396. L’Avventura
With this modernist masterpiece, Michelangelo Antonioni told a story that abandoned its initial plot. Booed at Cannes, it paved the way for a new cinematic form.
Tag Archives: Fred Zinneman
395. The Conversation
It is said a film is made three times; writing, filming and editing. In which case, editor Walter Murch deserves enormous credit for this masterpiece.
390. Cléo from 5 to 7
In Agnes Varda’s classic, Corrine Marchand plays one woman; happy Cléo and anxious Florence, walking about Paris in real time awaiting her medical results.
385. Unforgiven
Originally titled Whore’s Gold, Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning western exposes the psychosis, bigotry and misogyny at the heart of the genre’s mythology.
378. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or for his unflinching drama about a single day in the lives of two young women.
336. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Films about writers are tricky propositions but you can roughly divide the genre into two eras; pre- and post-Mishima.
292. La Ronde
Released in 1950, Max Ophuls’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s scandalous play is a landmark exhibition of theme and style operating in perfect harmony.
223. Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro says he is “in love with monsters.” In Pan’s Labyrinth, set in the Spanish Civil War, he uses them to navigate history and the world.
170. My Darling Clementine
John Ford made so many great westerns, he is synonymous with the genre. But that doesn’t mean he always got everything right.
156. The Apartment
With six Oscars, five WGAs, a DGA and the Palme d’Or, Billy Wilder’s career was so blazing you’d be forgiven for saying, “Well, somebody’s perfect.”
147. The Case for the Courtroom Drama
Of all the genres, the courtroom is perhaps the one most beset by clichés. So is there any evidence for a few masterpieces?
115. Doctor Zhivago
David Lean’s film of Boris Pasternack’s Nobel Prize Winning Novel whittled the sprawling epic down to a simple love story. Was it successful?
38. High Noon
On its release in 1952, High Noon was seen as an allegory for the McCarthy witch-hunts, but as each new year passes older themes continue to emerge.
23. To Kill a Mockingbird
When a great novel is adapted to the screen, due reverence can be ruinous. Did Robert Mulligan’s film of Harper Lee’s do it justice?
