SCFZ

Polling the films of director Milos Forman

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Forman films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: wba, greg x, ofrene, greennui, evelyn, bure, mesnalty, umbugbene, roscoe, st gloede

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

The Firemen's Ball
Talent Competition
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

was surprised to discover i've only seen six, would have guessed more

seen 8

loves of a blonde
black peter
talent competition
hair


can we do a check on emilio fernández? i’ve got plenty and i know rischka and lencho do as well, not sure beyond that.

01. Ragtime (1981)
02. Cerny Petr "Black Peter" (1964)
03. Konkurs "Talent Competition" (1964)
04. Hair (1979)

Forman seen: 8

brian d wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:42 pm
can we do a check on emilio fernández? i’ve got plenty and i know rischka and lencho do as well, not sure beyond that.

I got 1 Fernandez

Seen 14:

Ragtime
Black Peter
One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest
Amadeus
Taking Off

Seen 4 by Forman. Can't remember any of them too clearly, but I'll vote for the Cuckoos just to push Hair down the rankings. Even in my mid-20s I thought it was a disgusting celebration of intergenerational hatred. Or was I supposed to be disgusted?

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I only have 2 by Emilio Fernández.

brian d wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:42 pm can we do a check on emilio fernández? i’ve got plenty and i know rischka and lencho do as well

yes, of course! i've only seen one, though it was excellent.

if anyone has seen 8+ fernandez, please post here

Seen 2.

1. Amadeus

Seen 2

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Seen 8

Taking off
One flew over the Cuckoo's nest
Loves of a blonde
Man on the moon

as a fallback, let’s do coppola if fernández doesn’t work, just to keep things rolling.

Seen a few Forman -- it must be his earlier work that's so special, as I find nothing at interest at all in his Hollywood work.

Amadeus
Hair
Ragtime
The People vs Larry Flynt

I tend to see Forman's work as a bit misanthropic, at least in the eight movies I've viewed, maybe with a sense of irony about it that cuts back a little in how he allows his actors exuberance in the face of the near negation of their efforts by society. Even just comparing Valmont to Dangerous Liaisons gives some sense of the difference in attitude Forman brings compared to Frears. Frears, as is too often the case, pushes towards the ready misogyny, pinning the ultimate blame for events on Close's Isabelle, while Forman shows the whole world of the groups of characters as self destructive. The energy and ideals expended by the protagonists in his films often come to naught or a Pyrrhic sort of victory as their efforts are to little end or used in ways that subvert intentions. The feeling of it all might come down to whether one sees the characters somehow fighting the "good fight", or more like I do with it all tending towards ultimately ridiculous ineffectuality.

I tend towards feeling most the the movies tend to revel a bit in the quixotic aspect of the battles the characters engage in suiting their ends to their acts with little sense of there being much more at stake than the character's attitude itself, which isn't particularly good reason to see their acts as anything very meaningful. Amadeus is the only one I've seen that manages to completely avoid this, mostly because Mozart's music speaks for itself. The others depend to varying degrees on how one responds to the actors and/or drafting a bit from known history.

I've seen 6.

Man on the moon
One flew over the Cuckoo's nest

Seen 3

Amadeus

Seen 6

1. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
2. The People vs. Larry Flynt
3. Amadeus

Seen 12.:
1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
2. Amadeus (1984)
3. The Loves of a Blonde (1965)
4. The Firemen's Ball (1967)
5. Taking Off (1971)

almost had some surprise winners, but the best-known forman films got the late votes. forman wasn't prolific - despite the short list below, only three of his theatrical features failed to get a vote: valmont (1989), goya's ghosts (2006), and the almost-unseen a walk worthwhile (2009).

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) -- 18 pts
2. Amadeus (1984) -- 13 pts
3. Ragtime (1981) -- 11 pts
4. Black Peter (1964) -- 10 pts
5. Loves of a Blonde (1965) -- 9 pts
6. Taking Off (1971) -- 6 pts
6. Talent Competition (1964) -- 6 pts
8. The Firemen's Ball (1967) -- 5 pts
8. Hair (1979) -- 5 pts
10. Man on the Moon (1999) -- 3 pts
10. The People vs Larry Flynt (1996) -- 3 pts

this is up at letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-153/