1970s

  • Stephen Frears – One Fine Day (1979)

    1971-1980DramaStephen FrearsTVUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    George Phillips, a middle-aged Londoner, works as an estate agent for the firm of Frobisher, Rendell and Ross. His home life is soured by clashes with his wife over whether their teenage son’s girlfriend should be allowed to sleep over at their house, a situation the timid, melancholic George dislikes but hasn’t the guts to forbid. His professional life is dominated by his attempts to find a buyer for Sunley House, a once-fashionable 1960s office block which has lain unoccupied for over a year. When his wife leaves for Colchester to look after her elderly father, George avoids conflict with his son by sleeping over at Sunley House. Meanwhile, his workplace rival, a younger man called Rycroft, is also trying to find a buyer for Sunley House (and thereby usurp George’s place in the firm). One morning George finds himself locked in and has to crash through a window to escape. When Rycroft finds the broken window, he sets out to find the culprit.Read More »

  • Hollis Frampton – Hapax Legomena I: Nostalgia (1971)

    1971-1980ExperimentalHollis FramptonShort FilmUSA

    Quote:
    As its name suggests, Nostalgia is autobiographical. Its maker, HOLLIS FRAMPTON, is recognised as one of the leading figures of the New American Cinema, a contemporary of Michael Snow, Paul Sharits and George Landow. This film, made in 1971 and itself part of a larger work called Hapax Legomena relates to a period between 1958 and 1966- before Frampton was known as a film-maker and was working mainly in still photography. Twelve photographs are presented as ‘documents’ of that period. A number are of friends in the New York art world, others are images that were of aesthetic interest. The tone throughout is dry and ironic.Read More »

  • Stephen Frears – Afternoon Off (1979)

    1971-1980DramaStephen FrearsTVUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    Lee, a Chinese man, works as a waiter in a hotel in England, despite speaking very little English. Told that a girl called Iris might be interested in him, on his afternoon off work he buys a box of chocolates and sets off to find her.Read More »

  • Eiichi Kudo – Sono go no jingi naki tatakai AKA Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Aftermath (1979)

    1971-1980ActionAsianEiichi KudôJapan

    Two Kyushu based yakuza groups are desperate for domination of the area. When more powerful yakuza groups get involved in their power struggle, a group of childhood friends, belonging to different yakuza families, are caught in the middle. Lies, deceit, and backstabbing are in play resulting in a bloodbath and a quest for revenge…

    Cast: MATSUKATA Hiroki, NEZU Jinpachi, UZAKI Ryudo, MATSUZAKI Shigeru, NARITA MikioRead More »

  • Jacques Rozier – Les naufragés de l’île de la tortue AKA The Castaways of Turtle Island (1976)

    1971-1980AdventureComedyFranceJacques Rozier

    Quote:
    Bonaventure (Pierre Richard) is a semi-competent travel agent. One day, he teases his girlfriend’s jealousy by making a false mistress with a name which happens to be belong to a real girl… Having to make this lie true, his false mistress becomes also a true one and this is how adventure begins…Read More »

  • Roberto Rossellini – Blaise Pascal (1972)

    1971-1980DramaItalyPhilosophy on ScreenRoberto Rossellini

    Roberto Rosselini directs this fascinating program tracing the life and work of 17th century French mathematician, religious philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal, who made pioneering contributions to the fields of geometry and probability. The legendary Rosselini created this television film as part of a remarkable series geared toward illuminating the evolution of knowledge and history in Western civilization.Read More »

  • Roberto Rossellini – Cartesius (1974)

    1971-1980ClassicsDramaItalyPhilosophy on ScreenRoberto Rossellini

    Rossellini, 1973: One makes films in order to become a better human being.
    The New York Times, : Just watching Rossellini’s magnificent work may help a bit in that department as well.

    In the final phase of his career, Italian master Roberto Rossellini embarked on a dramatic, daunting project: a series of television films about knowledge and history, made in an effort to teach, where contemporary media were failing. Looking at the Western world’s major figures and moments, yet focusing on the small details of daily life, Rossellini was determined not to recount history but to relive it, as it might have been, unadorned and full of the drama of the everyday. This selection of Rossellini’s history films presents The Age of the Medici, Cartesius and Blaise Pascal – works that don’t just enliven the past but illuminate the ideas that have brought us to where we are today.Read More »

  • Eldar Ryazanov – Sluzhebnyy roman AKA Office Romance (1977)

    1971-1980ComedyEldar RyazanovRomanceUSSR

    Anatoli Yefremovich Novoseltsev works in a statistics institution, whose director is an unattractive and bossy woman. An old friend of his, Yuri Grigorievich Samokhvalov, who gets appointed assistant director of the institution, wants to make Novoseltsev the head of the department but encounters objections from Ludmila Prokopievna Kalugina, the director. Samokhvalov then advises Novoseltsev to lightly hit on the boss. Ironically, Novoseltsev and Kalugina fall in love with each other…Read More »

  • John Woo – Hao xia aka Last Hurrah for Chivalry [+commentary] (1979)

    1971-1980ActionHong KongJohn WooMartial Arts

    Synopsis:
    The estate of the Kao family was attacked by Pai an enemy of the Kao family. The last member of the Kao family barely escapes with his life and seeks to avenge himself. His old teacher refuses to help him because he is too caught up in anger and hate. Kao hears of a famous hero in the local town, he tries to befriend him so that he might have his aid in taking revenge against Pai.Read More »

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