In the changing times of American cinema – influenced mainly by the work of European filmmakers like Godard, Fellini and countless others – 1972 was a year that emerged with a huge amount of work from around the film world. Classics like the godfather and Cabaret hit theaters, forever changing the landscape and our relationship with movies exalted by pop culture. Arthouse directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky continued to expand their filmography with masterpieces. It was a rich year for all moviegoers and left a wealth of films for young moviegoers to watch and listen back to. 1972 was a year to remember – here are 10 movies that illustrate why.
10 Salvation
John Boorman’s nightmare through the backwoods of the south was a classic genre mix of exploitation, survival and the horrors a group of friends go through to survive the torture. Though one scene in particular lives in infamy—the banjo duel scene and the long wind down the river leading to Burt Reynolds’ heroic turn with a longbow— Salvation is one of those movies that you never forget. Rounded out by a stellar cast of Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox, Boorman’s entrenched plunge into the infernal depths of survival and masculinity broke new ground for a Hollywood film, marking a change for the kind of cinema that would amenable to large audiences. are up to.
9 The hot rock
A dynamite script by legendary screenwriter William Goldman, The hot rock is a crime film that kicks off an elaborate heist and then progresses from one daring rescue and theft to the next. Starring Robert Redford at his coolest, he chooses to rob a bank with his loyal team of misfits in order to get his hands on a rare diamond. However, after a member is arrested, the movie turns into a prison break movie, where they have to retrieve the diamond all over again. It is incredibly fast and has laid the foundation for many heist movies to come such as Ocean 11.
8 What’s up Doc?
The late Peter Bogdanovich has broken new ground in Hollywood with his masterpiece The last photo show. His sequel, different in tone but just as beautifully made, What’s up Doc? is a comedic gem. With Ryan O’Neal performing as a musician who makes music out of rocks, he stumbles into a romance with the lovely Barbra Streisand while a lot of confusion ensues at a San Francisco hotel. Keeping the look jokes and slapstick comedy flowing from scene to scene, Bogdanovich puts together a hilarious screwball comedy mixed with a heartfelt romance between O’Neal and Streisand. What’s up Doc? is a perfect blend of the craft needed to create a heavy comedy and two strong protagonists.
7 Across the street from 110th Street
One of the better Blaxploitation movies to come out in the early ’70s, and an indelible slice of Harlem crime cinema about corrupt cops, drug dealers and innocent bystanders caught in the wrong place, Across the street from 110th Street is brutal in his portrayal of criminal life and starts with a massacre after the iconic opening number title sequence to set the tone for the rest of the film. The script, with expertise, shows the racial and class tensions between the black community in Harlem and the racist police who assume all their suspects are guilty before they speak. Across the street from 110th Street is as depressing as it is compelling to see so many innocent bodies fall victim to the violence of a racist institution.
6 Cabaret
Went toe to toe with the godfather at the 1973 Academy Awards, Cabaret is rightly recognized as one of the great American musicals ever made. From master choreographer and director Bob Fosse, Cabaret explores the club scene in Berlin in 1931 as the background of the Nazi party begins to take shape. Fosse captures the loneliness of staring oblivion in the face as the politics of brute force tear relationships apart. All expertly crafted by Fosse, not a single shot is wasted.
5 big city
John Huston makes films along the lines of his personality. Rough, mean, mean movies that are ripe for alcohol abuse. big city was the perfect ship to tell a tale of two fighters, who lived from flight to fight and from bar to bar, knocking it out for a shot at glory. Jeff Bridges and Stacy Keach play the two humble fighters who always take one step forward and two more back. Huston explained the miserable and marginalized conditions many boxers live in, creating a humane portrait of how punching can keep your life on the low range.
4 super fly
Directed by Gordon Parks Jr. – the son of the legendary and prolific Gordon Parks – super fly is the iconic staple of the Blaxploitation genre. Scored by Curtis Mayfield who created a soundtrack of firecrackers and starring the man himself, Ron O’Neal, as a priest, Parks’ film explores the art of the hustle and bustle and harmful living conditions in poor neighborhoods ravaged by crime. Hoping to get one last score on the cocaine trade before leaving the game for good, super fly is an action-packed yet rugged ride through the streets of Harlem.
3 Aguirre, wrath of God
Werner Herzog is a director known for taking himself and others to the depths of hell to get the authenticity and truth he desires to tell his story. Herzog was a renegade by nature and the perfect artist to create Aguirre, the wrath of God. Sticking to his documentary-style style, Herzog creates a hellscape that plunges the character of Klaus Kinski (Don Lope de Aquirre) into violence worse than man. It’s an epic look at the destruction of the Inca Empire, as you focus on the aftermath of a nearsighted and disastrous expedition.
2 solaris
The outer edges of the galaxy and the depths of space plunge to reconnect with a loved one is the concept of Andrei Tarkovsky’s adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s novel of the same name, solaris. Tarkovsky takes the usual artifice of space travel and turns the machinations into something much junky, primal and dirty. Following the example of a psychologist who is sent to space to investigate the mental problems of the astronauts who lose their minds on the mysterious titular planet, solaris, the film explores the concept of love, memory and the loss of contact with reality. Done in the subtle nodes of Tarkovsky’s poetic cinema, the film is one of the greats on space travel.
1 the godfather
-1.jpg)
Every other crime epic made will live in the godfather‘s shadow. It might be the most influential movie and the most artful piece of pop cinema ever on the big screen. A mafia film about power corruption in the American model of bossing, aka capitalism. A king (Marlon Brando) with his three sons Michael (Al Pacino), Sonita (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale) all compete for their father’s throne as the future of the company approaches. the godfather is a historical story that thrived in the darkness, where the best crime lives.