I noticed that there wasn't a topic for these movies. I watched "Kapo" at the cinema today and I decided to make a topic for these gems. If you really like these films, you can suggest your favourites here. You can also add movies which you don't like them. "Kapo" will be the first movie here!
"Kapo" is a 1960 Italian film which was directed by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo and it was nominated for an Oscar for the "Best Foreign Language Film" for the year 1960. It received many good reviews at the time, but it lost the golden statuette to the "The Virgin Spring" by Swedish Ingmar Bergman. "The Battle of Algiers" was the second film by Gillo Pontecorvo proposed by the Academy of Oscar seven years later and it had the same fate of "Kapo". However, both films were loved by film enthusiasts in Europe and America. It was distinguished in many recognized festivals at the time!
"Kapo" was one of the first films that dealt with the Holocaust. However, I guess that most of my generation and younger ones have watched films or mini-series about the Holocaust which were released in the late 70s and after, like Holocaust and Schindler's List. Although the main character of the story is Jewish, the film is based on the concentration camp that had to do with political prisoners. The leading actress of the film, Susan Strasberg, was great with her role and I noticed that all the actors/actresses were very good and convincing with their characters (especially Didi Perego). Emannuel Riva (Amour) also participated in this film and it was one of the few times that I saw an actor first advanced in age and then youthful. There was not exaggeration or melodrama although it could easily have happened. Many directors tempt to provoke the emotions of the viewers but Gillo Pontecorvo was not one of them. Gillo respected the events of that terrible time. He used to spend months, and sometimes years, researching and studing the material for his films because he wanted to represent the actual social situations as they happened and not as he imagined. The story was very interesting to watch and as development progressed, you didn't feel bored. Although performance and script were very good in comparison to the films of our time, I would say not the same about direction. It was not bad but certainly the technology and image have evolved to such an extent that it would be unfair to compare "Kapo" with the films of recent decades. However, for those times, it was pretty good!
Although I have watched a few movies from the golden 60s, I really liked "Kapo" and I appreciated the work of Gillo. I loved the fact that I watched a film in black and white film and the fact that I watched it at the cinema. It was one more reason for me to like it more. It was definitely worth nominated by the Academy for Oscar because it had all the factors that make a movie very important! These films should be shown frequently on television to remember that the Nazis were the worst human beings on this planet! Unfortunately, some people are still nostalgic about those people who massacred millions of people because of their perverted minds..
"The Battle of Algiers" is one of the most recognized films of the 60s. Ιt was critically acclaimed almost everywhere at the time and it is still being shown in some selected cinemas nowadays. It was mominated by the Academy of Oscar in three categories (Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film) but not in the same year! In 1967, it was proposed for the Oscar for Best Screenplay and Best Director and it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1969. However, it didn't win in any category but it won the "Golden Lion"at Venice Film Festival and excelled in many other film festivals at the time! Although I don't tend to watch older movies, after "Kapo", I was curious to see the top work of this director (Gillo Pontecorvo) which wasn't shown in France for five years (that does not suit us ..).
"The Battle of Algiers" is a political thriller based on real events. It shows the effect of the FNL (National Liberation Front) in Algeria during the period 1954-1957 in order to have an independent country. Gillo Pontecorvo presented situations in that era as they really were, without using documents (visual or sound) of the events or adding scenes to thrill and impress the viewers. We watched a very interesting movie about the most important of individual human rights which is nothing else than freedom. This movie should be displayed in schools and universities for education purpose because it really opens our eyes without being a part of propaganda. The scenario was measured, without hyperboles and irrepressible chatter while the direction was very difficult to achieve. The filming took place in Algiers and attended by thousands of extras that this alone was very difficult to organize. However, it seems that the people of Algeria valued correctly the intentions of the director (in contrast to the French) and helped him enough to finish the film. The actors were good, but of course there were not academic interpretations apart from the performance of Jean Martin as Colonel Mathieu. The music of the film was composed by the great Ennio Morricone and the team of “Production Design” did an amazing job!
"The Battle of Algiers" seems to have been loved by many people because it has a high rating in the authoritative source of IMDb! It's among the 250 best films of all time and it is recognized in other movie lists like Critics' Top 250 Films and Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Although political thrillers are usually full of information and evolve either very quickly or very slowly, I'd say that "The Battle of Algiers" was a shining exception. Gillo presented the facts at a normal pace without becoming tedious and he attracted his interest of only the transfer of these situations on the big screen! The result was excellent for its time (and not only) and it is not a random fact that this film is recognized by the connoisseurs of cinema! Watching first "Kapo" and after "The Battle of Algiers", you realise that this man made a huge step in his career. And we're talking about "Kapo" which was a very worthwhile movie.
"Adua e le compagne" is an Italian film by Antonio Pietrangeli. It came out in cinemas in 1960! Although the content was ahead of its time, the director did not exceed the limits (contained no nudity) and he made a film that everyone could see it. I don't tend to see older movies especially when so many new films come out at the cinema. However, I thought that it would be a good film choice in the nearby neighborhood cinema and I was not wrong after seeing "Adua e le campagne". It is one of the most enjoyable films I watched this year!
The film is based on the joint decision of four prostitutes, to start a restaurant in the countryside after the forced closure of their brothel because of new laws. Although money can be made in the countryside, they have to leave their decision after facing difficulties because they don't have the correct permit papers. So, they are forced to put someone known for their guarantor (a bast*rd with a suit) and things begin to be complicated. I found the direction quite good, although the fact that it was made as a black-white film, I gave emphasis to other film elements. The performances were very good and the dialogue was clever, comedic and cynic too. I had a long time to watch a movie with both sympathetic female characters without shouting and making as hysteric as it happens in Greek movies and series. Sure there were outbursts as here - because hysteria is an integral part of a woman - but it was to a certain degree. The evolution of the plot caused you to laugh but I would say that it was quite touching in some parts too. The female characters were the ones that literally stole the show especially Simone Signoret. This was also the first time that I saw Marcelo Mastroioanni on the big screen. Antonio Pietrangeli did not just direct the film but he wrote the script together with Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola and Tullio Pinelli. Pietrangeli died at 49 years, drowning, having a few films under his belt. He started as a film critic at various Italian magazines, continued as a scriptwriter and at his 34 years he began directing. However, he left his mark on European cinema and won some prestigious awards at various film festivals.
"Adua e le compagne" is a very enjoyable movie, with likeable characters and well-written script. It may not be one of the most famous black and white films, but definitely worth to watch it. It has a small number of people who reviewed it in IMDb, however, the average score which received is quite good, a 7.4. The greatest recognition was the nomination for the "Golden Lion" at the Venice Film Festival! It seems to me that black and white movies will become my new love..
Unfortunately, there isn't an official trailer for this movie on youtube.
"Belle De Jour" is a film by recognized Spanish director Luis Buñuel. It had bold enough content for that time (mid 60s) given its specific scripts but it received very positive reviews worldwide and it's considered a classic film nowadays. Honestly, I had not intended to watch it, looking at the pink poster of a neighborhood cinema. However, I heard some comments from my mother who watched it a long time before and I was tempted to watch it.
"Belle De Jour" is based on the novel by Joseph Kessel (1928). The story tells the life of a young woman who spent her afternoon working in a brothel under the pseudonym "Belle De Jour". However, she doesn't do it because of money but because of her necessity to be sexually oriented since her husband is not sexually attracted to her even though she loves him. She has many erotic fantasies with sadomasochistic tendencies that have overwhelmed the mind. It has some interesting performances and the acting was decent by everyone. Catherine Deneuve has an aristocratic beauty although she perfroms a role completely opposite to her aura and her temperament. However, she does a great job but her facial expressions remain the same throughout the whole movie. Of course, this is not due to Deneuve's talent but the director / writer wanted to present the protagonist cold and unaffected by the unprecedented situations experienced . The direction of Buñuel was very good after the "Belle De Jour", it was his first color film, most successful and his most famous surrealistic "classic". The dialogues are few and short, and so the more the viewer understands by just watching the movie.
"Belle de Jour" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1967! It was very appreciated by film critics of the time and loved by many people. It has received a high average score on IMDb (7,8) although I personally would give it a better rating. It's a movie with a context that you don't watch very often at the cinema. It has things to teach you. Τhe most important is the fact that it respects the viewer without touching the limits of an adult movie as happened with this year's "Nymphomaniac".
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