The Christians (1977)

 One of my recent interests has been church history. A long standing passion of mine is Christian theology, which is illuminated by church history. Documentarian Bamber Gascoigne produced this 13-part made-for-TV series on the history of Christians. Stylistically, it is marked by the era in which it is made (the 1970s), but the era also impacts the approach that Gascoigne takes in presenting the Christians. In recent decades we have seen the emergence of a rather vocal Christian right in the United States, a steep decline in the practice of Christianity in Europe, and the renewed popularity of atheism and interest in other world religions. This has led to Christianity being looked down upon by the popular culture (I just heard a man singing on the radio about how Christianity makes no sense to him, so he's picking hell - yes, it is ironic). When Gascoigne makes this 11 hour documentary, Christianity is still has a strong western presence and it is treated with respect.

The series begins in first century Jerusalem and follows the gradual geographic, cultural, political, and theological iterations over the next 20 centuries. Mr. Gascoigne narrates throughout and does a remarkable job presenting each major change in Christian culture by highlighting both the remnant architectural and artistic features from each era and the denominational representations from those changes (ie. the Amish are portrayed when speaking about Anabaptist history or Guatemalan Catholics are portrayed to show the colonial missions in Central and South America).

Because of its length, the series ensures that adequate depth is allocated since the breadth of the story is so great.

I highly rate this intricate telling of Christians' story. I would gladly watch the series several more times.

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Midnight Express (1978)

Midnight Express is based on the true story of a man who was caught smuggling heroin out of Turkey in the 1970s. From the beginning we are shown that Billy's decision to board a plane with drugs strapped to his body was a clear mistake and not one he made of sound mind pushing us to want clemency for him. The Turkish authorities decide to use him as an example - I guess to keep the drugs in their own country? - and sentence him to over 30 years in prison.

Billy nearly goes insane in the harsh prison conditions and almost loses hope. The film seemed quite balanced in its approach to justice, American patronization, and freedom.

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino at his very best, playing a desperate man on a suicide mission to save his lover. Based on a tremendously tragic story.

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Barry Lyndon (1975)

Terrific saga chronicling the life of a self-interested man who has it all and loses it all in his colourful lifetime.

Stanley Kubrick has the story narrated and presents it at a daringly slow pace.

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Ciao maschio (1978)

This weirdo movie was a big hit at Cannes back in the late 70's. Bye Bye Monkey is an art film contemplation of gender roles, aging and history.

An immigrant man in New York (a very young Gerard Dépardieu) finds work at a historical wax museum and as a tech at a tiny art theatre house. He is seduced/attacked by the actresses there, one of whom he develops a more lasting relationship with. With more friends they find the carcass of King Kong on the beach and then adopt a baby chimpanzee. Things just get stranger and stranger as the story drifts into more and more surrealism.

I found very little about the film to be appealing and even less to be meaningful.

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Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

So, I've recently discovered the films of Werner Herzog, so I zipped all of the ones I hadn't seen and got this 1979 remake of the 1922 German silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

The film opens with a sequence of mummified bodies, certainly the most gripping part of the film and the most horrifying too. The tale is that of Count Dracula, a vampire of Transylvania who is visited by a real estate agent, Mr. Harker, played by a much younger Bruno Ganz. The Count is super creepy which begs the question: Why in the world would Mr. Harker enter his decaying castle with this really long fingered dude with two pointy teeth and after having been warned by countless locals about the evils there. Anyway, he gets the warm welcome and Dracula makes his way by ship to Germany to dwell in his new home (and bring some rats along).

Herzog shot each sequence twice, once in English and once in German, thus all of the lines are spoken with thick German accents. The film has a strong low budget quality to it and the story just has the viewer shaking his head in disbelief. It has its moments, like a long out of print book with a missing cover.

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Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Divorce in Manhattan still isn't glamourous and with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep at the helm of this multiple Oscar winner, the film resounds with sentiment.

When a discontented Joanna Kramer walks out on Ted Kramer and their young son Billy, Ted is given the gift of parenting, though his work becomes more stressful as a result. Extraordinary tension mounts when Joanna returns a year later, her life back together, with a desire for custody of Billy.

There are some deeply relational issues tackled by the film - between husband and wife, between each parent and their son, between society and parental roles, etc. As a parent watching the film, it is difficult to not judge the parents' battle over their son and their divorce as simply selfish.

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L'albero degli zoccoli (1978)

I saw an earlier picture by Ermanno Olmi - Il Posto - that was quite affecting with its simplistic portrayal of life in postwar Italy. This time, Olmi portrays rural peasantry in the late 19th century in a three hour epic called The Tree of Wooden Clogs.

Farmers inhabit a common building on the property of a local wealthy landowner. Each year a portion of their harvest is given as rent to their landlord. We see children born, a child attend school, a cow become sick, cooking and eating corn meal, the faith of some of the residents, a courtship, etc. Ultimately, there is a tragic event that demonstrates the vulnerability the peasants endure.

None of the characters are played by actors and this really brings home the simplicity and innocence of the time. A rewarding film if you aren't after glamour and special effects and contrived stories.

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The Jerk (1979)

The Jerk is a classic comedy that has taken on a status larger than the film itself. Really, it's a celebration of the ridiculous.

Steve Martin plays the Jerk, a small minded inventor from the south. There are some hilarious bits in the film, but some of it is overdone comedy that viewers have to endure. In regards to the story, Martin's character arc is one of not belonging to belonging to not belonging to belonging again.

For an escape into the absurd, The Jerk is ideal.

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All the President's Men (1976)

Watergate explodes all over the screen in this classic film based on the true story of the reporters who brought Nixon and his cronies down.

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward work hard to stumble onto lead after lead as they investigate a break in at the Watergate Hotel. Their path leads them to the heart of the Republican Party and the American government. A few convictions (not as severe nor as far reaching as they should have been) follow after the stories are reported in the Washington Post.

The acting in the film is compelling as Hoffman tutors the new Redford in the Newspaper office. What is surprising too is the calibre of the film (1976) even though it was made very shortly after the real events (1972-74). This is no made-for-TV special.

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The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

My views on this movie may be biased as I had recurring nightmares about it as I suffered from food poisoning all night after watching it. In a way, the film made me feel ill.

David Bowie carries this oddity on his shoulders. His role is an alien who comes to earth to find water for his desertified planet. He uses his superior knowledge to build superior electronics to make a fortune to accomplish his goal. Meanwhile, earthlings try to take advantage of the well meaning, though easily persuaded alien.

A 70's flick wouldn't be complete without disco, sex, and drugs and this film is a heaping plate full of 70's pop. I wasn't emotionally moved by much of anything, just intrigued by the styles and perceptions in the film. Certainly a classic on such merits.

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Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

I'm enjoying my journey through great directors' early films. This is Steven Spielberg's precursor to E.T. and subsequently the Indiana Jones institution. What is clear in Close Encounters is Spielberg's tremendous use of camera angle and showing the audience the reaction rather than the action (seen best in Richard Dreyfuss's scene in his truck when a U.F.O. comes nearby). The effects are great, but some scenes drag on a bit (as they tend to in sci-fi flicks in the 60's and 70's).

The story is essentially being able to hang on to personal experience in the face of ridicule; it's a story of faith. How remarkable that faith is a focus of so many films, especially Spielberg's, when our society believes in so little.

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Taxi Driver (1976)

Yeah, Scorscese likes his movies raw and rough. Robert de Niro is hands down amazing in the film as a lonely, mentally disturbed, marines veteran, taxi driver in NYC.

The film is remarkable in that I can't really express all the feelings it evoked. There was definitely sympathy and horror. But the taxi driver was so alone and unreachable that the hopelessness and desperation seemed to be the reigning sentiment. I was reminded of an abused child - which could easily be drawn to represent how the US Marines / Army / Navy treat their recruits and volunteers. The character lacked identity and purpose.

It was wild seeing all these younger actors too: Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Harvey Keitel. Definitely evident why they continued to star in films and TV.

The turn in the film before the climax was very fast for me. I didn't see the transformation in de Niro's mind before he went ahead and did what he did. The denouement was also very brief and it left a lot of things unexplained for me.

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Marathon Man (1976)

Thrillers have come a long way since Marathon Man. Dustin Hoffman plays a graduate student caught in a web of international politics, theft, and deception in New York City. He does a good job playing naïve and the bad guys are bad.

Unlike today's mystery thrillers, this one leaves a bit more left unsaid - we never find out what the father was accused of and we never learn what the full connection between the temptress is to the antagonists. I like not knowing everything - it keeps me watching to the last second.

Also unlike today's fast paced, technology focused thrillers, this one moves much slower. The film seems to make a few nods to some Bond films with the dentist villain who tortures his victims using his profession, but the effects of the torture are much more realistic and you get the sense that this is really happening or really could happen.

The climax of the film really challenged me and my own values. Would I have had the courage to do what Hoffman's character does?

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Bound for Glory (1976)

Folk singing legend Woody Guthrie's autobiography was adapted to make this film. We follow the Oklahoma native from his dustbowl home in Texas as he rides the rails with hobos in an effort to make it to California where legends say there's tons of work for fruit pickers. A positive thinking sign painter becomes a folk singer-songwriter and a social activist.

As I watched the destitute poverty that was portrayed in the film set in the 1930s, I couldn't help but sense that it is a foreshadowing of what will end up recurring in Canada and the USA, starting very soon. The climate changes and the widening gap between rich and poor are perfect catalysts for such conditions. And mean conditions they were with people shooting hobos and land owners beating union leaders and the government not doing anything to regulate the unemployment.

The acting in the film was quite compelling. David Carridine is very convincing as a young man being affected by his desperate surroundings. It is reminiscent of The Motorcycle Diaries and inspiring to know that those who allow themselves to be convinced that change can happen, actually begin to make change happen. The cynics are the ones who allow the status quo to dictate the future and abandon efforts to ensure justice and peace in the world.

The story really doesn't end well. We've really only seen the beginning of the tale and if one doesn't know what exactly happened next, you really feel disappointed - especially after watching all 150 minutes you'd expect some resolution - and the film does feel long. But Guthrie was a restless soul and there probably wasn't much resolution in his life either.

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