70’s

‘Movies’ is probably the second thing I can never get tired speaking, discussing, writing about and of course watching, first being the ‘Books’. As we are on our longest vacation spree, movies become an integral part of life. I’ve always been at awe watching the Hollywood flicks since a very tender age. Though ‘Jurassic Park’ was the first Hollywood movie that I watched, it was ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ that really broke the ice. But what am I doing here. I don’t write this post with the intention of giving a list of my all time favorites. This post is my tribute to the greatest decade in the movie making, be it Hollywood or Bollywood.

70’s

Let me start with‘A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)’ . I don’t know how many of you have seen it but it shows what many of us are. Here I speak for guys. We can’t resist pretty girls, we can’t resist violence in its raw form, we can’t resist the seductive sway money holds over us. It’s quite disturbing at times but a must watch if you really consider yourself a movie buff.

Next in row is the movie which showcased everything at its best be it direction, screenplay, acting or music. It’s my favorite of all times. Yeah I am talking about ‘MARIO PUZO’S THE GODFATHER (1972)’ . Marlon Brando is as charismatic as he can ever be. Al Pacino’s transition from a naïve and ‘That’s my family, it’s not me’ character to The Don, was his transition from the ‘no-ones’ in the industry to the ‘top-leagues’. The contrast in character of almost explosive James Caan and composed, hard-thinker Robert Duvall was mesmerizing. And to top it all was Nino Rota’s Original Dramatic Score, probably his best work.

‘SERPICO (1973)’ strengthened what Al Pacino proved in THE GODFATHER. It was his first real ‘power-house’ performance, as they call it. It is a true story of an honest cop who finds his colleagues turn against him when he wants to expose the prevailing corruption in the system.

The next movie that I am going to talk about brought with itself one of the best combo I’ve ever come across in movies. It is Robert De Niro/ Martin Scorsese. When it comes to crime movies, there’s only one director that comes to mind, Martin Scorsese. With the tagline ‘you don’t make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets’, ‘MEAN STREETS (1973)’ portrays the crime at roots of the society, i.e. streets.

Then, as if movie makers and audience had not had the real taste of movie making, that came ‘THE GODFATHER II (1974)’ . The flashbacks in the movie, showed how Vito Corleone (played by Robert De Niro) refused to submit to any injustice, how tactfully he made his empire among the American Italians and how eventually he became Godfather. While Michael Corleone (played by Al PAcino) struggling in real time to consolidate and expand the empire he inherited as a legacy. Critics say that the sequel is better than the original one, I disagree though. But it’s no doubt a genuinely great movie.

‘ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975)’ brought the first Academy Award for two times winner Jack Nicholson. He’s probably the most unusual actor, at least, that I’ve seen. I enjoyed the movie but the same is not true of many others.

70’s was probably Al Pacino’s decade in Hollywood as it was Amitabh’s in Bollywood. ‘DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)’ is not like any other bank robbery movie. The robbery failed and it failed poorly but what didn’t fail was the naivety, control, anger, frustration, fear, love and charm with which, Al carried himself through the movie.

People consider ‘JAWS (1975)’ as a landmark in adventure movie making but then Steven Speilberg has always done the unthinkable.

It seemed like a virtual war between Al and De Niro in 70’s, each coming with the better ones. With ‘TAXI DRIVER (1976)’ , the combo of Scorsese/De Niro was back and back with a bang. De Niro, as always, was exceptional. What passes unnoticed most of the times is how gorgeous Jodie Foster was looking.

With paralyzed face in childhood, slurred speech and drooping lower lip was a man who was rejected in the audition for a small role in Godfather. He turned to script writing. And he came up with ‘ROCKY (1976)’ . Yes, the man is Sylvester Stallone. The most inspiring, challenging movie series ever, made Sylvester Stallone one of highest paid stars of his time. The movie truly deserved the 3 Academy Awards that it got. The most hard working actor ever Stallone, made ROCKY a legend.

When Stallone directed himself in ‘ROCKY II (1979)’ , we couldn’t have asked for more. People who think Stallone can’t act should be thrown behind the bars. ROCKY changed the course of lives of millions and was a source of sheer inspiration for million others.

‘KRAMER vs. KRAMER (1979)’ threw another pair of actors one of whom would go on to get record 14 Academy Award Nominations (2 wins) and the other would get two Academy Awards. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep ruled the script which was not quite exceptional. The movie went on to win 5 Academy Awards.

And to finish it off, came yet another of the finest performances of my Screen GOD, Al Pacino. ‘…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979)’ shows the best lawyer in town defend his judge in a rape trial. The movie highlights the rampant corruption in the justice department. It brought Al yet another Academy Nomination for best actor in a leading role.

Bollywood had its best movies in the same decade as well. Starting from ‘ANAND (1971)’ 70’s marked the end of Rajesh Khanna’s stardom and rise of Amitabh Bachchan as the biggest star Indian Movie Industry will ever see. 70’s was truly his decade with movies like ‘ZANJEER (1973)’ ,‘NAMAK HARAAM (1973)’ , ‘DEEWAR (1975)’ , ‘SHOLAY (1976)’ , ‘KABHI KABHI (1976)’ , ‘HERA PHERI (1976)’ , ‘AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY (1977)’ , ‘KASME VAADE (1978)’ , ‘DON (1978)’ and ‘TRISHUL (1979)’ .

P.S : This post is more out of enthusiasm and love for movies than knowledge or content.