1959 poll

[...]

Letterboxd has that info under crew listings, but it's often incomplete.

Don't get me wrong, I still prefer IMDb for a lot of things, like director polls or searching for actors and the like, but for year polls I much prefer Letterboxd.

[wba]

I don't even get a list other than like six to ten films, mostly the same ones over and over again since they reworked some elements of the site at about the same time they nuked their discussion boards and shoved comments to the side.

That's totally weird.
You sure you haven't done some strange things to your settings? ...

As I said, for me nothing has changed much since I registered in 2002 in regards to how everything is listed and displayed.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

I'm not sure I have a preference, like Karl said there might be no perfect solution as dates change on both IMDB and Letterboxd and we may disagree with those dates sometimes. (Renoir's A Day in the Country is now 1946 on Letterboxd, because that's when it was first screened, even though it was made in 1936, which is its date on IMDb; etc.)

I will say that one big plus in Letterboxd's favour is that any one of us can create a TMDB account and change the dates (as well as any other info, or add a whole film from scratch). I often do this when I think the dates or any other info is wrong or incomplete.

[Silga]

Indeed, dates do vary. Yesterday I've watched Walerian Borowczyk's short film Dom for this poll as it is from 1959 per IMDb. However, both Letterboxd and Vikipedia say that it is from 1958 and according to MUBI - from 1957.

[liquidnature]

I should clarify that while I believe IMDb generally speaking has the more accurate information, I vastly prefer Letterboxd in every other respect. It's so enjoyable to utilize, browse, and log films on. Pure pleasure that only enhances the film watching experience.

[greennui]

I trust letterboxd more with release dates tbh.

A Day in the Country - 1936 on imdb. Shot in 1936 but hadn't even been edited together until it's 1946 release. Def a 46 film for me.
Dom - The one Silga mentioned. Some quick googling led me to some sources that say it won prizes at a film festival that was held in correlation with the world's fair in Brussels in 1958. 1959 on imdb.
Solaris - Was changed from 1972 to 1971 on imdb the other year, listed a Moscow premiere that no information could be found about. I see it's been changed back now.

[nrh]

isn't the issue with shadows that it's basically two different movies? one which cassavetes screened and scrapped (and mekas sir thought was a masterpiece), then another film he reshot and screened in '59.

[rischka]

la caida was pretty impressive -- i'm a fan of la casa del angel, same star, writers and director so it works for me. thx again mesnalty

[rischka]

loved loved loved olmi's debut feature, time stood still. air hostess was a lot of fun too. now i'm halfway through lang's indian epic. it's ...problematic. wish i could watch without weird 'aryan' associations. i've seen the 20s version but the technicolor and location shooting is killing it here. german actors speaking german in brownface however...



also this dopey as hell hero

[MrCarmady]

Yeah, the Indian Epic is beautiful above all else. He should've just gone after Luciana Paluzzi and let the internal politics sort themselves out.

[greennui]

Lang really directed the shit out of those films, those compositions...The tone is perfect too, sort of a mixture of camp and puerility.

[karl]

Despising "camp" as I do, I can only see those kitschy "Indian" films of Lang as the embarrassing finale of a great director. That they're often on Top Ten lists like the Sight and Sound while on the same polls his truly excellent films get no votes at all only shows the impoverished state of contemporary film criticism all too clearly. If you've seen one, Rischka, spare yourself the second, they're so awful, and try to forgive Fritz if you can. There are so many wonderful '59s to be seen instead. Watch Foma Gordeev!

[rischka]

i don't like seeing cats in cages and he could've at least used widescreen this looks sadly like a stuffed animal was thrown



i think i'll continue tho it's admittedly far south of cottafavi's gladiator pictures and more in the tizoc realm for me

also, getting foma gordeev, thx karl

[Lencho of the Apes]

Ulmer's peplum! (With co- from Carlo Bragaglia)

3 ann 1.JPG (98.33 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

3 ann 2.JPG (85.21 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

3 ann 3.JPG (80.37 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

3 ann 4.JPG (73.17 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

3 ann 5.JPG (90.91 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

[karl]

i don't like seeing cats in cages and he could've at least used widescreen this looks sadly like a stuffed animal was thrown

And you can see the string holding up the head of the stuffed snake. Two Ed Wood movies are enough for one year, don't ya think?

[rischka]

omg is that hannibal *adds to watchlist*

[rischka]

wtf ozu you're killing me 3 mins into the film

[fly]

1. Pickpocket

Hiroshima mon Amour
Imitation of Life
Floating Weeds
Shadows
Good Morning
Day of the Outlaw
Rio Bravo
No Name on the Bullet
Ride Lonesome
Picnic on the Grass
Window Water Baby Moving

[wba]

Despising "camp" as I do, I can only see those kitschy "Indian" films of Lang as the embarrassing finale of a great director. That they're often on Top Ten lists like the Sight and Sound while on the same polls his truly excellent films get no votes at all only shows the impoverished state of contemporary film criticism all too clearly. If you've seen one, Rischka, spare yourself the second, they're so awful, and try to forgive Fritz if you can. There are so many wonderful '59s to be seen instead. Watch Foma Gordeev!

Hmm, I get where some of the criticism might be coming from, but those two epics from 58/59 by Lang are no more (or less) "camp" or kitchy than any of his 1920s films, be it the two Nibelungen, Der müde Tod, Metropolis, the 2 Dr. Mabuses Mabuse or Spione.

Personally I think "The Tiger of Eschnapur" is one of his greatest artistic achievements, and my favorite film from Lang so far. The second film "The Indian Tomb" is on the other hand in my opinion one of his worst, and I wonder why it was filmed at all (commercial considerations, probably). As it is, I think Lang's "The Tiger of Eschnapur" stands perfectly on its own and doesn't need that 2nd movie at all. And the nihilist ending of "Tiger" fits perfectly with a lot of stuff from Lang, be it his 30s and 40s US noirs or a film like M.

[MrCarmady]

But Seetha's dance is in the second one! I agree with you that the first half is better but I don't think they're worlds apart - both beautiful and kitschy but light on anything resembling characters, emotional engagement, or plot.

[wba]

But Seetha's dance is in the second one! I agree with you that the first half is better but I don't think they're worlds apart - both beautiful and kitschy but light on anything resembling characters, emotional engagement, or plot.

Well, as I wrote above I disagree. And for me there are wonderful characters and lots of emotional engagement and my favorite ending of any Lang film in "The Tiger of Eschnapur".
I honestly can't stand "The Indian Tomb", though. But then I'm also no fan of Lang's silents.

PS: Love Seetha's Dance, of course, but I always thought she danced twice: once in "The Tiger of Eschnapur" and once in "The Indian Tomb"...

[Angel]

Biyaya ng lupa (Blessings of the Land)

Ballada o soldate (Ballad of a Soldier)
Caltiki il mostro immortale (Caltiki – The Immortal Monster)
Die Brücke (The Bridge)
Diez fusiles esperan (Ten Ready Rifles)
Doa al karawan (The Nightingale's Prayer)
Dokuritsu gurentai (Desperado Outpost)
Estate violenta (Violent Summer)
Il generale Della Rovere (General Della Rovere)
La grande guerra (The Great War)
Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (Picnic on the Grass)
Le legioni di Cleopatra (Legions of the Nile)
Operation Petticoat
Pociag (Night Train)
Ride Lonesome
Seraa fil Nil (Struggle on the Nile)
Sterne (Stars)
The Hanging Tree
These Thousand Hills
Un maledetto imbroglio (The Facts of Murder)

20 more:
Arrangiatevi (You're on Your Own)
Day of the Outlaw
Edge of Eternity
Ercole e la regina di Lidia (Hercules Unchained)
I magliari (The Magliari)
Il tempo si è fermato (Time Stood Still)
Kamienne niebo (The Stone Sky)
La tête contre les murs (Head Against the Wall)
La vertiente (The Source)
North West Frontier
Shake Hands with the Devil
Sudba cheloveka (Destiny of a Man)
The Alligator People
The Big Fisherman
The Trap
The Wonderful Country
Timbuktu
Ukikusa (Floating Weeds)
Une simple histoire (A Simple Story)
Verboten!

Deliberately excluded (IMDb/TSPDT/S&S top 500):
Anatomy of a Murder
Apur Sansar
Ben-Hur
Der Tiger von Eschnapur & Das indische Grabmal
Hiroshima mon amour
Imitation of Life
Les quatre cents coups
Nazarín
North by Northwest
Pickpocket
Rio Bravo
Some Like It Hot
(Shadows)

To see before the deadline:
Der Rest ist Schweigen
Foma Gordeev
Guns Girls and Gangsters
Jiang shan mei ren
Kotan no kuchibue

Wanted:
Five Gates to Hell
Le fauve est lâché
Veter
Vlak bez voznog reda

Between IMDb and Letterboxd I prefer IMDb (the most accurate) + common sense. I mean if Shadows was not eligible when we polled 1958, it should be allowed now.

[rischka]

nakumura has a real edward g robinson energy. i love takeshi sakamoto in the '34 film but this one is better

[St. Gloede]

1. Nobi / Fires on the Plain (1959, Kon Ichikawa)
-
Hiroshima mon amour (1959, Alain Resnais)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, Joseph L. Makiewicz)
Imitation of Life (1959, Douglas Sirk)
Nazarín (1959, Luis Bunuel)
Ningen no jôken / The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959, Masaki Kobayashi)
Die Brücke / The Bridge (1959, Bernhard Wicki)
Adomas nori buti zmogumi / Adam Wants to Be a Man (1959, Vytautas Zalakevicius)
Jakten (1959, Erik Løchen)
Ballada o soldate / Ballad of a Soldier (1959, Grigoriy Chukhray)
Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks)
Shake Hands with the Devil (1959, Michael Anderson)
Sterne (1959, Konrad Wolf)
North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock)
Apur Sansar / The World of Apu (1959, Satyajit Ray)
The Last Angry Man (1959, Daniel Mann)
Mikkai / Assignation (1959, Kô Nakahira)
Dokuritsu gurentai / Desperado Outpost (1959, Kihachi Okamoto)
Les Quatre cents coups / The 400 Blows (1959, François Truffaut)
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959, Ranald MacDougall)

[rischka]

hannibal was a lot of fun! except stop beating those elephants D:

[Silga]

This poll inspired me to finally check out a film from my country. Something I almost never do.

Adam Wants to Be a Man (Vytautas Zalakevicius, 1959) 7/10

A film by one of the most accomplished and famous Lithuanian directors, starring Donatas Banionis (from Tarkovsky's Solaris) as a sleazy manager of Emigration Bureau and Juozas Miltinis (who, while unknown to international audience, is regarded by many as an equivalent to Lee Strasberg as he studied theater in Paris and London and brought the idea of Actors studio back home and set up the most famous theater group in the country with Banionis being one of his students from the early 40s).

Beautifully filmed and in parts reminiscent of Jean Vigo's L'Atalante it is set in 1936 and follows a young man's attempt to save enough money to buy a one-way ticket to South America. He lives on a boat with elderly, booze-soaked captain and encounters corruption, first love and various hardships. There's also an arranged marriage story that eloquently portrays the absurdity of such tradition.

It also reminded me of J. Lee Thompson's film from the same year - No Trees in the Street. Only I think that Zalakevicius' film is far superior.

I have a beautifully restored copy with English subs if anyone wants.

[MrCarmady]

I have a beautifully restored copy with English subs if anyone wants.

Yes please it looks great!

[Silga]

Well, If I could get a password to The Place, I would. Maybe one of the admins can help.

[Silga]

Thanks! It is available now at the place.

[pabs]

Thanks, Silga!