The best 10-year period for films

Ultimately one could make a strong case for many decades as to being the greatest time for motion pictures. The eighties included many of my favorite films to watch, including Gremlins, The Princess Bride, Annie, Batman, and Airplane! On the other hand, one could also make a case for the late twenties to early thirties being most historically significant, as silent films were at their peak, disappeared, and the talkies reigned supreme from that time forward.

However, I believe one must combine both historical significance and one's favorite films in determining the best 10-year period. That for me is the period from 1967-1976. The old Hollywood studio system was collapsing and giving way to a new generation of filmmakers, who were interested in making films that people could identify with, that were not afraid to have a message, and that questioned labels of all kinds. No longer was the studio simply creating a factory of films with big budgets and stars, but they were giving their directors artistic and creative control beyond what had been seen before. These new directors were influenced by great foreign directors like Bunuel, Bergman, Truffaut, Godard, Kurosawa, Ozu, and Fellini, whose hits from the late fifties and early sixties made a huge impact on the American films of the late sixties and early seventies.

The creative/thinker film period then gave way to blockbuster smashes and films that took special effects to a whole new level. I have many favorite and important films from 1967-1976, but here are a few to share with you:

BONNIE AND CLYDE, directed by Arthur Penn
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway star as a couple who drive across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Regarded as one of the first films of the New Hollywood era, it broke many taboos and was popular with the younger generation at the time. Its success motivated other filmmakers to be more forward about presenting sex and violence in their films.

THE GRADUATE, directed by Mike Nichols
The film tells the story of Ben Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then falls in love with her daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross). A landmark film with a great soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, directed by Stanley Kubrick
Science fiction epic that set a new standard for special effects in films to come. This film deals with the themes of evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and alien life. It's also notable for its scientific realism, ambiguous and often surreal imagery, sound in place of traditional narrative techniques, and minimal use of dialogue.

EASY RIDER, directed by Dennis Hopper
An American road movie about two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South. It stars Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson, who was nominated for his first Oscar for this film. Known as an important counterculture film, this movie explores the societal landscape, issues, and tensions in the United States during the 1960s, such as the rise and fall of the hippie movement, drug use, and communal lifestyle.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION, directed by William Friedkin
A crime film that tells the story of two New York City policemen, played by Roy Scheider and one of my favorite actors, Gene Hackman. The policemen are trying to intercept a heroin shipment coming in from France. Based on actual events, this film is often cited as containing one of the greatest car chase sequences in movie history.

THE GODFATHER, directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Epic crime masterpiece that spans ten years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the fictional Italian-American Corleone family, headed up by Marlon Brando's character and later Al Pacino's character. It is ranked by the AFI as the second greatest film in American cinematic history behind Citizen Kane and is a true classic.

SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, directed by Ingmar Bergman
Bergman continued his successes from previous decades with this Swedish miniseries that was later released as a film. It follows the relationship between Marianne and Johan, and was personally an interesting study for me as I dealt with the disintegration of my own parents' marriage.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, directed by Mel Brooks
Aside from Airplane! and Monty Python & the Holy Grail, this is one of my favorite comedies of all time. It parodies the classical horror genre, in particular the various Frankenstein films made during the 1930s and 1940s.

THE CONVERSATION, directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Hackman stars as a surveillance expert who becomes entangled in a case of murder. Great film that makes statements about privacy and personal responsibility.

JAWS, directed by Steven Spielberg
Spielberg's first big hit about a police chief, a marine biologist, and a shark hunter who take on a killer great white that terrorizes the beaches of Amity. This is often regarded as the father of the summer blockbuster movies (The Omen and Star Wars followed suit a few years later).

ROCKY, directed by John G. Avilsen
Sylvestor Stallone's breakthrough film about a club fighter and debt collector who gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to fight the world heavyweight boxing champion. This film and its sequels were watched many times by my family, especially during my junior high and high school years.

TAXI DRIVER, directed by Martin Scorsese
Scorsese's biggest triumph before making Raging Bull and GoodFellas about a lonely, depressed Vietnam veteran who is now a cab driver descending into the violence and moral filth he claims to abhor.

Other great films from this period include: In the Heat of the Night, Night of the Living Dead, Five Easy Pieces, Woodstock, The Last Picture Show, A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Harry, Last Tango In Paris, Harold & Maude, The Exorcist, Day For Night, American Graffiti, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Night Moves, and Sybil.