I was sifting through an article about film in the NEw York Times Magazine by the NYtimes film critic A.O Scott. SOmewhere in there amid one of the honestly worst examples of bloated prose that I've ever read, he talks aboutthe parlor game that critics play in which they say what was the best YEAR in the history of film. SO it's your turn to play along at home. 1939 is considere the golden age landmark -- GWTW, Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, NInotchka, etc.not to mention Rules of the Game. SOme other possiblities off fthe top of my head: 1946 - .Notorious, Best Years of Our Lives, It's a WOnderful Life. The Big Sleep. 1948 - Bicycle Thieves, The Naked City, The Lady From Shanghai, Red River, Fort Apache, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 1954 -- The Seven samurai, Rear Window, On the Waterfront, 1957 -- The Seventh Seal, Throne Of Blood, 12 Angry Men, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, NIghts of Cabiria. . 1960 -- A Bout De Souffle, La Dolce Vita, Psycho, The Apartment. 1967 -- The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand luke, In the EHat of the Night. In Cold Blood, Weekend. ALmost any yera from 1971-1975 could count, depending on your tastes. 1989 -- Do THe Right Thing, Drugstore Cowboy, Sex Lies and Videotape, Glory, Henry V There are a ton other possiblities. THese are just suggestions. I'll pipe in with my thoughts later.
1989 appears to be one of the best years for film in memory, though I was too young to experience it. From me personally, 1999 was the best year. My favorite films from that year were: Being John Malkovich The Virgin Suicides Fight Club American Beauty The Insider The Sixth Sense 1999 also gave us The Matrix, East is East, Sleepy Hollow, The Green Mile, Magnolia and the Hurricane - not exactly classics, but each good in its own way. I know I'm forgetting a few...
Also Eyes Wide Shut, Three Kings (not a favorite of mine, but I' know some people who like ithe entirety of it as much as I like the first 40 minutes and hate the rest.) I diddn't list the niteties, because I've lived through them and I can make an argument for pretty much any year. I would take 1998 -- The Thin Red Line, Private Ryan (an amazing first-time view), OUt of Sight, Pi, The Big Lebowski, Henry Fool, Taste of Cherry Elizabeth, Rushmore (although not in wide release until 1999), even Shakespeare in Love is darn entertaining, if not nearly as good as it was made out to be. IMDB lists Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels as being released in 1998, but I don't whether or not to trust that date. 1995 Safe, Breaking The Waves, The Madness of King George, Underground 1994 -- Red, Chungking Express, Pulp Fiction, 1996 is awfully good too. EDIT: I'm responding to Skipshady's post. A few slid in after I started this post. .
Incidentally, I'm partial, i think, to 1971 (THe Last Picture Show, A Clockwork Orange, McCabe and Mrs. Miller).
I find it hard to think that people could pick anything but either 1939 or 1946. Within my adult lifetime, 1993 was quite a good year: The Remains Of The Day, The Age Of Innocence, Schindler's List, In The Name Of The Father, Short Cuts, Philadelphia, The Piano, The Fugitive, Jurassic Park, Belle Epoque, Fearless (one of my fave underrated movies), In The Line Of Fire, Farewell My Concubine, Naked, Qui Ju, This Boy's Life, The Wedding Banquet.... I'm probably missing a few as well. I was living in St. Louis at the time, going to grad school, and the theater closest to school had $3 matinees. We went about twice a week all year.
breaking the waves is simply the most haunting movie ever.....emily watson is my hands-down favorite actress simply because of her performance in this movie
I got ya. I'm not enough of a film buff or old enough to really make a judgement on anything older. But when we look back 20 years from now, I wonder what we'll make of the pseudo-Indie studios like Miramax and Fox Searchlight and their impact on film. The films may not be better overall but the quality of major studio releases have gone up, imho.
I'll try to make a case for 1973: Mean Streets Scenes From A Marriage Badlands Amacord The Mother and the Whore American Graffiti Day for Night Cries and Whispers The Exorcist Pat Garret and Billy the Kid Serpico Enter the Dragon
1960 also had Spartacus... I'll argue for 1962: The Longest Day Lawrence of Arabia the Birdman of Alcatraz Atragon Cape Fear the Music Man Lolita Dr No the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Mutiny on the Bounty the Manchurian Candidate
I heard on NPR there are some film critics making a case that 1962 should replace 1939 as the best year for films. A little research on imdb.com has me convinced. For an impressive list, add these to the previous list: To Kill a Mockingbird Hell is for Heroes Il Sorpasso Jules et Jim I've not seen the following but they sound pretty good, too... Billy Budd Long Day' Journey into Night Loneliness of the Long Distant Runner L'Eclisse Seppuku
I agree that there seems to be an argument can be made for every year. So let's try this. We probably need to break it down a bit. I think we should distinguish between the number of phenomenal movies (the best of the best) and the number of very good movies. Obviously the best of the best is somewhat arbitrary. The number of very good movies would go to the depth of that particular year. For instance, taking 1989 listed above, I don't see any movies that would make the best of the best list. I could be wrong, but most of the movies listed would go to that particular years depth. 1939 seems to have a significant amount of the best of the best, but might not have the depth that 1962 would have.
that might be the date for the release in the US. In Asia, the film was released around 1994 or 1995. "Happy Together" was first released in Asia around 1997. That film was much newer than "Fallen Angels".
Well if we're choosing a year with the best of the best I submit 1933 as a candidate. The Invisible Man Duck Soup King Kong Three timeless classics.