It is very 1969 out there this summer, with anniversaries of touching the moon (that’s a Dylan reference) and the Woodstock Festival, as well as what one friend perfectly described as the “immersive experience” of the time capsule visit to EL-Lay ‘69 that is Quinten Tarantino’s current release. Naturally all this led us to thinking about the movies, with the result that although this is, technically speaking, more of a “fifty years ago this year” post, we’re newly inspired to kick off an annual “fifty years ago” set of top ten lists, slotting them in during each year . . . when the mood strikes us. (But this does feel like a late summer sort of activity).
Of course, top ten lists are silly and arbitrary. But they are also irresistible, and so we will not resist, following as always our established, characteristically elaborate set of rules and qualifications for such an exercise. And 1969 is a great year to start with – seven of these ten appeared on our list of the top twenty-five films of the sixties (one of those was an “honorable mention,” but an average year should yield only 2-3 entries). Movies from the sixties list are noted with a star; those that also appear on our top twenty five of all time have an additional star.
In alphabetical order, then, our Top Ten of 1969:
Army of Shadows** Roughly half of Jean Pierre Melville’s movies were masterpieces. This is his greatest film. With Lino Ventura and a party of favorites including Paul Meurisse, Jean Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret and Serge Regianni, Shadows remains painfully relevant today.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice* Paul Mazursky’s first film (co-written with Larry Tucker), with Robert Culp, Natalie Wood, Elliot Gould, and Dyan Cannon, respectively. Nominally a comedy (and it is very funny), it is a movie with something to say (and in-between the laughs includes an intense, ten minute marital confrontation worthy of Cassavetes).
Medium Cool* Haskell Wexler’s astonishing leap into the contested space between fiction and documentary, on the streets of Chicago in 1968. With Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, and Peter Bonerz; a great movie we have discussed on several occasions, including here.
Midnight Cowboy* Another favorite we have written about repeatedly—John Schlesinger’s take on loneliness, friendship, and the City as it was. (And we still prefer the old Times Square to the new.) A New Hollywood landmark, with Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight.
My Night at Maud’s** Eric Rohmer’s greatest film, during which Jean-Louis Trintignant and Françoise Fabian talk about life, the universe and everything. You have to like Rohmer to like this. Let us rephrase: you have to like Rohmer.
The Passion of Anna* An extraordinary film from Ingmar Bergman’s breathtaking winning streak from 1966 – 1973, En Passion has been overshadowed by some of Bergman’s more celebrated masterworks of the era. With regulars Liv Ullmann, Max Von Sydow, Bibi Andersson and Erland Josephson, stunningly shot by Sven Nykvist (of course) on Faro.
The Rain People Francis Ford Coppola’s location-driven, character-over-narrative drama about a woman on the road, with Shirley Knight, James Caan, and Robert Duvall, was an early exemplar of the type of the uncompromising, inward-looking drama that characterized the best of the New Hollywood.
The Unfaithful Wife, The Beast Must Die (tie) Mid Century Cinema favorite Claude Chabrol produced two great films in 1969 (early in an incredible run of films that marked his re-emergence as one of the greats), and we can’t decide which one we like better. La Femme Infidele boasts regulars Michel Bouquet and Stéphane Audran alongside Maurice Ronet; look for film director Maurice Pialat in a fine turn as a detective in Beast.
The Wild Bunch* Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist western established the benchmark for the genre (though we have a slight preference for his Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid from 1973). Mr. William Holden leads an impressive cast that includes Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Ben Johnson, and Warren Oates.
Z* The first film of Costa-Gavras’ politically inflected trilogy with the invariably outstanding Yves Montand (we think the middle entry, The Confession, is the best of them). Z was a sensation in its day, capturing the zeitgeist of the moment—but fifty years later it remains a great film.
Simone Signoret in Army of Shadows
Robert Forster (with Belmondo, Tiny Tim, and Tet) in Medium Cool
Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman in En Passion