The Devils

The Devils is a piece of madness by Ken Russell though telling the true story of the persecution of progressive French priest Urbain Grandier by the establishment lead by Cardinal Richelieu, obviously not the only story featuring the Cardinal as a villain. Fitting to Russell's style as a director this is an insane film, though in this case that probably was the approach to the story. What is notable here, and not so much in the other films of his that I have seen, is that he does intelligent maneuver the film's tone despite his rather broad reaching approach. Although overall, particularly in the production design and the performances of the supporting cast, the film is purposefully grotesque in its excesses. Russell seems to thrive in these circumstances. The madness he inflicts is mesmerizing, for the most part, in its own right. As he plays with religious and historical iconography to reveal the full extent of the debauchery of the people. He has enough of a sense here to pull back within the character of Grandier well played by Oliver Reed. He depicts that character with the utmost humanity effectively turning him into a focal point of sanity and decency. This keeps the film's style from becoming too much as keeping the man within it all not only provides the needed anchor, but also provides a real emotional weight within that hysteria. Although the other films of Russell's that I have seen have failed in one way or another, this film succeeds as it uses his excesses towards effectively storytelling while still having that sense to know when to pull back to reveal the true tragedy within this mad story.
5/5

Macbeth (1971)

I suppose any great Shakespearean adaptation there should be distinct vision by the director. This quite true to Roman Polanki's adaptation of the Scottish play. The film marked the first film by the director since the brutal murder of his wife Sharon Tate by the Mason family. The influence of that event on the director's mind is palatable in the hopeless and particularly violent telling. Macbeth is already a dark tragedy however Polanski takes every step to amplify this particularly in the graphic nature of the blood letting, the MacDuff family massacre in particular takes its time to depicts the horrors of the scene. It goes beyond that even with an undercurrent of a circular process of decay. Macbeth is not the only traitor in this version changing the character Ross to a co-conspirator, turning the younger brother of the murdered king a future Macbeth. The side effects of the plot seem to age Macbeth and his wife into older people beyond their years as they slowly meet their demise. This film is clearly of a singular vision by Polanski though I wouldn't quite call it a great adaptation. The central nihilistic theme is fitting to this tragedy to be sure, however there are unneeded excesses in this vision. The vision in itself though still is compelling realization of an already compelling story.
4/5

Carnal Knowledge

Carnal Knowledge is another foray by Mike Nichols into "romantic" relationship which because it is Nichols it means it's a descent into emotional pain. This film is not nearly intense as say a Closer, or Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but it takes a similar approach that presents almost every human as this irritable soul who act in ways only satisfy their own needs without even a base concern with others. We get three acts of a man (Jack Nicholson) and his friend (Art Garfunkle) as they get into various sexual relationships with women. Their college years based mostly on exploration, their middle years based upon their inability to deal with a woman past sex, and the his final years facing their inability to even perform. The film's message may be that men are pigs, right? Not really all the women are shown to be either hollow in a different way, emotional wrecks, as cruel as the men, or just a detached prostitute. The film has nothing to say beyond the a surface examination that sexual relationships can be paradoxically unpleasant affairs. It's execution is mildly intriguing at times, its vaguely amusing in moments. Jack Nicholson is technically at his prime but this is easily one of his least compelling performances from the 70's. A film of some controversy in its days. That feature is long forgotten now, seeming rather tame by today's standards, leaving only a middling film behind.
2.5/5

Nicholas and Alexandra

The 1971 nominees for best picture included one old mainstay of the past, Fiddler on the Roof, but also three films that seem to suggest the new wave of film making with The French Connection, The Last Picture Show and A Clockwork Orange. The fifth nominee though might seem to some to fit the old style historical drama, something for the real old timers in the Academy, with Nicholas and Alexandra about the life of the last Russian Tsar. That wouldn't be quite the right view. It is true this is a historical drama, but as a film it feels very modern, well at least for 1971 anyways. The film offers no revisions or romantic view of the royals, it instead decides to give us the blunt story. It is of course grand in scope, with an expected focus on the production design and costume, but those do not cover the drama of the real story. The film covers the various events yet is careful to examine it closely by showing the titular pair as real people, flaws and all. In fact it actually has a rather compelling approach to show almost how the world outside of the family, makes them worse as they attempt to maintain power. It may not focus on every single detail but it does not simplify the politics. Of course this could just be a stagy, more historically accurate film, but that's not the case either. Franklin J. Schaffner grants the film some of what you may expect but also subverts your expectations as well. There are the occasional moments of style that are very effective particularly the former prime minster Witte(Laurence Olivier)'s somber reflection on the state of Russian or the downright brilliant staging of the assassination of Rasputin. It is largely a captivating film which does not shy away, for the most part, of the brutal truths of the story.
4.5/5

Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds Are Forever marks Connery's not so triumphant return to Bond. I mean Connery's there but he might as well not be at times. He's very detached most of the time, which means he's only still better than Roger Moore in all of his Bond films. There isn't anything inspired about this effort and there is a lack of fun for the most part. This Blofeld has nothing to offer, and though Charles Gray isn't bad in terms of his performance. The film is in particular a let down when one considers its predecessor On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which only major fault was Bond himself. What probably stands out most in this version is Jill St. John, just because she offers a lively presence compared to Connery's low energy one, and the ridiculous stereotype hit men after Bond throughout the film mostly because of just how over the top they are. There are worse Bonds, but this is not a very good one.
2/5

10 Rillington Place

10 Rillington Place is a brutally effective film by telling the cold harsh truth as straight forward of a fashion as it can. Richard Fleischer's direction here is downright brilliant by the way he neither sugarcoats nor glorifies Christie's crimes. He shows them as one unfortunately would imagine only shying away in one instance yet the implication of that moment is bone chilling even in the restraint. The most horrifying scene actually though is not one of Christie's direct murders but his indirect one as he bluntly depicts the injustice that feels so cruel because of how normal the whole event is. The performances here are strong with the standouts being John Hurt who is as heartbreaking as Richard Attenborough is terrifying. A message can be taken from the film yet it never enforces the idea the film believing its audience is intelligent enough to recognize it from the natural order of the proceedings. It's one of the great serial killer films ever made, and one of the most unnerving in its reality. As the man does not get caught by his guilt, or by a quick thinking detective,  but rather because he simply runs out of money.
5/5

Get Carter

Get Carter is very interesting film in the way it seems to pull you in with the promise of a glamorization of both the life of a criminal and revenge. It technically ends up delivering on neither of these promises yet that is what makes the film so effective. It gives the glimpse of why Carter is Carter. He is indeed a cool crook with Michael Caine giving perhaps one of his best performances. However these elements only hide the real seedy nature of the life that is bluntly realized by the victims of it. One victim forcing Carter is forced to see directly in a brilliant scene that relies on Caine's performance. The revenge though itself is not pretty as Carter ends up taking essentially no prisoners and there is a cold callousness as no one is allowed to escape his wrath which is painfully emotional. It's a terrific film as it coldly subverts the whole vision one might take of the film before watching it.
5/5

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange now succeeds where Barry Lyndon faltered. Once again the film is visually striking as Kubrick's goes about creating a warped perspective fitting for a story of a very warped mind. This time though we have an alteration through the human element. The human element being that of psychopath, yet still human as played by Malcolm McDowell. McDowell's performance importantly anchors the film within Kubrick's imagery and the purposefully absurd performances from much of the rest of the cast. He brings us through Alex's journey in a captivating if rather disturbing fashion. The visuals never overwhelm the human element, instead that intertwine wonderfully(though that does not feel like the right word for this film), to create a great film.
5/5

Shaft (1971)

Shaft offers a memorable theme song and central character though Richard Roundtree's performance can vary from badass to just a bit hammy at times. As a private eye style thriller it does well enough in its best moments though the whole blaxploitation are particularly dated, and not in a good way. To many of these side characters are kind of absurd caricatures in every sense right down to the excessively stylized way they speak. These ideas would later be often parodied to look extremely entertaining but often in the actual films they're kind of stuck between to points. They aren't quite ridiculous enough to be entertaining yet they are not grounded enough to be believed. This film does not fully rely on these elements thankfully and gets along past that enough to make for a more than decent thriller.
3.5/5

THX 1138

THX 1138 is definitely worth seeing just as an example of George Lucas throwing out a unique world of science fiction for all to see. Unlike Star Wars this is of the 1984 variety in terms of futuristic setting. He has some interesting ideas and there are individually great moments. The film ends up feeling just like a series of scenes that are held together by plot that always seems to have a lack of urgency to it. As with other science fiction films it excessively sits upon imagery to ensure that the audience sees it. The problem is though you're wowed by it for the first thirty seconds but then it just continues. It definitely presents something intriguing in terms of its set up, but it does very little with it in terms of providing an engaging story, or at least compelling characters.
3.5/5

Klute

Klute has two things in its favor Gordon Willis's great cinematography and Alan J. Pakula's atmospheric direction. The problem with the film is its noir plot line never becomes terribly interesting, and when the killer was revealed you kind of forget that there was even suppose to be a killer. It tries for more with its central character but there is only so much you can do with an absolutely wooden Donald Sutherland, who I usually rather like. There is something there with Fonda's character and the examination of her life as a prostitute but even that is largely ignored in order to focus on that plot which is frankly a bore.
2.5/5

McCabe & Mrs Miller

McCabe & Mrs Miller is a rather fascinating experiment of sorts by Robert Altman, as he does his usual large cast of colorful characters whose stories intertwine in one way or another, yet here there technically is a more direct moving plot involving McCabe trying to keep his property despite threats from a powerful mining company. It needs to be said that it's a downright beautiful film as the production design and cinematography are both outstanding. As one would expect from Altman it certainly gives its time to the characters and actually makes the plot developments surprisingly emotional particularly in the film's last act when things turn violent. It's one of Altman's best, perhaps his best, and also features some of the best work by Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.
5/5