The Night Porter

Liliani Cavani, Italy, 1974 (8.3*)
Il portiere di notte
[in English]
Memorial Day War-a-thon #5

This film deals with the dark side of human sexuality, one which grew out of a twisted relationship during World War II, so it's also a metaphor for the dark side of society itself. People may appear normal on the outside, but..

Charlotte Rampling plays Lucia, a concentration camp survivor who, twelve years later and now married to a famous orchestra conductor, meets her former captor Maximilian by chance, when they check into a Viennese hotel he is the night porter there. Dirk Bogarde turns in one of his most riveting performances as the night clerk, a man nonchalant and passionless on the outside, but who releases a torrent of sadomasochistic eroticicm when alone with Charlotte, as she is all too willing to continue what was started in the camp, when she was the teenage victim of s/m sex experiments with Bogarde. Apparently her present life, even though affluent and safe, isn't as passionate nor as fulfilling as her prior one.

This is the most interesting aspect of the story, the long term psychological ramifications of those surviving traumatic experiences, and those who become bonded to their captors. In one regard, since this relationship became necessary for Maximilian as well, it kept Lucia alive through the war, so he saved her life, even if as his sex slave. Bogarde still meets with other former camp officers in the present day, to discuss surviving in the present society and remaining anonymous, so their shared memories remain alive through the group.

Caviani did a good job of making all this complexity understandable, if not sympathetic. The films weakness is not making us care what happens to these characters; they seem self-absorbed and uninterested in normal society, likely as a result of surviving the camp. The films strong point is that it shows how dysfunctional society itself can be in creating people like this, how it's possible for personal demons to prevent people from change, and how their unchecked obsessions can consume the soul.

Some dismissed this as sensationalism, I found it a chilling expose of the dark side of the Nazi psyche, the need to control people totally, only deriving pleasure from inflicting pain.This film made Rampling an international star, but it wasn't until the recent Under the Sand that she lived up to her dramatic potential. In this film, a woman's longtime husband swims in the ocean while she naps on the beach, and after awakening finds that her husband has disappeared.

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The Yakuza

Sydney Pollack, 1974 (8.8*)
Though a little slow-moving at times, this is one of the best films in the long careers of Robert Mitchum and director Sydney Pollack. Mitchum plays a former U.S. soldier Harry Kilmer, once stationed in Japan, who returns to help an old friend rescue his kidnapped daughter from Japanese mobsters, known there as the Yakuza, or the Japanese 'mafia'. Veteran actor Ken Takakura turns in a credible performance as his longtime friend Eiko.

Mitchum, at 58, is perfectly cast as a world-weary retired detective, yet not insensitive or jaded enough yet to ignore a friend in need; his sense of personal loyalty overrides his cynicism. Co-written by Paul Schrader (his first, he later wrote Taxi Driver, Light Sleeper, Raging Bull) and Robert Towne (an Oscar winner for Polanski's Chinatown, released the same year), this is a believable crime story without the pretensions of so many western films, which normally mindlessly inject crowd-pleasing action sequences like car chases, designed more to attract fans than to provide essential narrative exposition.

Adding to the plot complexity is the fact that Mitchum had fallen in love with Eiko's sister when he was in Japan earlier, so we get a sense of his own personal motivation. We also learn a lot about the Japanese crime underworld, a subject rarely tackled in western films. The film also stars Brian Keith, Herb Edelman, and Richard Jordan (his first film) in the supporting cast.

Along with Kurosawa's 49 classic Stray Dog, this ranks as among the finest films about the Japanese crime underworld. Some accurately call this "the most Japanese of non-Japanese films". All in all, one of the neglected crime classics of all time. It's puzzling that it has only a 7.2 rating at IMDB - the fans there are usually sharper than this, hence it's status as an overlooked classic.

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Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

Martin Scorsese, 1974 (8.2*)
Best Picture (BAA)
Not only is this another Martin Scorsese winner, it’s also a romantic comedy, albeit with dramatic overtones. Single mother Ellen Burstyn won a Best Actress Oscar® for her terrific performance as a single mother struggling to raise a son on a waitress’ salary, while searching for another spouse among slim pickings.

Harvey Keitel is terrific in a small part as a boyfriend, a friendship that starts out innocently and turns very frightening as he exerts his alpha male dominance. Look for teenaged Jodie Foster (who calls her mom “Ramada Rose”) in a very funny androgynous role as a misbehaving teenager, who befriends Burstyn’s son, played by Alfred Lutter in a quirky, funny performance.

Vic Tayback, the gruff diner owner and cook, was the only cast member to keep their role in the tv comedy Alice, based on the film. Winner of the British Academy Award for the year’s best film. Two Oscars®

Quote: You leave this scorpion alone, he’ll leave you alone; you mess with him, he’ll kill you. (Harvey Keitel)

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Young Frankenstein

Mel Brooks, 1974, bw (7.6*)
The other really good Brooks comedy (see The Producers) is this spoof of old horror films, actually shot in black and white to resemble the classics like Frankenstein and Dracula. Gene Wilder is a descendent of the original doctor, and who is a serious scientist ("that's Fronk-in-steen!"), yet he still creates a monster, played by Peter Boyle in his most famous part. Girlfriend Terri Garr and monster bride Madeleine Kahn provide both laughs and cleavage, Marty Feldman provides more as assistant Igor (or Eye-gore, get it?). The "Putting on the Ritz" number is a classic sequence, and this is something every film fan should enjoy.

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Amarcord

Dir: Federico Fellini, 1974, Italy (8.4*)

Best Foreign Film (AA)

This is probably Fellini’s most accessible film, as he fondly recalls his childhood through cinema, perhaps rose-colored by time and distance, but enjoyable nonetheless. Here he paints a vivid picture of rural Italy, or more accurately 'village life', how one’s life is shaped by religion, family, school, early friends, and adolescent fantasies and dreams. Here, Fellini’s fantasies and artistic style make a more universal connection as he avoids the fantastical surrealism and religious allegory that pervades his most famous film, 8½, and some others, making them too abstract and difficult for the mainstream filmgoer.

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Chinatown

Dir: Roman Polanski, 1974 (8.2*)

Best Picture (GG)

AFI Top 100

Though not the greatest crime film, certainly a good example of "modern noir". There are some unforgettable scenes here, but overall the plot may drag a little and eventually stretch the viewer's credulity.

Jack Nicholson is a 40's style gumshoe detective, who uncovers a plot concerning the city's water supply and possible corruption. (Here in the U.S.? NO!) John Huston is a little over the top in a supporting role, as is Faye Dunaway as his daughter, but the star is Robert Towne's script, which won an Oscar® and elevated him to the highest paid screenwriter at the time. One Oscar® (11 nominations).

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The Conversation

Dir: Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 (10*)
Palm d’Or (Cannes)
If not for a film called Godfather II, this film would likely have won best picture itself in 74 (it was nominated), and may arguably be Coppola’s best; it’s certainly his tightest, and did win the grand prize at Cannes. Gene Hackman plays a electronic bugging expert, usually hired to scope out corporate secrets, often requiring ingenious methods to record conversations, like multiple eavesdroppers, some on the move. He unwittingly discovers that perhaps someone who hired him has committed a murder, which he discovers examining conversations he bugged. Saying very much would spoil this excellent, tense crime film with many implications. This is my favorite Gene Hackman performance, and most subtle, that just goes deeper and deeper as it progresses.

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The Godfather Part II

Dir: Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 (10*)

Best Picture (AA)

AFI Top 100

That rarest of films: a sequel better than the original. This film both continues the original and also precedes it in history with brilliant sequences of a young Corleone in both Italy and America, played by Oscar-winning Robert De Niro speaking Italian. The film loses Brando, but introduces acting professor Lee Strasbourg in a terrific Oscar-nominated part as rival don Hyman Roth, and brings the characters of Al Pacino as new Don, Michael, and John Cazale (as brother Alfredo) to full development. This is a truly riveting story, and a near perfect epic film. The two were put together and re-edited for an 8-hr tv miniseries by Coppola, called "The Godfather Saga", very much worth seeing. 8 Oscars

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