Ryan McNeil
If you can believe this, we’re about six weeks off from the end of the year. Time flies, doesn’t it?
Don’t worry, I’m not about to jump the gun and start any sort of “Year in Review” series – there will be plenty of time for that in December. What this mid-November morning does have me thinking about more than the year in cinema, is my own year in cinema. On the subway ride to work this morning, a song came on my iPod that featured in a film that I only saw for the first time this year. It got me thinking about all of the titles that I’ve added to my vocabulary both for better and for worse in 2012.
If you’ve been following this space this year, you might have noticed one name come up repeatedly in the last ten-and-a-half months, and that name is Billy Wilder.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say 2012 was the year I “Got Into Wilder”, as the last three or four years had already made me a fan thanks to films like SOME LIKE IT HOT, THE APARTMENT, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and SUNSET BOULEVARD. What I would say, is that it was the year I went further and really dug into the man’s work. Oddly enough, this mission had humble beginnings. You see, I was given a box set of three of his films, and I didn’t have much interest in the third but watched it out of morbid curiosity. I ended up loving it and thought “I need to go further with this”. And now here I find myself, almost one year later and having seen a full third of the man’s filmography for the first time in that stretch.
Lately, I’ve been getting warm feelings of nostalgia when I hear that some of my younger readers are watching films I love dearly for the very first time. I get yanked back to that magical moment that I first encountered them, and wish I could do it all over again. Almost at the same time, I’ve been noticing more and more gaps in my repertoire: genres I’m ill-versed in, “essentials” I’ve never seen, directors I am unfamiliar with (such as Wilder). The great thing about discovering these films, is that it allows me the same joy those younger readers get with the films I’ve already seen. As they soak up SE7EN, I dig into PICKPOCKET.
The good news (or bad news if you’re a glass-half-empty sort) is that for all of us, it will seemingly never end.
Even if somehow I spent years doing nothing but watching film, I still wouldn’t catch up. Sure, it’s likely that I could get much more well-versed in a hurry, but with every title watched, it seems as though another one demands to be seen. Say you were to dig into a director’s filmography, and even manage to see all of their major films. Well then, depending on your completest tendencies, you might find yourself interested in tracking down their lesser-known works (such was the case for me this year with Kubrick’s FEAR AND DESIRE).
If you love film, that is a great thing to know – that you never will have seen everything, and that there will always be genres, countries, eras, or directors out there that someone or something will inevitably point you towards.
For me, 2012 was about being pointed towards Wilder (and happily, I still have a lot of his films to see!). Who might take up the mantle in 2013? Kurosawa? Bergman? Allen? Fellini? Carpenter?
All I know is this: I can’t wait to find out.
How have you made out this year? What are some of the films, genres, directors, or worlds of cinema you have discovered in 2012?
Brilliant post!
I do get the half-empty outlook at times, especially when everyone else seems to watch a billion films a day, but then I think if I do ever finish watching every film ever, what the hell will I do with my life?
I saw the films of Ingmar Bergman and Michael Haneke and Miranda July and Joss Whedon this year. I dedicated a month to animated films. Also I joined twitter which I think further expands my cinematic horizons since people are talking about so many wonderful films so constantly in it.
“Everybody else”??
If memory serves, your weekly comments on my ‘Days of The Week’ post would tell me that you get in your fair share! Guess that’s more of the “half-empty” coming through, eh?
I was resistant to Twitter for a long time, but you’re quite right in pointing out how much it has become a movie-watching suggestion box. There are a lot of titles I wouldn’t have discovered until much later without it.
Ryan, the big one for me this year has been Wong Kar Wai. I’d seen Chungking Express a while back, but everything changed when I caught In the Mood for Love back in March. After that, I decided to do a long marathon and try to catch pretty much everything he’s done. I watched The Days of Being Wild, Ashes of Time, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, 2046, and My Blueberry Nights over about a month of time. None were dull, and several were amazing.
Given my complete adoration for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, Wong Kar Wai is a director whose filmography I cannot wait to dig into…and yet I’m happy in the knowledge that I *have* waited this long, since I know I have pure bliss to look forward to whenever I want.
Good call!
In a very similar way to your journey with Wilder, I had it with Hitchcock. For some reason, Bergman took a little back step after first few months. At the start of the year, I did my favorite 100 list and it already had 4 Hitch on it with Notorious in top 5. So, I certainly wasn’t novice but this year a dug much deeper and still continue to.
Also, since this will be my first full year of blogging, I have kept much better record of everything as well. That’s new and should help immensely going forward.
You raise a good point – one I didn’t mention because I’d bet I already have at some point in the last five years:
Keeping up a blog is a great way to spur your viewing habits! Which Hitchcock titles did you discover this year? I’ve seen a lot of his films, but still have gaping holes in my Hitchcock vocabulary.
Oh well. Lets see. Rope – Loved It, The Birds – Freaked me more than a Horror movie, Shadow of a Doubt, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes – did not expect to like them as much as I did and Rebecca. And I do have around 8 more that I really want to watch.
You can delete my previous post as I somehow managed to paste in a rough draft of some work related stuff.
If I had to sum up the year, I would say it was the year of Hitchcock. I really started to, and continue to, delve into many Hitchcock films that I missed. I would also include Errol Morris as a close second, though his canon was far easier to catch up on.
However in regards to the “discoveries”, the biggest for me was the work of The Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger). This includes their solo films as well. Over the year I got to experience the joys of Black Narcissus, Red Shoes, Peeping Tom, and I Know Where I’m Going!
Other discoveries included:
Ozu (Late Spring)
Resnais (Last Year at Marienbend)
Abba Kiarostanmi (Certified Copy)
70’s Women in Cages Flicks and 70’s Blaxploitation (outside of the popular titles)
Heh – a lot of titles and filmmakers that I’m looking forward to digging into make up that list…namely Ozu.
Right now, I’m currently doing a mini-marathon on the films of Samuel Fuller. I have two more films to see this weekend as I made some great discoveries this year. Repulsion, Kes, the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, some Truffaut films, the films of Robert Bresson, and a few Godard films. I hope to do more for next year.
Do you have any particular filmmakers, genres, or such that you’re intending to tackle next year? Or do only losers like me think that far ahead?
I already have made a list of the filmmakers I intend to profile next year for my Auteurs series.
As for films, I’m trying to figure out what to do for 2013. I’ll let you know when I post something towards the end of December about my future plans.
Damn brilliant post.
I think this year has been good, particularly because of the “Dipping My Toes” months. I loved most of the French New Wave movies I saw, and would definitely seek them out more. Likewise with Anime films. Mind you, last year was more fruitful – that’s when I got into the more arthouse, foreign fares. This year I’ve just continued that on.
I think this year is summed out with a group of films, though:
The Dark Knight Rises – not a ‘discovery’, but kind of a discovery of why I love going to the cinemas.
Shame – Just because it was beyond amazing and it is wonderful what people can do without ratings hanging over them.
Days of Heaven – Such a beautiful, beautiful film.
Mulholland Dr – I had no idea that films could end up being that kind of good.
You’re one of the filmgoers I envy most because of the sorts of things you’re getting to experience for the first time. A few months ago, I went and revisited MULHOLLAND DRIVE and remembered how lost I was the first time I watched it (and how much I enjoyed being that lost!).
Now I’ve seen it so many times and discussed it so often that I understand pretty much all of it!
Re: DAYS OF HEAVEN – Are there any Malick films left that you haven’t seen?
The only ones I haven’t seen are The Thin Red Line and To the Wonder. I must get around to the former really soon.
Temper your expectations on TO THE WONDER, but do get your hands on a copy of THE THIN RED LINE as fast as you can.