Bollywood 1979

[Leroy Turcios]

WernerHerzog began Woyzeck within a week of shooting Nosferatu, phantom der nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre, 1979) in Moravia with the same crew.1 It is tempting to read the pair as complementary masterpieces. One was an international co-production with European stars, ultimately derived from a widely read, much adapted Anglo-Irish novel that had long infected many reaches of popular culture; the other was a faithful adaptation of an unfinished German play2, that even today has struggled to impose a reputation outside Germany, hindered by the failure of translators to adequately correlate its uncompromising Hessian dialect. One ranges far and wide over space and time, from placid Dutch interiors to Mexican museums and the uncanny Mittel-European sublime, and features mummies, a centuries old curse, and haunted ruins; the other takes place in and around a military toy town, and stutters to its climax with the seeming inevitability of a Greek tragedy obeying the unities of time and space. One is about a phantom of the night; the other leads to a murder in vivid daylight. One focuses on a monstrous, aristocratic predator who threatens to destroy a progressive bourgeois society; the other is a mentally ill proletarian who is beaten, betrayed, exploited and humiliated to breaking point. 3

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This idyllic time ended with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the Iranian Revolution, in addition to civil war in Lebanon and tensions in the Kashmir region. The overland route was closed to Western travelers. Enterprising travel agencies have continued facilitating travel from Europe to Asia, but they have had to be resourceful and come up with alternative routes on a regular basis.

There's no point beating around the bush: 1979 was an awesome year for cinema. It seems to be the case that years ending with "9" end up being particularly great. 1999 was a notably strong year, there were plenty of amazing movies from 2009 in just the sci-fi genre alone, and 2019 is going to be a tough year to beat going forward, seeing as it had a great mix of blockbusters and some of the strongest end-of-year awards contenders in recent memory.

Escape from Alcatraz is a reasonably well-known (by today's standards) Clint Eastwood movie, but still might be a little underrated overall. It takes a fairly dependable prison-break premise and executes it almost perfectly, being an exciting and consistently tense story about breaking out of what might stand as one of the 20th century's most infamous prisons.

It's loosely based on real events from the early 1960s, and was largely filmed on location to give the whole thing an extra sense of authenticity. No-nonsense prison break movies don't get a whole lot better or more exciting than Escape from Alcatraz, and Eastwood excels in the lead role, playing the kind of character he's always been amazing at playing on-screen.

The Warriors is a cult classic action-thriller, and centers around a fictitious (and large-scale) war between New York City street gangs. After the leader of one gang is murdered, the titular gang is blamed, and the movie follows the members of that gang trying to escape the various other gangs with their lives.

Some may look at a movie like The Warriors and call it a little too blunt or simplistic, but they might just be thinking about it too hard. For pure, uncomplicated action and thrills, it's the kind of movie that delivers and then some, with its style and expert pacing still proving influential for the action genre to this day.

Few movies provide such an eerie and haunting look at the struggles of aging like Nosferatu the Vampyre does. It makes its titular monster more tragic than just about any vampire has been before, as he longs for human connection and some kind of fulfilling life, yet finds himself cursed to live in the darkness and, for the most part, alone.

It stands as one of Werner Herzog's very best films, and the way he was able to replicate the silent film classic Nosferatu while also respectfully updating it makes this a masterful adaptation/remake (of sorts). It's creepy, atmospheric, and also simply tells a great story, meaning this is essentially everything you could want out of a horror movie and then some.

While 1979's Best Picture winner at the Oscars might not be seen as the very best film of the year nowadays, it still largely holds up. The film in question is Kramer vs. Kramer, and though modern-day viewers may picture two Kramers from Seinfeld going head-to-head in court, the actual film is not nearly as funny as that could be.

In fact, Kramer vs. Kramer excels for being a gritty and quite downbeat family drama, revolving around a couple's divorce proceedings, with a particular emphasis placed on who'll ultimately get custody of their young son. With a story that's naturally heavy on emotions, and two acclaimed performances from Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, it holds up as a classic of the legal drama genre.

The last Peter Sellers film completed before his death also happens to have one of the actor's greatest performances. That performance is found in Being There, which is a dramedy about a gentle and not particularly smart man falling upwards in politics, and eventually becoming an advisor to a very powerful man.

It might not be as wide-reaching or famous as his Pink Panther series, but Being There is a valuable reminder that Sellers was capable of far more than just slapstick comedy (even his multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove are quite broadly comedic). Being There ends up being a strange but memorable film, and those who don't mind their comedies a little slow and subtle should find plenty to like here.

Andrei Tarkovsky made numerous acclaimed films during his short but impactful directing career, though none have stood the test of time quite like Stalker. It's a very slow and methodical sci-fi film about three men venturing into a mysterious, seemingly otherworldly area, as they expect to find something within that will grant them the ability to wish for anything.

Rather than being all about action and adventure, Stalker is a sci-fi movie that's more concerned with looking inward at the human condition, and asking what drives the human race as a whole. It's deep, lofty, and overwhelming, but undeniably well-made on a technical level, and stands as the kind of film that lingers in one's mind long after they've watched it.

Of all the movies that the comedy group Monty Python made, Life of Brian is arguably their very best. It works as a parody of old biblical films as well as a takedown of certain ideas and individuals within the Church, which is what made it very controversial back in its day (Jesus Christ himself really isn't mocked, and the members of Monty Python pick far more deserving targets throughout the film).

It follows the titular Brian, who's an incredibly unlucky man who cannot catch a break, and finds his life spiraling out of control after he's mistaken for the Messiah. He's not the Messiah at all - he's just an allegedly very naughty boy, and while the whole thing is very silly and played for laughs, it's a movie with a surprising amount to say about how powerful people can use religion to manipulate others, and about the consequences of blind faith and devotion.

An untouchable classic of the sci-fi and horror genres, Alien gave birth to a franchise that's had incredible longevity, though the original is also astounding as a self-contained story. It's all very simple: a group of people find themselves stuck on a ship in space, and there's an alien life form loose that seems hellbent on killing them all one by one.

It builds slowly into an exciting fight for survival, and has a remarkably effective final act that's impact is lessened somewhat by the knowledge that sequels exist. However, it's easy to imagine how intense this all would have been to viewers in 1979, and honestly, much of it's still tense when you know what's going to happen. It's a film where all the moving parts work in perfect tandem with one another, and as such, certainly stands as a classic.

All That Jazz goes to show that not all musicals are bright, happy, and upbeat. This semi-autobiographical film goes in the complete opposite direction, as it's essentially about one man working himself to death while also ignoring various health scares and concerns from his family.

With frantic editing and undeniably flashy style, it all builds to one strange and unforgettable finale, becoming an intensely psychological musical about facing one's demons and, after failing to do so, confronting death itself. Director Bob Fosse's own fate followed that of his stand-in character here, with All That Jazz ultimately standing as the greatest movie of his filmmaking career.

The making of Apocalypse Now is a story that's almost as harrowing and compelling as the film itself. It had one of the most troubled productions in cinema history, though somehow, everything came together in the end, and now you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't consider it one of the most essential war movies of all time.

It follows one man being given an assignment to kill a colonel who's apparently lost his mind and has isolated himself deep in the jungle. It's as much a trip into the lead character's mind as it is a trip into the dark and dangerous jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia, and as a film, it's lost none of its impact, with the haunting sights and sounds still packing a visceral punch well over 40 years on from release.

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