IIM Lucknow Movie Club

The only movie directed by actor Charles Laughton, this movie stars Robert Mitchum in one of his most memorable roles as a perverted preacher. The story in the film was very odd for the age it came in, hence it was a critical and commercial failure at that time - but now it's considered one of the most influential films, having influenced directors such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Jim Jarmusch, the Coen brothers, and Spike Lee. The movie stands out on all aspects - acting, especially of Lilian Gish, background score and camera-work.

An interesting comment about the movie I found on IMDB totally sums up the film - A comment to explain why it's second on one of the "Best Movies" List-

"I can see why: it's the kind of film that seems specially created for film geeks (cinephiles or cineastes for the more pretentious among us). It mashes up genres, tones, and styles with aplomb. It's full of great, and ostentatious, imagery. It's blessed with some wonderful over-the-top performances. It's a sort of tug of war between silent film styles: Griffith's rustic classicism (the paradigm of cinematic realism/classical Hollywood style) and German expressionist excess (a paradigm of cinematic irrealism/art cinema). It's a sort of treatise on film history, and it's full of wild stylistic flourishes.

And this has to be one of the plain weirdest movies ever to emerge from Hollywood: it's utterly unique, and feels deeply personal, though, even having seen it several times, it remains as mysterious as it was the first time around. Where is this movie coming from? What is the point of view of the person or people who created this? It seems the product of a wholly alien worldview, and it seems made by people who had great technical skill and yet somehow knew nothing about how movies are expected to be made--which is precisely the sort of thing that can have a profound appeal to someone who's seen a million movies. Even people who think they've seen it all haven't seen anything else quite like this."

I stumbled across this documentary in my company's video library, and was intrigued by the title and picked it up instinctively to watch at home. The documentary turned out to be quite a heavy psychoanalytic review of cinema by a philosopher called Slavoj Žižek. He discusses movies of Hitchcock, David Lynch, Tarkovsky among many others. And he presents his reviews from recreated sets of the movies, making them look even more authentic. Though some analyses seem totally far-fetched and exaggerated, some of them provide quite a different insight into some of our favorite movies. You will obtain a new perspective for sure after watching this documentary. A lot of his theories are based on Freudian and Lacanian philosophies, but he applies them so ruthlessly that you can't help losing your grip on what he's trying to say. I was particularly impressed with his review of Persona, Vertigo, Mulholland Dr., to name a few. But it also has a lot of spoilers for movies you would like to watch, but haven't seen yet. So it's recommended to go through the list on the wiki page, and then consider watching the documentary. Totally recommended for movie fans.

Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance is one of those movies that stand out simply because of their uniqueness. What has now become a cult movie, Koyaanisqatsi comprises mostly of time lapse and slow motion footage of landscapes and life in general, the combination of the visuals and music leaves a lasting impact on the viewer. Those interested in photography will surely appreciate the concept of this movie. The most memorable scenes are the shots of moving clouds and traffic in New York City. Godfrey Reggio, the director and Ron Fricke, the cinematographer went on to direct another masterpiece Baraka, which is equally good.

Witness for the prosecution, an adaptation of a story of the same name by Agatha Christie is a brilliant courtroom drama film. Directed by Billy Wilder, the movie is as suspenseful as any of Hitchcock's classics. In fact it was so suspenseful that the credits at the end of the movie read "The management of this theatre suggests that for the greater entertainment of your friends who have not yet seen the picture, you will not divulge, to anyone, the secret of the ending of Witness for the Prosecution."

Acting too is brilliant, in fact elaborate in the movie. Marlene Dietrich in one of her last roles in movies shines in the limited screen time she has. Even Charles Laughton as a passionate barrister who takes up the case despite having just recovered from a heart attack, has some really witty lines.

Les Quatre Cents Coups or The 400 blows as inappropriately translated into English, is a French new wave film about juvenile delinquency. It deals with the issue of how things go wrong in adolescence. Everyone can easily relate to this movie. The acting by the boy is brilliant, he went on to star in a series of movies based on his future life, by the same director, François Truffaut. The movie holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and also has been cited as a favorite by Akiro Kurosawa

La meglio gioventu (The Best of Youth) is an Italian film directed by Marco Tullio Giordana. It won the prestigious "Un Certain Regard" award at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. The movie is kinda between a lengthy movie and a mini-series, being more than 6 hours in length, but it's truly worth the watch as you'll find yourself get connected with the characters through the 40+ years of their lives shown on screen. "The film aims to show the interaction of the personal and the political, the ways in which small events may become turning points in the important choices made by individuals."