My Movie Year: 1957

This post is a part of 'My Movie Year' Blogathon organized by Fandango Groovers Movie Blog. Basic idea is you have to pick your favorite year for movies and back it up with 5 classics from that year, no more and no less. You can do as much as or as little as you want with them. You can see the list of all participants here.

Anyone who calls himself a cinephile or cinema lover, even someone who has a little more than just a passing interest in movies, must have heard of '1001 Movies You Need to See Before You Die' list. By all means, it is an extensive list of movies and even though I do not understand why some of the movies in that list deserve to be in it I still have to agree that it is a good reference point to check your movie knowledge. If you have been reading this blog, you will also know that I have talked about keeping track of this list. One fine day, when I was just going through the list, a particular year caught my attention because of the wide variety of movies released in the same year and that's how I discovered My Movie Year: 1957. To convince you that 1957 is one of the best years for the movies, I am going to do something different here. I am going to pick 5 movies in 5 different languages, which none of us would have any qualms about their Classic Status. This should make 1957 not only just a great movie year but really versatile as well with memorable pieces of cinema from all over the world.

12 Angry Men: Over the course of last few years, Sidney Lumet has fast become one of my favorite directors. From the accidental discovery of this genius after his death, I saw at least one and half dozen movies he directed before doing this Top 10 piece for Profile of a Director series. Even though most of his movies are classical piece of cinema, some are epic, some are even ground-breaking but none of his movies, and very few anybody made ever, have swept me off my feet the way 12 Angry Men did when I saw it first. Place in Top 5 favorite movies ever bears a testimony to that. For a storyline of 12 jurors assembled in jury room to decide final verdict of what looks like an 'open and shut' case of murder, it has an uncanny ability to make you think by attacking your prejudices very directly, especially those you do not even admit to yourself that you possess. There is nothing special about that group of 12 men assembled in that room but what they have to accomplish is special and film realizes this responsibility quite early, even if the jurors don't. What I love the most about it, and Roger Ebert agrees with it, is there is so much action in it without any real action on-screen because Lumet generates it from his direction, from Reginald Rose's story, from dialogues like 'Now, You don't *Really* mean to kill me, do you?', performances and from situations confined in one single room such as Henry Fonda producing that knife. I have only seen it once in my life but even after couple of years, I can still remember every last detail of it and it still gives me a sense of excitement. Now, just add to it the fact that this was Sidney Lumet's directorial debut and it instantly becomes an unforgettable Classic and every bit worth of it's status.  

Throne of Blood: Even though it is not regarded as highly as some other immortal films Kurosawa did like Seven Samurai(1954), Rashomon(1950), Ran(1985) and Ikiru(1952), Throne of Blood which is considered as one of the best adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth to the medieval Japan is equally masterful and one of the darkest movies Kurosawa did in his career. Taketoki Washizu is an equivalent of Macbeth, who is a brave fighter who has just helped his lord to uproot a rebellion. On his way to meet his lord with another brave warrior, they encounter a spirit which makes glowing predictions for their future. As parts of this prophecy starts to comes true, his wife forces him into killing the current lord which will speed-up his ascendancy. However, the burden of guilt and suspicion that comes with it starts to consume him. It gives you a lot of reasons to hate it, it is very 50s, very Japanese(which in my opinion are actually strong-points but who knows), all the special effects are very dated and it becomes very loud towards end. But, if you are familiar with Japanese Cinema, especially classic Japanese cinema, you would know that all these things usually come with the package. However, slow disintegration of both the main characters, Lord Washizu and his Wife is portrayed is such an effective fashion, specially in two scenes - one when Lord Washizu starts imagining Miki's ghost in the feast and second at the end where his wife is trying to wash the imaginary blood of her hands, that you will cannot help but pity them. Ran(1985) which many believe as last masterpiece of Kurosawa has a lot of similarities with this, so much that I inevitably blend the two storylines together, should make an excellent double feature.

The Seventh Seal: If I am being honest, deciding this movie year was much easier decision when I compare it to deciding which 5 movies to write about after deciding the year. Even after I chose to go with 5 movies in 5 different languages which should probably make my sample set way smaller, Ingmar Bergman made sure that it was anything but simple. It might just be dumb luck or there might be something to it but in the year 1957, Bergman released two movies which made him Bergman and in my opinion, might just be two best movies he ever made: Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal. Choosing one of these two masterful pieces probably was the hardest choice I had to make. Wild Strawberries was first Bergman movie I saw and I still remain convinced that it is THE Best place to start your Bergman Experience. For this very reason, apart from how genius of a movie it is, it will always have a very special place in my heart. Only reason I chose The Seventh Seal over it is, it has been on my Wish-List for a long time and I finally saw it for this post. Even though I have seen quite a few Bergman movies, I usually find them hard to follow. What makes The Seventh Seal different, as a matter of fact Wild Strawberries as well is they are way more accessible than you would think for the movies that practically defined the Art movies and much more open to interpret even for an amateur like me. Another notable thing about it is the amount of hope and humour in the movie which basically is about Death. In fact, my favorite scene in the movie is the most hopeful moment of the movie where all the major characters are sitting together eating wild strawberries and milk while there is death all around them. Significant moment, also because being the last happy occasion as Death starts it's shameless dance culminating into final moment of the film, which is also considered as the apotheosis of Bergman's career - Dance of Death.

Aparajito: Even though technically it is a 1956 film, '1001 movies' lists this as 1957 film. So, I am sticking with it since I took all the other movies from the same list. Second part of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, Aparajito picks up the story where Pather Panchali(1955), first part of the trilogy left and tells us the story of years of Apu's education. Even after being the middle segment of the trilogy, Aparajito stands firmly as a movie on its own. Having watched Pather Panchali before definitely helps you in getting a better feel of it but Aparajito does not rely on first installment - couple of references to Nischindipur, village where Apu was born is all it takes from it. Apu and his parents have moved to Varanasi in hopes of better livelihood. Varanasi being one of the most important holy cities of India and Apu's father being Priest as Family Occupation, he hopes to earn a decent livelihood. However, even though they have left their village, hardships in life haven't left their side just yet. (SPOILER)After passing of their father, they again move to a small village in West Bengal(SPOILER End) where he starts going back to school and turns out to be very bright student. He even gets a scholarship to continue his schooling in Kolkata but for his mother this unfortunately results to loneliness and deterioration of her health. We follow ups and downs in his life, see him move from Varanasi to small village in West Bengal and then to Kolkata. Satyajit Ray, probably the most well-known Indian director won numerous awards nationally and internationally for this trilogy. Aparajito among many others, received Golden Lion for Best Film as well as Critics award in 1957 Venice Film Festival. Based on novels by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, whole Apu Trilogy is a milestone in Indian cinema and is among the finest works of Parallel Cinema, Indian equivalent of Italian Neo-realism and French New Wave. It is also often considered as one of the greatest film trilogies ever made.

Nights of Cabiria: Federico Fellini and his films have a peculiar tendency to grow on me slowly but surely. Of the 5 films I have seen, including 8 1/2(1963) and La Dolce Vita(1960), I did not take fancy to any of them immediately. However, more I think on them, it seems that more I appreciate them which is true specifically in case of 8 1/2 which by now I consider as one of the best movies made. Period. Nights of Cabiria which features a powerful performance by Guilietta Masina in central role of Cabiria, followed the same path basically because I could easily see its ending from miles away and it kinda infuriated me when it did happen. But a little deliberation over it makes you realize the depth and breadth of the things Fellini touches through Cabiria. Take for example, her encounter with man looking out for homeless people - it is interesting to see that she does not understand his kindness but she can see herself in homeless woman or their trip to Virgin Mary for her blessings and her confusion over trying to control something she does not understand. Cabiria, almost every time breezes through these experiences and more often than not ends up on the receiving end of humiliations without actually learning anything from them - one of the main reasons why ending infuriated me. Right from the very first scene where she gets dumped in the water by her boyfriend who also steals her 40,000 lire till the end, she goes from one humiliation to another. But, is it really her fault that world around her is so cruel ? Is it really so bad to look around for true love or to readily believe in the benevolence of human nature ? because this is exactly what she does. And is it really her fault that she is taken advantage of or being used for some ulterior motives all the time due to that ? If at all, her only fault is she is too innocent for cunning world around her.

Bonus Features: Paths of Glory, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Wild Strawberries, Mother India.

Average IMDb Rating of 5 films: 8.3
Lowest Rating: Aparajito(1957)   8.0                                                      Highest Rating: 12 Angry Men(1957)   8.9

Now, you tell me.