see him very early as a racist South African. He really nails the accent -- would you expect anything less?
I'm glad to be done with "Terms of Endearment." Another winner, this film reminded me of "Ordinary People" in its presentation of alternative family themes. I knew to prepare myself for a heart-wrenching third act, in which the lovingly piece-of-shit husband played by Jeff Daniels laughs off his faults and decides to give up his children. Ha, ha, ha. What I did not appreciate is how good Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson's performances are. They make the movie worth watching. I told my mom that I watched this movie, and she remarked that it was "Deb" (a term of enderament?) Winger's last good role. I give "Terms of Endearment" a 6.6.
"Silence of the Lambs," yet another winner, might be the one of the first examples of a movie whose universal adoration I somewhat reject. Though I had previously seen most of the movie in pieces, I re-watched for this exercise so that I could reflect after a true, start-to-finish viewing. My impression was generally that the third act and climax are among the best ever made, but that it is fledgling otherwise, save a garish though interesting performance by Anthony Hopkins. Jodie Foster's Clarice is fine. The best performance is Ted Levine, who might have sacrificed his career for the sheer brilliance of Buffalo Bill, who is probably the absolute most f*cked up, insane character ever in a non-horror movie.
The answer to the question nobody asked is that I think both the best and most important movie of 1991 is still "Beauty and the Beast." I gave "Silence of the Lambs," a very good but not transcendent film, a 7.2.
I saved the best for last. "Shane" is available through Netflix online, and I would encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to carve out two hours in the near future and watch. This is the best Western I've ever seen that was not directed by Sergio Leone. Alan Ladd plays the titular character, who as far as I can tell, is a tortured-soul gunfighter who stumbles upon a homesteader ranch in Wyoming and finds the perfect opportunity to change his life. That is, until cattle barons start bullying people around through intimidation tactics and a hired-goon quickdraw played by Jack Palance. Common themes are played out through unique perspectives, including those of the homesteaders, the bad guys, the other townsfolk, and a precocious-but-not-in-a-fake-Wes-Anderson-way young boy. The movie builds to the inevitable (and yet, amazingly, not cliche) gunfight between Shane and the bad guys. There is a clip below. Though we know the outcome, it does not diminish the impact of the film:
Holy shit, right?
This was an education in Western movies for me. No Clint Eastwood, No John Wayne, no problem. For someone of my age, it was incredible to see Palance as someone other than Curly from "City Slickers," and it was incredible to see Alan Ladd, really, at all. He unfortunately died about a decade later. Some of his other performances will be peppered throughout this project, but I seriously doubt any of them will be as impactful as his guardian angel-esque turn as "Shane."
It's also worth noting that this is the best title for a film, possibly ever. I gave "Shane" a 9.4.
No comments:
Post a Comment