APOCALYPSE NOW
1979, 155 mins. Director: Francis Ford Coppola
No film has depicted the fiasco in Vietnam in more mythic form than Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Apocalyse Now is one of the most amazing pieces of celluloid ever produced, capturing not only the ugliness and ridiculousness of Vietnam, but exposing the dark heart of man as well. Coppola’s film is timeless – the setting may change but the wars and the plight of soldiers will remain the same. Alternately a brilliant and bizarre film, Francis Coppola’s four year ‘work in progress’ offers the definitive validation to the old saying, ‘war is hell’. Loosely based on Heart of Darkness, the book by Joseph Conrad, Coppola tells the story of special agent Willard (Martin Sheen) sent to assassinate an errant American colonel (Marlon Brando) in Cambodia. Incredible performances and razor-sharp chaotic visuals make it a must-see. Brando, in his limited screen time, makes an everlasting impression.
THE APARTMENT
1960, 130 mins. Director: Billy Wilder
Tender humour, romance and genuine pathos make this an endearing comedy laced with director Billy Wilder’s customary cynicism. It’s one of the most heartbreaking films you will ever see. And who knows, it could even be a film that defines the real you. It’s amazing how Billy Wilder took a story about infidelity and suicide and turned it into a comedy. That by itself deserves an Oscar. And an Oscar he got – the first comedy to win the Oscar since 1944’s Going My Way. The film tells the story of Jack Lemmon, an office clerk who lends his apartment keys to senior executives to be in their good books, including his boss Fred MacMurray. However, when his boss sets his sights on Shirley MacLaine, an office girl the clerk fancies, things hot up. Watch the film for its diamond-sharp satire with a brilliant performance from Lemmon and his poetic chemistry with MacLaine.
CITY OF GOD
2003, 130 mins. Director: Fernando Meirelles & Katia Lund
City of God isn’t supposed to be entertainment but an indictment of the by product of poverty. Under those terms, it’s impossible not to be moved by the film’s searing honesty. As we see kids of no more than ten or twelve run through the streets with guns shooting those who don’t give them what they want, we can’t help but pity them. I admit, it is not the easiest film to watch, but it is a masterpiece all the same, maybe the best crime drama since the Godfather films. It’s about youth gangs taking over the slums of Rio de Janiero during the 1960s and the troubles each of the gang members go through to maintain their dominance and get over adolescence blues at the same time. At a full-throttle pace and exciting from beginning to end, there isn’t a dull moment. A staggering masterpiece.
CHINATOWN
1974, 131 mins. Director: Roman Polanski
Chinatown is arguably Hollywood’s finest noir thriller. Beyond all the ‘masterpiece’ rhetoric, this is actually a great movie that you should see before you die. Roman Polanski’s direction of Robert Towne’s script makes a masterpiece. It is brilliant filmmaking – the exhaustive, labyrinthine narrative is built up like a fortress around this film’s bitter heart. And what is that? The intrigues and adventures culminating in life-changing moments for its protagonist Jack Nicholson. It is Polanski’s classic detective story set in 1930s Los Angeles where residents suffer from a water shortage due to an ongoing drought. Private eye Nicholson runs a sleazy detective agency. When a client hires him to spy on her husband, who she suspects of infidelity, Nicholson uncovers many scams along the way that makes life hell for him. Watch it because Polanski at his most commercial is still Polanski. Superbly crafted from desire.