1970s

  • Yves Robert – Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire aka The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972)

    1971-1980ComedyFranceYves Robert

    A frothy French farce, The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe is a classic madcap comedy about espionage, surveillance and mistaken identity. When Francois (Pierre Richard), an unsuspecting violinist, is misidentified as a superspy by national intelligence, outrageous antics ensue. As everyone (including Mireille Darc, playing a knock-out henchwoman) falls over each other in their misguided attempts to discover the tall blond man’s secrets, his best friend complicates matters even further when he overhears a salacious recording of Francois with his wife. The whole merry-go-round comes crashing to a halt in one final showdown, pitting spy versus supposed spy with hilarious results. Elegantly filmed and accompanied by a memorable score, The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe is one of the most seminal comedies of the 1970s.Read More »

  • Bo Widerberg – Mannen på taket AKA Man on the Roof (1976)

    1971-1980Bo WiderbergCrimeSwedenThriller

    When a police inspector is murdered in hospital, the investigation led by detective Martin Beck uncovers reports of police misconduct and a possible revenge motive.Read More »

  • Alain Tanner – Messidor (1979)

    Drama1971-1980Alain TannerPoliticsSwitzerland

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    Two Swiss girls around twenty, one a history student and the other a store clerk, meet while hitch-hiking. Out of a whim and with nothing better to do, they decide to go on hitch-hiking together around Switzerland as long as they feel like it. After a couple of days, their money is spent in restaurants and cheap hotels, so they continue their tour by sleeping in cattle sheds and asking for money and accommodation from people. An unexpected discovery, a gun found in a car’s glove compartment, gradually turns their methods somewhat more dramatic. Written by Markku Kuoppamäki (IMDB).Read More »

  • Yves Yersin – Les Petites Fugues aka Little Escapes (1979)

    1971-1980ArthouseDramaSwitzerlandYves Yersin

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    Synopsis
    Pipe (Michel Robin) has worked on the same farm for forty of his 66 years of living. Now he is in his “salad” years, and in retirement is free to explore the world in ways he never did before. He buys a small motorcycle with the help of an Italian migrant laborer and begins touring the countryside. Formerly somewhat docile, he gets into scrapes and fights, and eventually loses his cycle. Nonetheless, he has a chance to see the Alps from the sky. He has always wanted to see these legendary mountains, and is disappointed to realize that they are just big piles of rock.Read More »

  • Marguerite Duras – Césarée / Les Mains négatives / Aurélia Steiner (Melbourne) (Vancouver) / La Caverne noire (1979)

    1971-1980ExperimentalFranceMarguerite DurasShort Film

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    Quote:
    Filmed in 1979, these four short films share a common method: they combine texts written and read by Duras (in voice-over) with images shot by Pierre Lhomme.Read More »

  • Hal Ashby – Being There (1979)

    Drama1971-1980ComedyHal AshbyUSA

    Roger Ebert / May 25, 1997
    On the day that Kasparov was defeated by Deep Blue, I found myself thinking of the film “Being There” (1979). The chess champion said there was something about the computer he did not understand, and it frightened him. There were moments when the computer seemed to be . . . thinking. Of course, chess is not a game of thought but of mathematical strategy; Deep Blue has demonstrated it is possible to be very good at it without possessing consciousness.Read More »

  • Eddie Romero – Ganito kami noon… Paano kayo ngayon? AKA This is how we were, How are you doing now? (1976)

    1971-1980AdventureClassicsEddie RomeroPhilippines

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    (from Cinemarehiyon)
    The picaresque adventures of a young, naive country bumpkin named Kulas (de Leon) and his whimsical encounters with denizens of various nationalities – Spanish, American, Chinese, indio – is a metaphor for the Filipino quest for identity at a time when nationhood was still an imagined concept. Set during the liminal period when the Philippines was in transition from Spanish to American colonial rule, this masterwork shows Romero at his best and most exuberant as a filmmaker. It swept most of the awards at the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival, and was subsequntly voted best picture at the very first Urian Awards in 1977.Read More »

  • Liliana Cavani – Al di là del bene e del male aka Beyond Good and Evil (1977)

    Drama1971-1980CultItalyLiliana Cavani

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    About the movie
    Beyond Good and Evil (Italian: Al di là del bene e del male, UK title: Beyond Evil) is a 1977 drama film directed by Liliana Cavani. It stars Dominique Sanda, Erland Josephson and Robert Powell. The film follows the intense relationship formed in the 1880s between Friedrich Nietzsche, Lou Salome and Paul Rée. This is the second part of “The German Trilogy” directed by Liliana Cavani. In The Night Porter she described connection between perversion and fascism. This time she describes life of Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher who wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil. Virna Lisi won Nastro d’Argento Best supporting Actress award Nastro d’Argento (Silver Ribbon) from the ‘Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists’.Read More »

  • Luigi Zampa – Bello, onesto, emigrato Australia sposerebbe compaesana illibata AKA A Girl in Australia (1971)

    1971-1980ComedyCommedia all'ItalianaItalyLuigi Zampa

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    Early 1970s. Amedeo is a poor Italian immigrant living in Australia for twenty years. Seeking to marry an Italian wife, he corresponds with Carmela, a pretty girl from Rome. They do not reveal their true identities and do not mention their hardships in their letters. Carmela is actually a prostitute seeking an opportunity to change her life style. Amedeo, embarrassed about his looks, sends a photograph to Carmela of his handsome friend Giuseppe. Finally, Carmela lands in Melbourne. Amedeo meets Carmela at the airport and he is struck by her beauty. Thinking he will be rejected because of his looks, he decides to tell Carmela that he is Giuseppe, and he reserves to tell her the truth at a later moment. This starts a three day eventful journey across Eastern Australia. Carmela will soon become better acquainted with Amedeo and she learns of his hardships as an immigrant. She eventually meets the real Giuseppe, however, she believes that he is her betrothed groom, Amedeo. She quickly learns Giuseppe’s true shady intentions. In fact, she finds herself living in a red light district and then escapes. Amedeo and Carmela finally find true happiness together.Read More »

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