This is a pretty good mixed bag. You've got a period piece, a musical, a foreign political thriller, a buddy film, and the winner about a male prostitute. A very diverse lineup that I'm eager to dive into.
1969 Best Picture
Midnight Cowboy
I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally watch this film. I know I'm going to be saying that a lot in the future but it's still true. I've put off watching some classics like this because it was on the project eventually. And it's crazy because I feel like I've seen most of the film already, whether it was individual scenes or something that got referenced or parodied in another film/TV show. It was really worth the wait, though, to see all the iconic moments in one viewing. This film has a lot of them and is one hell of a directed film. John Schlesinger did a great job of expressing the inner feelings of Joe Buck with such visceral scenes inter cut throughout. I love all the flourishes he brings to the film whether it's camera movements or dream sequences or the flashback scenes of Joe's life or the black and white shots of NYC. Both Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman deliver riveting performances that seemingly contrast each other even though they are mostly the same. They are these sad sack losers who struggle to get by and have to scrounge and grift to live or try and sell themselves in Joe's case. But Joe has this hopeful sheen to him that only fades a little bit as the city gnaws at him from every direction. And Ratso sees Joe as his golden ticket, or at least an easy mark, before they join up. It's this weird, perverse look at these two lost souls trying to scratch out an existence. It feels like it should be this really depressing film, but it's not. It's got a weird optimistic vibe I can't quite put my finger on but maybe it's Voight's performance doing that for me. This was the first and only X rated film to win Best Picture, though the film was later downgraded to R as it's not really risque or anything. I enjoy the 60s vibe it has and really love the musical choices. The theme is so good, maybe it's what also adds to my optimistic feeling about the film. The ending is sad but it's a new beginning for Joe. I'm liking how layered this film is and how it's getting me thinking all about it's themes. Just a really great film and one that is more than initially meets the eye. A really interesting way for the Academy to end the 60s with this as the winner.
Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne is the costume drama period piece film that was all the rage in the 60s with the Academy. After this year, it fell out of favor but just look at the 60s and see all of those British royal dramas. The Academy certainly had a type this decade and this was the one. I will say for the record that I love a good period piece film, but they obviously have to be good or better for me to really enjoy them. I liked this film as a whole. I think Richard Burton is a great actor and Genevieve Bujold was actually the best part of the film for me. I also think that most people by now know the story of Henry the VIII and have seen some iteration of it at some point, whether it be The Tudors or another film covering the story. Henry wants a male heir to the throne and his first wife, Catherine, is only producing a daughter and stillborn sons. So he divorces her while cutting off ties with Rome and marries Anne Boleyn in hopes of that male heir. She also can't produce a son so he chops her head off. It's almost a knock against the film that I know the story so well and have certain ideas about the characters already. This film focuses on Henry and Anne to the detriment of any other character, but that is the story they are telling. Cardinal Wolsey and Sir Thomas More are not as well rounded or impactful as they could or should probably be. That's on me for wanting more from characters that the story was never going to focus on. The film is dense, too. I kinda like that it has a lot of dialogue and doesn't have a ton of scenes of hunting or dancing and feasting and all of that. It lets the actors do their thing, mainly Burton, and moves the film right along. It is a dense two and a half hours, though, so I feel like you have to be in the mood for it. I think most people arrive for Burton but stay for Bujold as she is the revelation in this film. This feels like a natural fit for the Academy and the Best Picture group, it's just that this type of film was quickly on its way out.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
You just gotta love a Paul Newman and Robert Redford buddy film. Throw in Director George Roy Hill and the magic just seems to happen. This is basically a precursor or trial run for The Sting because it has a lot of the same elements. The three struck gold literally with Oscar for that film, but this one is also a great film on it's own. I love the sepia toned beginning where we see an old timey film of the two characters before we see Newman and Redford. The shot where the sepia tone fades away into color is pretty cool even today and just shows how stylish Hill was as a director. The film has so many iconic moments like when the two guys jump into the river to get away from the posse chasing them, to the Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head song, to the memorable final scene. It's just that super cool Newman/Redford film that everyone loves because they are incredible actors with unmatched chemistry in a highly entertaining film. And it's a really simple film for the most part. It's not this long historical epic or this detailed, serious look at the lives of these two outlaws. It's just a snippet in time of these two friends and I like that about the film. I don't care if it's not that historically accurate or whatever. It's just fun to watch these two guys have a great time on screen. I had kinda forgotten the middle part of the film when I watched it but really loved how we never saw the posse up close. They were a boogeyman chasing the men like the Terminator across some desolate open country and I enjoyed that we didn't get to see much of them except as a dot in the distance. The film is just scene after incredible scene of these amazing moments and it's easy to see why the public and the Academy responded the way they did. I'm surprised they didn't show any acting love but the Academy never could seem to pin down Redford and his performances. This one is highly recommended and probably one you've already seen.
Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! was the last gasp of a certain era of film. It was a big budget musical that was barely able to break even, despite it have Barbra Streisand headlining and Walter Matthau for the laughs. It was shelved for a year due to a dispute between the producers of the actual Broadway play who didn't want it running at the same time as their show. Also, Streisand and Matthau hated each other and you can see on screen that they have zero chemistry. Not to mention that Matthau can't sing to save his life so having him in a musical just seems like a really poor idea from director Gene Kelly - yes, that Gene Kelly. His direction is actually pretty wonderful throughout the film as there are a lot of grand musical numbers with complicated choreography. That's the one thing to admire about the film other than some of the recognizable songs. It's also brightly colored so it's pretty nice to just look at and not in an awful technicolor sense where the colors look fake or enhanced. The opening to the film is also pretty neat where the colors change and then a train moves in the distance before the city scene explodes with action. There are a lot of these touches from Kelly that makes the film watchable. It's just that I don't like the characters really at all. Matthau is all wrong for the part, I'm not a fan of Streisand but it's like she's acting in a different film, and the others are just kind of there or too country bumpkin like. It's also needlessly long as some of the numbers go on way too long. The film is over two and a half hours and it feels even longer. I like musicals a lot, so this isn't coming from a place of hate for the genre or anything. But as grand as this film is and wants to be, it never quite measures up to itself. I think that's all due to the poor casting choices that kept me from ever becoming involved in the story. There's also just a lot going on onscreen throughout the film where it seems like Kelly thinks more is better. It's not. It almost cripple Fox as a studio for being such a huge flop and it's so weird that big flops like this that didn't even get universal critical praise or anything somehow ends up in the Best Picture field. I suspect it's much like Doctor Doolittle being a huge flop and still getting nominated because the studio pushed so hard with their campaigning to try to make money back. It's a relic of it's time and it's genre but I'm not sure it belongs with this group.
Z
This is an incredible film! It won Best Foreign Film for Algeria though it was a French-Greek made film. It was only the second foreign film to be nominated for Best Picture at the time after Grand Illusion did it in 1938. It's interesting watching this now after the first foreign film finally won Best Picture in Parasite. It also kinda fits with what's going on in the country and the world because this is a tight political thriller and investigative film. The film is about the assassination of a political opposition leader and the principled magistrate trying to find out the truth amidst all the political corruption of the current party and police. It's a super tightly paced film that zips along. It surprised me with how quickly it hooked me and just how fast it moved. It's like there are no wasted scenes and everything shown and done is only to help clarify and get to the ending. Just superb editing and writing abound as I felt so much frustration at the freedoms and truths that were being extinguished. It was amazing to see just how corrupt the people in power were even in the face of facts and the moral truth. That definitely parallels our current state in this country so it was interesting to see it from a French-Greek story from the late 60s. No matter how much the world changes, it still stays the same. Especially great in the film was the magistrate, Jean-Louis Trintignant, who was in the BP nominated Amour a few years ago in 2012. It's like he's come full circle for me as he was tremendous as the principled magistrate getting to the bottom of what really happened even with his boss and other government people telling him to back off or only accept made up stories. These are the kinds of foreign films that we need more of at the Oscars. Something tells me with the Academy becoming more inclusive that we may see a trend toward finally rewarding foreign films more. This is a must see for sure even if you don't think you like foreign films and reading subtitles. This will suck you in and leave you amazed.
Wow, a diverse group for sure! And really an enjoyable group, too. Hello, Dolly! brings up the rear as it wasn't all that fun to watch with poor casting choices, but I did like some of the songs. I did find myself singing the It Takes a Woman song in my head after I watched it. That's gotta count for something! Definitely the fifth choice though and probably could have been left off. Now, I did like Anne of the Thousand Days, mostly for Burton and Bujold who crushed it. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is just a great Newman/Redford film that I can watch any time it's on and be engrossed. But the toughest choice, which surprised me, was in choosing my winner between Z and Midnight Cowboy. Z is flat out fantastic and amazing and just a thrilling film from start to finish. Midnight Cowboy I think just hit me in the right way to where I feel for both characters tremendously. Plus the direction is really top notch and I feel like it really influenced a generation of filmmaking. That's why I'm sticking with it as my winner, but Z is just a hair below and that could probably change the next time you ask me about it. Those top two (three, really) films are all so good and highly recommended. Not a bad way to start out the decade!
Oscar Winner: Midnight Cowboy
My Winner: Midnight Cowboy
Z
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Anne of the Thousand Days
Hello, Dolly!
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