Freaks (1932)

Director: Tod Browning
Country: United States

I was just a little kid when I saw "Freaks" by happenstance on public television with my father, I was very impressed and scared at the same time for watching real "freaks" acting on the screen, especially the girls joined at the hips, "The Living Torso", "Half Boy", "Schlitzie" and some others, also I remember being upset about the main theme, which is the Cleopatra's betrayal of Hans . 

The scene in the movie that shocked my early sense of morality and ethics was the one when Hans and Cleopatra (who is not a "freak" like the rest of the circus' members are) get married, but later on, she and Hercules kiss each other in front of Hans, that was out of my league, I was so angry about it and at the same time I felt so sorry for the good-hearted Hans, who is in love with Cleopatra and is willing to eat shit from her, in order to be her husband. 

Solidarity and friendship are the main values in this amazing film, in which the freaks are so united and have a strong sense of justice and hence Cleopatra and Hercules pay the price for their heartless acts . I consider myself fortunate for having seen this historical horror masterpiece on TV as a child. 

"Freaks" stills powerful to new audiences and just imagine if they (the studios) had preserved the original ending in which Hercules gets castrated, would have been even scarier, fortunately the film got the recognition it deserves after many decades of being banned in many countries and now is a cult-classic film, also it has been homaged many times in popular culture, especially in TV shows like "South Park" and "The Simpsons". If you haven't purchased a copy of this, you gotta do it right now! (and it has great supplementals)

                               

Modern Times (1936)

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Country: United States 

This is one of the most entertaining movies ever made, Chaplin was ahead of his time, he was a genius and a real visionary who could portray the life of a factory worker in a world ruled by factories and machines, obliging him to work full time and leaving his rights, hobbies and personal life in a second or even third place, because whether he does that or he can find himself starving in the middle of the street. 

 

This could be catalogued as a "comedy" but I would say it's a satirical, dark humor film that portrays exactly how capitalism has worked from the beginning: a form of slavery in exchange of a fistful of coins for the employee, but sacks of money for the owners. 

 

The dynamics, pantomime and acting performed by Chaplin are absolutely unbelievable, also the production design was great, the factory has a futuristic look that stills looking fresh after 80 years!, that's very difficult to achieve even for films released only 20 years ago, and at least but not less, this movie was a mix of silent and "talkie" cinema, my favorite Chaplin movie, a real classic.

                               

Marty (1955)

Director: Delbert Mann
Country: United States

Filmed on location in the Bronx, New York City, Delbert Mann's debut feature film about "Marty" portrayed by the legendary actor Ernest Borgnine, a butcher in his thirties who lives with his mother and everybody wonders when he's gonna get a woman, this is maybe the simpliest and most beautiful love story I ever seen. Betsy Blair as Clara did a terrific job also, portraying a simple, compassionate and innocent woman looking for love, just like Marty himself, faith or coincidence?

 

The film reminded me of "I Vitelloni" but in the love affairs department, two desperate souls looking for a chance to love someone, because they are tired and bored of living alone, and it hurts so much because they are getting older, and that's a strong reason to be together, but most importantly, they really want to love each other.

 

When I saw this film I felt myself so connected with it, and consoled me in many ways that just writing about it makes me feel emotional, an unforgettable and absolute New Yorker pièce de résistance.

                               

Seven Samurai (1954)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Country: Japan

I'm gonna say it plain and simple, if you haven't seen Seven Samurai, you can't call yourself a cinephile, a film buff, or whatever the hell you refer to the fact of loving and being addicted to cinema, because this one is the quintessential Kurosawa's film, and in terms of innovation, story telling and filmmaking techniques is at the top. 

 

Three hours of action, well developed characters and choreographies shot in a superb way as the result of a perfectionist filmmaker like Kurosawa, who spent many days in the editing room in order to join the puzzle . The legacy of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai can be seen in movies like John Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven" (which was the American adaptation of Seven Samurai) or in other American classics like the original Star Wars Saga and even in American pop-culture comics like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that's the impact of Seven Samurai, an inspiring and beautiful action film.

                          

Los Olvidados (1950)

Director: Luis Buñuel
Country: Mexico

I remember seeing this one for the first time on sunday at my grandmother's when I was a child, and what a brutal, realistic and powerful experience I had. Portraying the darkest side of Mexico City and its people, especially the most fragile and unprotected: the young ones, Buñuel created possibly the best Mexican movie ever. 

As a child, the main character of "El Jaibo", performed by Roberto Cobos, scared the hell out of me, he is more than a bully in the film, he's one of the most cruel young delinquent psychopaths I ever seen on the screen, along with other evil characters such as Pedro's mother "Marta" a cruel-careless mother who rejects his own child (the Mexican audience was shocked because of that fact, alleging that Mexican mothers were sweet and protective) and "Don Carmelo" the blind man who reaveals himself as a child molester . 

Despite the fact of the "realism" of the film, Buñuel made some surrealist and brilliant sequences, not to mention, the director of photography was the legendary Gabriel Figueroa. Los Olvidados is a universal classic film whose impact can be seen in many other works, for example in Mathieu Kassovitz's "La Haine", Fernando Meirelles' "Cidade de Deus" or in the films of the Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa. Buñuel not only portrayed the forgotten ones from Mexico City, but also from other places too, and stills depicting the current situation in many suburbs of the big cities around the world, including Mexico...

                                 

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948)

Director: John Huston
Country: United States 

"These burros have a long road ahead of them!"

This is a treasure I discovered thanks to Mr. William Friedkin, (and I will always be grateful to him for that), a combination between film noir and western, resulting in a simply beautiful work. "Sierra Madre" is one of the most complete films I ever seen and a magnificent adventure through Mexico with unexpected consequences. 

 

Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogard and Tim Holt did excellent performances, creating the perfect chemistry and atmosphere to build a story in which greed and corruption rules the world, or at least theirs, John Huston did a superb directorial work too, writing a great screenplay by himself, choosing the perfect actors (including his own father) and locations in Mexico and hiring one of the best composers of all time: Max Steiner, who was already famous for his work in "King Kong" (1933), "The Oklahoma Kid" (1939), "Gone With The Wind" (1939), "Casablanca" (1942), among many others. 

 

I recommend you to buy some cervezas, turn off the lights, turn up the sound and be ready to see the greatest movie ever made about greed and...burros.

                             

Le Doulos (1962)

Director: Jean Pierre-Melville
Country: France

Bleak, twisted, beautiful and intriguing, Melville's "Le Doulos" is a superb work in many departments: camera, cinematography, plot, acting and synonym of film noir, in its sub-genre of informants or as some people colloquially say, rats. 

I absolutely loved this film from the first shot, even when I'm not a big fan of Jean-Paul Belmondo, his performance here is unique, plus the cinematography is astonishing and I'm pretty sure it influenced neo-noir movies like "Blade Runner", "Blue Steel" and many more, but to be honest, I had to see it twice, 'cause it contains a very dense plot, full of intrigue and names, which can easily confuse the viewer, other than that, this is a highly recommended work.

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This Sporting Life (1963)

Director: Lindsay Anderson
Country: United Kingdom

"This Sporting Life" is a fantastic film, and it was a brutal directorial debut for Lindsay Anderson. We don't see corny dialogue nor bullshit melodrama and if you think that you saw the best actor in the world in the hands of Marlon Brando in "On The Waterfront", I challenge you to see Richard Harris in "This Sporting Life", his performance is absolutely perfect and brutal as a frustrated and lonely young man, whether in the rugby field, in the bar scenes, playing with the kids, or having a fist fight on the streets, his acting is always solid and his partner Rachel Roberts as Margaret Hammond gives us a great performance too. 

The iconic image of the film I would say is the one where in which we can see the power plant behind the rugby field, it shows us how the English working class lived after the World War Second, and how the English society recovered itself after years of bombings and fire, this is British neo-realism at its best.

                             

                                

I Vitelloni (1953)

Director: Federico Fellini 
Country: Italy

"I Vitelloni" is my all time Fellini favorite, it's the one for me and for many reasons. For instance, it starts as a comedy but it doesn't finish as such, and I think of this movie every single day of my life, no matter what I'm doing, no matter what I'm working on or who I am with, I always think about Fellini and his "I Vitelloni" 'cause in my opinion everyone has been a Vitelloni at least once in their life. 

I can see "Vitelloni" everyday on the streets, at the coffee shops, in the billiards, at the park, in the subway, no matter if they are married or not, they exist and they are out there waiting for something, waiting for an opportunity that never comes, I gotta confess that this movie moved me to tears, and I will always be thankful with the great Federico Fellini for doing this amazing piece of art, because I have been a "Vitelloni" many times in my life, but this film has helped me to heal emotional scars, 'cause in the end we all can be Moraldo if we wish to. 

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Elevator to the Gallows (1957)

Director: Louis Malle
Country: France

"Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud"  (its original title in French) brilliant and suspenseful film noir directed by the french filmmaker Louis Malle, who made one of the most impressive debuts ever, and also a masterclass of acting, cinematography, screenplay and editing. Simplicity is most powerful than a bunch of bullets and graphic bloody scenes in my opinion and I enjoyed every single frame, dialogue and sequence in the movie, since my favorite films are those from the noir-crime-heist genres.

 

I found Malle's movie very sophisticated and very well conceived, the plot is absolutely a wonderful gem, unpredictable 'til the end and able to cause you anxiety and to keep you on the edge of your seat . This is a great example of how noir gotta be made, the brutal soundtrack specially made for the ocassion by the legendary jazz genius Miles Davis (who created the music after seeing the film only once) fits perfectly with every shot, "Elevator to the Gallows" is a superb and breathless experience and if you haven't been in Paris, this is the perfect way to do it.

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On the Waterfront (1954)

Director: Elia Kazan
Country: United States

Elia Kazan's big hit, starred by Marlon Brando at his best as Terry Malloy is unbelievable, it's simply perfect, since the beggining 'til the end, it has a beautiful pace and development of the characters and every single shot and diologue is always important and entertaining. 

 

The supporting cast is awesome too, Rod Steiger made a great performance as "Charlie" (Terry's villain brother), and along with Brando built one of the most powerful and heartbreaking scenes in the history of cinema: "The Cab Scene", which is the highest point of the movie and influenced and inspired future super star actors like Al Pacino and James Gandolfini, also Lee J. Cobb did a very solid performance as "Johnny Friendly".

 

The soundtrack by Leonard Bernstein is impressive as well, and the cinematography by Boris Kaufman is a key factor with a lot of interestings and realistic shots of the faces and bodies of the longshoremen and point of view angles that allow the audience to sympathize with Terry Malloy, not to mention the cold atmosphere on the locations and the monocromatic black and white adds a very special touch. This is an unforgettable and quintessential New Yorker film. 

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Brief Encounter (1945)

Director: David Lean
Country: United Kingdom

What can I say about this David Lean's masterpiece? this was my second Lean's film and it's absolutely gorgeous, I had an unforgettable experience seeing "Lawrance of Arabia" which is the greatest film ever made, and also a life experience as I always say. Brief Encounter on the other hand, is one of the most beautiful and saddest romantic-love stories I ever seen and it made me cry in the final scenes (yes I'm a cry baby)

 

The sequence in which Laura is traveling by train and imagines herself in different places around the world with Alec, with no responsabilities nor children, and being in love and happy together is ironically really, really despondent. 

 

We can see a terrific cinematography work, with shadows and lights in the right place and the iconic moment in the film when they kiss each other in the tunnel, that image of their shadows in the middle of the night is breathless, the train station and the trains themselves take part of the story as characters without dialogue or acting, but equal in importance as the main characters themselves. 

 

I could write thousands of words about how this film is very important in my life, and the simple fact of seeing the images in my mind makes me feel a lump in my throat, a heartbreaking love story and one of my favorite films of all time.

                            
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Umberto D. (1952)

Director: Vittorio de Sica
Country: Italy

The Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica did one the best jobs in the history of world cinema without any doubt, and he did it by only hiring a non-professional actor and a simple dog to build a sad, dramatic and tragic story about an elderly pensioner who's struggling with poverty, loneliness, hopelessness and desolation in the middle of the Post-World War era in Italy. 

 

The main character, Umberto Domenico Ferrari, is in a big dilemma, whether losing his dignity and pride in favour of earning some coins as a homeless old man in the streets of Italy in order to satisfy his basic needs or facing life with a pair of empty pockets and the consequences that brings, for example, like giving up his lovely and loyal little dog named "Flike" which is his companion and the only being in Umberto's world that loves him in an unconditional way. 

 

This is an excellent work in every single aspect: story, acting, cinematography, directing, and in my opinion it contains one of the most beautiful and simpliest covers ever made, If you don't cry while seeing this movie, you certainly are not a human being.