The Academy Awards have often been a metric for the film industry to check what the pinnacle of cinema has been each and every year, still, they don’t always get things right. Even if the eventual Best Picture winner is widely agreed upon, not all of the nominations hold up in the years after. In 1975, the five films that were selected, can each be considered among the greatest of all time, and 50 years later, I feel it’s as good a time as any to revisit them. And if any of these titles catch your eye, I would suggest checking them out on your own.
№1: “Dog Day Afternoon”
“The robbery should have taken ten minutes. Four hours later, the bank was like a circus sideshow. Eight hours later, it was the hottest thing on live TV. Twelve hours later, it was history. And it’s all true.”
This film by Sidney Lumet was adapted from the real life story of John “Sonny” Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile’s robbery of the Chase Manhattan Bank in 1972, and the subsequent media frenzy that ensued.
The naturalistic acting from Al Pacino (who won Best Actor for 1992’s “Scent of a Woman”) and John Cazale (star of the 1978 Best Picture winner “The Deer Hunter”) stand out as career best performances, with the screenplay by Frank Pierson also standing out as a work of utter perfection.
The way the crowd plays off of Sonny is simply electrifying and disturbing, showcasing how parasocial relationships can quickly run amok. The real life twist of Sonny being a homosexual with the goal of stealing money for his husband’s sex change operation was absolutely shocking, and absolutely unheard of for the 70’s.
I highly recommend this movie as one of the finest I have ever seen, it is a true masterpiece. My final rating for “Dog Day Afternoon” is a perfect 10/10.
№2: “Barry Lyndon”
“It was in the reign of King George III that the aforementioned personages lived and quarreled; Good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now.”
Stanley Kubrick has often been described as one of the greatest film makers of all time, creating such hits as 1964’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” the 1968 film “2001 A Space Odyssey” and 1987’s “Full Metal Jacket.” However, in my opinion, his best and most underrated film is this sprawling adaptation of William Makepiece Thackeray’s novel “The Luck of Barry Lyndon.”
The plot follows a lowly Irish peasant named Redmond Barry (played by Ryan O’Neal, star of the 1970 film “Love Story” and 1973’s “Paper Moon”) who challenges his cousin’s fiancé to a duel and runs off to join the British Army to escape retribution and gain good fortune. After fighting in the Seven Years War he meets the Chevalier de Balibari (played by Patrick Magee) who helps him to meet and marry Lady Lyndon (played by Marisa Berenson). He gains control of her estate and becomes a count by marriage, but finds himself quarreling with his adopted son, Lord Bullingdon (played by Leon Vitali) over the nature of his relationship with Lady Lyndon.
When deciding how to shoot the film, Kubrick asked Zeiss to procure him lenses that they developed for NASA for space photography during the moon landings. The incredibly low f-stop on these lenses were used to shoot prolonged sequences lit only by candlelight. The lush period stylings of the costumes and production design are also exquisite and stunning to behold, and the film won the Oscar in all three of those categories.
For those wishing to experience something a bit slower paced but extremely rewarding, I would highly recommend this film. My final rating for “Barry Lyndon” is a beautiful 10/10.
№3: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
“Jesus, I mean, you guys do nothing but complain about how you can’t stand it in this place here and you don’t have the guts just to walk out? What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin’? Well you’re not! You’re not! You’re no crazier than the average asshole out walkin’ around on the streets and that’s it.”
The eventual Best Picture Winner, and one of only three films in history to win the “big five” oscars – along with “It Happened one Night” (1934) and “Silence of the Lambs” (1991) – “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” manages to live up to this lofty achievement.
The plot follows Randle McMurphy (played by three time academy award winner Jack Nicholson) who decides to become committed to an asylum in order to avoid a long prison sentence. While there he bonds with the other residents and constantly fights with Nurse Ratched (played by Louise Fletcher).
The entire ensemble cast is phenomenal, with two supporting roles being played by Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd in early roles.
The director Miloš Forman, would later go on to adapt the stage play “Amadeus” to film in 1984, which would also win the awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
This film is both able to leave you laughing hysterically one moment and break your heart in the next. My final rating for “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” is a powerful 9/10.
№4: “Jaws”
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
The original summer blockbuster, “Jaws” still manages to hold up after all this time.
The plot follows Chief Brody (played by Roy Schnider, star of 1979’s “All That Jazz”) who believes that there is a killer shark attacking the residents of Amity Island. He teams up with the oceanographer Matt Hooper (played by Richard Dreyfuss, who won Best Actor for 1977’s “The Goodbye Girl”) and the sailor Quint (played by Robert Shaw, star of the 1966 Best Picture winner “A Man for all Seasons”) to hunt the shark down.
The mechanical shark – nicknamed Bruce – frequently broke down on set, leading director Steven Spielberg to reduce its screentime and heavily imply its presence. The result helped increase the tension and made the film iconic. The score by John Williams is also iconic, and absolutely deserved the Oscar for Best Original Score.
If you somehow have not seen “Jaws” up to this point, I would highly recommend it. My final rating for “Jaws” is a thrilling 9/10.
№5: “Nashville”
“I’m often confronted with the statement, ‘I don’t want to get mixed up in politics.’ Or, ‘I’m tired of politics.’ Or, ‘I’m not interested.’ Almost as often, someone says, ‘I can’t do anything about it anyway.’ Let me point out two things. Number one: all of us are equally involved with politics whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not. And number two: we can do something about it. When you pay more for an automobile than it cost Columbus to make his first voyage to America, that’s politics.”
Most audiences today would not immediately recognize the name of Robert Altman beyond a mention in the credits of the television show “M*A*S*H.” He was a film director who is widely famed for making large ensemble pictures. His most famous film after the 1970 Best Picture nominee “M*A*S*H,” is “Nashville,” which manages to tell a tale of 24 different characters across a single day in this Tennessee town in a grand celebration of both Americana and country music.
The film only won a single Oscar, Best original song for “I’m Easy,” and it is quite catchy. It also earned Lily Tomlin and Ronee Blakley nominations for Best Supporting Actress. I also found it funny that Jeff Goldblum had a recurring role where he just silently drives a motorized tricycle around town.
The ending manages to bring everyone together in an unexpected and violent way, managing to also pair the film’s recurring political statements with a song of perseverance and hope.
My final rating for “Nashville” is a solid 9/10.
