Movies to Change the World

These are directors whose mission goes beyond mere entertainment. Not that many of the films talked about already don't do that, but this gives us that international focus. Directors at the forefront include both household names (to cinema buffs) and some that westerners don't know much about. We have Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Marethe von Trotta, Pasolini, Bertolucci, Ken Russell, Nicholas Roeg, Martin Scorsese, Peter Weir, as well as a host of Japanese and African filmmakers. I am experiencing many of these for the first time, so this is a learning experience. Many of these films are hard to come by, but I know where some of my reading will go.

Wim Wenders and Rainer Fassbinder wanted to bring German cinema back, and had big personalities. Fassbinder was even to film himself starkly naked, and to push "Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner" to new levels. (In real life, he was an abuser of women and was not afraid to express this in public.) Fassbinder took "All That Heaven Allows" and made "Fear Eats the Soul" as well as taking "All About Eve" and making "Bitter Tears". Wenders matched that with "Alice in the Cities" and we also got Werner Herzog, the most important landscape director since John Ford.

In Italy, Pier Paolo Pasolini fought Italian commercialism and brought out sexuality with "Arabian Nights". Bernardo Bertolucci, a student of Pasolini, was (according to Cousins) the greatest director of his time. "The Conformist" was a masterpiece, and influenced Coppola and Scorsese.

Ken Russell was Britain's answer to Fellini with "Women in Love", and Nicolas Roeg lead Australian film with "Walkabout", although Peter Weir may be more well-known to the mainstream today.

And then, the greatest film of the 1970s: "Holy Mountain". This segment of the documentary really touches on everything good about the 1970s, and therefore is one of the better segments.