22 Comments

Elmer Gantry is excellent. Watched the 1944 Bergman Spotlight eand the 1940 UK version. Cynthia, you had a discussion on Spotlight somewhere?. I am a subscriber to Canadian Patriot and Risibng Tide.

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Hi Warren, yes Elmer Gantry is an incredibly powerful movie I agree. I did reference the movie 'Gaslight' with Ingrid Bergman in two essays which can be found here: https://cynthiachung.substack.com/p/the-battle-for-the-mind-how-to-exit and

https://cynthiachung.substack.com/p/gaslighting-the-psychology-of-shaping-921

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I zeroed in on Mr Capra Goes to War but YouTube says it's restricted and I must contact the Network Administrator or something with YouTube.

I have no idea how to do either one.

Do you?

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You can access all those films (Prelude to War, The Battle of Russia, The Negro Soldier, Tunisian Victory, Your Job in Germany) with no restrictions on the US National Archives You Tube channel - https://www.youtube.com/usnationalarchives

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As Elvis would say,, Thank you very much. Ma'am .

Really good resource I will recommend to others.

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Thank you

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Thank you so much for the list, it is so difficult to come up with those films in mainstream media.

I would add Heaven's Gate (1980, directed by Michael Cimino), a very powerful film about the two Americas, if I may use Matthew's expression.

The knowledge you share with us empowered me to understand that this beautiful film had to be destroyed by critics because it tells the deep truth about the USA (and, of course, in order to destroy the United Artists which produced many other great films).

Happy New Year!

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what a great list. Thank you & merry christmas

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Great! With respect to Yuletide wish you and Matt a very Merry Christmas!

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Thank youCynthia! Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!

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These are excellent. I am glad to see many of my favorites here, and I will definitely look into the others. Thank you for these recommendations.

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What a wonderful gift for the season.

Maybe next time King of Hearts with Alan Bates or The Gods Must be Crazy..

Sure beats the Prime Amazon or Netflix wondering moment. Best of the season to you.

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“The Ruling Class” with Peter O’Tool?

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Would you consider putting the new DUNE even close to this beautiful list? there are pretty cool theories ,such as Bene Gesserit representing actual Jesuits :-)

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Nothing like watching the John Doe story at Christmas. Its not, moral its the cosmic aspect of those alive to the world with a heart that beats to it. Theatre is an realistic enactment with its foreshadowing, timing in action, and parsing the essential from the nonsense.

All over the world people flew the flag for John Doe until our West’s villains revealed a deep corruption of human decency they mimic and so are dying in a curious phenomenon.

An analogy of our times is this movie about politics, but we have changed in 2000 years regardless of any moral dogmatism as anyone can see in our dysfunctional social as it knows the words by heart but lacks any meaning whatsoever.

Life itself speaks a different language untaught in schools and this is the time when we learn to walk the perception all life is imbued with.

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Comment on the side. Excellent conference on Poe.

Perfidy, once again. Old Man of the Mountains hash- assins.

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Worth reading is the Mark Twain biography of Joan of Arc. Available Online.

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There's one more film I forgot to add, from Greek cinema.

The Travelling Players (Theodoros Angelopolos; 1975): Was part of a Region 2 DVD boxed set, but unfortunately not currently available

https://www.amazon.com/Theo-Angelopoulos-Collection-Anaparastasi-Kumpanya/dp/B007G17FGI

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I heart this list. Films can often veer off into lectures or outright propaganda, and over the decades my tastes have moved away from narrative cinema and diverged from blockbusters and even critical darlings. It's also my opinion the artistic center of cinema over the last two or three decades has moved away from the west and into Asia.

My apologies for such a long list, but here are my recommended additions (note well-discussed films like "Vertigo" or "Once Upon a Time in the West" are omitted, as much as I admire them):

English Language:

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-apartment

Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1934): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/sherlock-jr

The Searchers (John Ford; 1956): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-searchers

Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk; 1959): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/imitation-of-life-1959

Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges; 1941): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/sullivans-travels

Duck Soup (Leo McCarey; 1933): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/marx-brothers-duck-soup

Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett; 1977): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/killer-of-sheep

Wanda (Barbara Loden,; 1971): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/wanda

Hearts and Minds (Peter Davis; 1974): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/hearts-and-minds

Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly; 1952): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/singin-in-the-rain

French Language:

Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard; 1967): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/weekend-1967 [This political and violent film may revolt many, but I believe it to be potent and Godard's best]

Jeanne Dielman (Chantal Akerman; 1975): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jeanne-dielman-23-quai-du-commerce-1080-bruxelles

Play Time (Jacques Tati; 1967): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/playtime

Mouchette (Robert Bresson; 1967): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/mouchette

The 400 Blows (François Truffaut; 1959): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-400-blows

The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir; 1939): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-rules-of-the-game

Caché (MIchael Haneke; 2005): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/hidden

Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami; 2010): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/certified-copy

Italian Language:

L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni; 1960): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/lavventura

L'Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni; 1962): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/leclisse

La Dolce Vita: (Federico Fellini; 1959): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/la-dolce-vita

Russian Language:

Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky; 1966): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/andrei-rublev

Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky; 1972): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/solyaris

The Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov; 1929): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/man-with-a-movie-camera

Spanish Language:

Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel; 1952): Unfortunately, has not been available for some time

Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea ; 1968): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/memories-of-underdevelopment

German Language:

World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder; 1973): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/world-on-a-wire

Kings of the Road (Wim Wenders; 1976): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/kings-of-the-road

Iranian Cinema:

Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami; 1990): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/close-up

A Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami; 1997): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/taste-of-cherry

Life and Nothing More (Abbas Kiarostami; 1992): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/life-and-nothing-more-1992

African Cinema:

Xala (Ousmane Sembène; 1975): Unfortunately this great anti-colonial film is not available now

Mandabi (Ousmane Sembène; 1967): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/mandabi

Hungarian Cinema:

Sátántangó (Béla Tarr, 1994): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/satantango

The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr, 2010): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-turin-horse

Czech Cinema:

Daisies (Věra Chytilová; 1966): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/daisies

Chinese Cinema:

Tie Xi Qu (West of the Tracks) (Wang Bing; 2002): Only available now as a Region 2 DVD, unfortunately: https://www.trigon-film.org/en/shop/DVD/Tie_Xi_Qu:_West_of_the_Tracks [although it might be show up on YouTube]

Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhangke; 2015): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/mountains-may-depart

Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhang-ke; 2018): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/ash-is-purest-white

Taiwanese Cinema:

Yi Yi (Edward Yang; 2000): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/yi-yi

A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien; 1989): This heartbreaking story of Taiwan's dark past is only available on DVD: https://www.amazon.com/City-Sadness-Chinese-movie-English/dp/B07D466FJQ

A Touch of Zen (King Hu; 1971): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-touch-of-zen

Korean Cinema:

House of Hummingbird (Bora Kim: 2018): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/house-of-hummingbird

Japanese Cinema:

Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu; 1953): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tokyo-story

Early Summer (Yasujirō Ozu; 1951): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/early-summer

The Only Son (Yasujiro Ozu; 1936): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-only-son

Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi; 1954): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/sansho-the-bailiff

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Mikio Naruse; 1960): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/when-a-woman-ascends-the-stairs

Drive My Car (Ryosuke Hamaguchi; 2021): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/drive-my-car-2021

Thai Cinema:

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul; 2010): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/uncle-boonmee-who-can-recall-his-past-lives

Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul; 2002): Unfortunately only available now as a DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Blissfully-Yours-Kanokporn-Tongaram/dp/B000O77R6E/ref=sr_1_17?keywords=Apichatpong+Weerasethakul&qid=1672118098&s=movies-tv&sr=1-17

Danish Cinema:

Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer; 1964): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/gertrud

Indian Cinema:

Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray; 1955): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/pather-panchali

Some of these are dark films, but the spirit of empathy and humanity shines through most of them.

Again, sorry for so many additions. Now I need to get to work to see all the films on the above list!

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Merry Christmas!

To add to the list Hannah Arendt 2012 ✌

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