The1970swas a special decade forinternationalmovies as many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers released their all-time masterpieces. Visionary directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Chantal Akerman were changing the world with their impactful stories and groundbreaking images, just like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert Altman were shaping the film scene in the United States.
With the Cold War keeping every nation in an incessant state of alarm, themes such as the evil of war, the austerity of battlefields, the rise of nationalism, and lovers set apart were recurring elements in the 70s' international scene. Here’s the best international movie of every year in the decade.
1970: Lovefilm
Mentioned by Mike Mills as a huge source of inspiration, perLetterboxd,Lovefilmis an obscure masterpiece from the 70s by one of the most notorious filmmakers from Eastern Europe. István Szabó crafts a unique mosaic of memories and daydreams to talk about love in its most earnest form. With a subtle tone, Szabó tells the story of Jancsi and Kata, two best friends turned lovers who never seem to find the right time or the right place to conceive their romance.
The transition between past and present is conducted in a delicate way, and Szabó is never pessimistic about the act of falling out of love. InLovefilmmore than any other film, viewers will witness how time changes people and their personalities, but not the images one keeps from them. As Jancsi and Kata contemplate how their love gradually fades away through the years, the vivid memory of such a graceful feeling will remain until their final breath. In simple words,Lovefilmis a mesmerizing ode to beautiful bonds lost with time.
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1971: Death in Venice
Based on a powerful story written by renowned author Thomas Mann,Death in Veniceis a fascinating study of grief, desire, and aging set in a dilapidated Venice. Here, the ravishing Italian city known for its breathtaking sights and nonchalant atmosphere is falling apart as a mysterious sickness spreads through the streets.
As the Venice paradise gradually turns into a nearly apocalyptical landscape, viewers follow composer Gustav von Aschenbach as he becomes obsessed with a young Polish boy named Tadzio. Visconti deconstructs the idyllic youth through the eyes of a broken man.Death in Veniceis slow and intimate, but the message it passes on is like a punch in the face. If the eyes could talk,Death in Venicecould be described as an extensive dialogue between Gustav and Tadzio; few movies say so much with so few words.
1972: Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of Godsums up centuries of colonialism and oppressive expansion in the figure of Don Aguirre, the ruthless leader of an expedition for El Dorado, the golden city, a place supposedly hidden in the depths of the Peruvian jungle that harbors all sorts of riches. The deeper Aguirre’s band penetrates into the forest, the more it seems that Aguirre is leading his men to their doom, but nothing can stop the stubbornness of a man who thinks he’s god.
What Aguirre’s invigorating words hide, his eyes condemn. Herzog delivers a devastating character study at close proximity, and as the last shackles of civilization give space to the chaos of the jungle, Aguirre is fated to become the last man standing: the final witness of the world’s end, his soul reaching a point beyond salvation.
1973: The Spirit of the Beehive
The Spirit of the Beehiveexplores the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War through the eyes of an innocent child. The bloodshed, the ruins, and the misery are put in the background as viewers follow seven-year-old Ana crossing from reality into a fantasy world of her own. After watching a screening of James Whale’sFrankensteinin her village, she becomes fascinated with the secrets of death and spends her days waiting for the arrival of the monster.
What looks like the perfect scenario for a horror film turns into a delicate mediation on the loss of innocence. Ana’s fantasies blend into the harsh post-War reality, and as fugitives, deserters, and desperate peasants wander aimlessly in Spain’s devastated landscape, it’s difficult to tell who are the real ghosts.
1974: Alice in the Cities
Before the all-time classicsParis, TexasandWings of Desire, Wim Wenders released a beautiful hidden gem about unexpected bonds and the search for a place in the world:Alice in the Cities. Similar tohis best movies, Wenders subverts the expectations of a traditional road movie; characters are constantly on the move, searching for a place or someone that brings them a slight sense of belonging, yet their journey unfolds with no rush, almost in a lazy fashion.
InAlice in the Cities, a grumpy German journalist befriends the nine-year-old Alice and the two engage in an unexpected voyage. As the two struggle to find a connection to the world around them, they end up finding their true identity in one another.
1975: Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
It’s been over 40 years since its release, and it’s yet to be made a movie as daunting and provoking asSaló, or the 120 Days of Sodom. While some people insist on minimizing its content to just torture porn,Salóis political cinema in its most daring form. Based on Marquis de Sade’s scandalous unfinished book, Pasolini brings the story to the 1940s, when Italy was crushed by fascist ideals. In this context, four wealthy Italian libertines kidnap a group of teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of unimaginable acts of sexual violence and torture.
Salóbarely has any conventional plot and leaves plenty of room for viewers to interpret the real meaning behind the atrocities seen onscreen. Still, the film’s message couldn’t be clearer: it exposes how every single human act is political, and how uncontrollable wealth and power inevitably unleashes the worst of the human soul.
1976: News from Home
Chantal Akerman released a bunch of masterpieces in the 70s, includingJeanne Dielman, the film that currently tops Sight and Sound’s ten-yearly poll of the best movies of all time (viaBFI). While it keeps the experimental approach of her other movies,News from Homerepresents the most accessible best entry to Akerman’s groundbreaking filmography: of all the themes that permeated her films — sexuality, feminism, inequality — the relationship between mother and daughter stood out as the foremost subject.
InNews From Home, Akerman captures delicate images of New York’s metropolitan landscape as letters from Akerman’s mother back in Belgium are read in the background. Quite often, the words are drowned out by the constant urban noise of the city, and “home” gradually loses its meaning. Highly personal but easy to relate to,News From Homealso delivers one of the most beautiful final shots in film history.
1977: The Ascent
Larisa Shepitko’s premature death at the age of 41 deprived audiences of one of the most promising filmmakers of her time, andThe Ascentproves that by offering one of the most beautiful, yet deeply devastating war stories of all time. The film is set in Nazi-occupied Belarus, an inhospitable land of interminable white. The unbearable cold is the least of the problems for two Soviet partisans assigned to find food for their starving band, a seemingly easy task that sends them to the depths of hell on Earth.
The Ascentbenefits from being an honest movie about war. The anti-war message is clear but never convenient. To make her statement, Sheptiko delves deep into the psyche of her characters. There are no heroes or villains. Humanity is a selfish race and each character is fighting an individual war. At the end of the day, survival is the worst of the outcomes.
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1978: Autumn Sonata
Ingmar Bergman gathers two of the most brilliant actresses of all time for the harrowing story of a depressed daughter reuniting with her estranged mother after years separated. Over the course of a night, the wounds of their turbulent relationship emerge from a limbo and reopen in a powerful face-off.
IfPersonawas about two shattered minds inevitably blending into one,Autumn Sonatais all about the need to segregate. The daughter trying to get rid of the fears imposed by her mother, and the mother trying to isolate herself from the failures she passed on to her daughter. Two flawed characters finally facing the indomitable distance between them in a long emotional note that only Bergman could play so gently.
1979: Stalker
No better film to sum up a whole decade thanStalker,Andrei Tarkovsky’s unbeatable masterpiece. Perhaps the most invigorating study of the human soul ever captured onscreen,Stalkertraces all the possible paths of a race condemned to make the same mistakes over and over again. Set in a dystopian future, the “stalker” guides two strangers, the Writer and the Artist, to the Zone, a secret place located on the outskirts of civilization that harbors secrets beyond human comprehension.
Each of the three characters in the film represents a different perspective on life. The Stalker leans on faith, the Writer on emotion, and the Professor on reason. Together they search for the Room, a place inside the zone that is said to grant any wish to those who step inside. Instead, what they find there is capable of destroying them; the knowing of the unknown. It’s up to the audience to pick the right side, or as the fantastic final shot suggests, embrace the benefit of the doubt.
