Movies List - working list

1920s
Safety Last! (1923, USA, Silent)
Ben-Hur (1925, USA, Silent)
Metropolis (1927, Germany)
Sunrise (1927, USA, Silent)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, France, Silent)

1930s
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, USA)
Frankenstein (1931, USA)
M (1931, Germany)
The Public Enemy (1931, USA)
42nd Street (1933, USA)
The Invisible Man (1933, USA)
King Kong (1933, USA)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935, USA)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935, USA)
A Night at the Opera (1935, USA)
Swing Time (1936, USA)
Captain’s Courageous (1937, USA)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, USA)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, USA)
Bringing Up Baby (1938, USA)
Pygmalion (1938, UK)
Gone with the Wind (1939, USA)
Gunga Din (1939, USA)
The Wizard of Oz (1939, USA)

1940s
Fantasia (1940, USA)
The Maltese Falcon (1941, USA)
To Be or Not to Be (1942, USA)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, USA)
Casablanca (1943, USA)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943, USA)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, USA)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947, USA)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, USA)
On the Town (1949, USA)
The Third Man (1949, USA/UK)
White Heat (1949, USA)

1950s
All About Eve (1950, USA)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950, USA)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, USA)
A Place in the Sun (1951, USA)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952, USA)
From Here to Eternity (1953, USA)
On the Waterfront (1954, USA)
Night of the Hunter (1955, USA)
Rebel without a Cause (1955, USA)
Giant (1956, USA)
12 Angry Men (1957, USA)
The Defiant Ones (1958, USA)
Touch of Evil (1958, USA)
Ben-Hur (1959, USA)

1960s
The Magnificent Seven (1960, USA)
Hatari! (1961, USA)
Judgment at Nuremburg (1961, USA)
Divorce – Italian Style (1962, Italy)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, USA)
Federico Fellini's 8 ½ (1963, Italy)
From Russia with Love (1963)
The Great Escape (1963, USA)
Goldfinger (1964)
Mary Poppins (1964, USA)
Cat Ballou (1965, USA)
The Shop on Main Street (1965, Czechoslovakia)
The Sound of Music (1965, USA)
The Train (1965, USA)
Death of a Bureaucrat (1966, Cuba)
The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming (1966, USA)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, USA)
The Battle of Algiers (1968, Italy)
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968, Cuba)
Oliver! (1968, USA/UK)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, USA)

1970s
Patton (1970, USA)
Fiddler on the Roof (1971, USA)
The French Connection (1971, USA)
Chinatown (1974, USA)
The Conversation (1974, USA)
Young Frankenstein (1974, USA)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975, USA)
All the President’s Men (1976, USA)
Network (1976, USA)
Seven Beauties (1976, Italy)
Apocalypse Now (1979/2001 “Redux Version”, USA)

1980s
The Elephant Man (1980, USA/UK)
Gallipoli (1981, Australia)
Reds (1981, USA)
Gandhi (1982, UK)
Amadeus (1984, USA)
The Killing Fields (1984, UK)
The Official Story (1985, Argentina)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985, USA)
A Room with a View (1986, UK)
The Mission (1986, UK)
Au Revoir Les Enfants (Goodbye, Children) (1987, France)
The Princess Bride (1987, USA)
Wings of Desire (1987, Germany)
Cinema Paradiso (1988, Italy)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988, USA)
Field of Dreams (1989, USA)

1990s
Awakenings (1990, USA)
Dances with Wolves (1990, USA)
The Fugitive (1993, USA)
Ed Wood (1994, USA)
Forrest Gump (1994, USA)
Quiz Show (1994, USA)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994, USA)
Babe (1995, Australia)
Braveheart (1995, USA)
Dead Man Walking (1995, USA)
Sense and Sensibility (1995, UK)
The Apostle (1997, USA)
Central Station (1998, Brazil)
Life is Beautiful (1998, Italy)
Shakespeare in Love (1998, USA)
All About My Mother (1999, Spain)
The Sixth Sense (1999, USA)

2000s
Cast Away (2000, USA)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Hong Kong)
Amélie (2001, France)
A Beautiful Mind (2001, USA)
Hero (2002, Hong Kong)
The Pianist (2002, France/Poland/Germany/UK)
Talk to Her (2002, Spain)
City of God (2003, Brazil)
Elf (2003, USA)
Good Bye, Lenin! (2003, Germany)
The Last Samurai (2003, USA)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003, USA)
Les Choristes (The Chorus) (2004, France/Switzerland/Germany)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004, USA/Germany/UK/Argentina/Chile/Peru/France)
The Passion of the Christ (2004, USA)
The Sea Inside (2004, Spain/France/Italy)
Good Night, and Good Luck (2005, USA)
Kung Fu Hustle (2005, Hong Kong)
North Country (2005, USA)
Babel (2006, USA)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico)
Atonement (2007, USA)
Juno (2007, USA)
No Country for Old Men (2007, USA)

DIRECTORS
INGMAR BERGMAN
The Seventh Seal (1957, Sweden)
Wild Strawberries (1959, Sweden)
The Virgin Spring (1960, Sweden)
Through a Glass Darkly (1961, Sweden)
Fanny and Alexander (1983, Sweden)

FRANK CAPRA
It Happened One Night (1934, USA)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936, USA)
You Can’t Take It with You (1938, USA)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, USA)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, USA)

CHARLIE CHAPLIN
The Kid (1921, USA, Silent)
The Gold Rush (1925/1942 re-released, USA, Silent)
The Circus (1928, USA, Silent)
City Lights (1931, USA, Silent)
Modern Times (1936, USA, Silent)
The Great Dictator (1940, USA)

CLINT EASTWOOD
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, USA)
Unforgiven (1992, USA)
Mystic River (2003, USA)
Million Dollar Baby (2004, USA)
Flags of Our Fathers (2006, USA)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006, USA/Japan)

JOHN FORD
Stagecoach (1939, USA)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, USA)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
My Darling Clementine (1946, USA)
The Quiet Man (1952, USA)
The Searchers (1956, USA)

ALFRED HITCHCOCK
Foreign Correspondent (1940, USA)
Notorious (1946, USA)
Rope (1948, USA)
Strangers on a Train (1951, USA)
Rear Window (1954, USA)
Vertigo (1958, USA)
North by Northwest (1959, USA)
Psycho (1960, USA)
The Birds (1963, USA)

STANLEY KUBRICK
Paths of Glory (1957, USA)
Spartacus (1960, USA)
Lolita (1962, USA)
Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, USA)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, USA)

AKIRA KUROSAWA
Rashomon (1951, Japan)
Seven Samurai (1954, Japan)
Throne of Blood (1957, Japan)
The Hidden Fortress (1958, Japan)
Yojimbo (1961, Japan)
Kagemusha (1980, Japan)
Ran (1985, Japan)

DAVID LEAN
Brief Encounter (1946, UK)
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, USA/UK)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962, USA/UK)
Doctor Zhivago (1965, USA/UK)
A Passage to India (1984, USA)

MARTIN SCORSESE
Mean Streets (1973, USA)
Taxi Driver (1976, USA)
Raging Bull (1980, USA)
Goodfellas (1990, USA)
Gangs of New York (2002, USA)
The Aviator (2004, USA)
The Departed (2006, USA)

RIDLEY SCOTT
Alien (1979, USA)
Blade Runner (1982, USA)
Gladiator (2000, USA)
Black Hawk Down (2001, USA)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005, USA)

STEVEN SPIELBERG
Jaws (1975, USA)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, USA)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Color Purple (1986, USA)
Schindler's List (1993, USA)
Amistad (1997, USA)
Saving Private Ryan (1998, USA)
Minority Report (2002)
Munich (2005, USA)

BILLY WILDER
Double Indemnity (1944, USA)
The Lost Weekend (1945, USA)
Sunset Boulevard (1950, USA)
Stalag 17 (1953, USA)
Sabrina (1954, USA)
The Seven Year Itch (1955, USA)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957, USA)
Some Like It Hot (1959, USA)

SERIES
The Godfather Trilogy (1972-90, USA)
Indiana Jones Series (1981-2007, USA)
Jurassic Park Series (1993-2001, USA)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-03, New Zealand)
Rocky Series (1976-2006)
The Samurai Trilogy (1954-56)
Star Wars Series (1977-2005, USA)

ANIMATION
Paprika (2007, Japan)
The Prince of Egypt (1998, USA)
The Triplets of Belleville (2003, France/Belgium/Canada/UK)

ANIMATION STUDIOS
DISNEY
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937, USA)
The Jungle Book (1967, USA)
The Lion King (1995, USA)

DISNEY-PIXAR
Toy Story (1995, USA)
A Bugs Life (1998, USA)
Toy Story 2 (1999, USA)
Monsters Inc. (2001, USA)
Finding Nemo (2003, USA)
The Incredibles (2004, USA)
Cars (2006, USA)
Ratatouille (2007, USA)

STUDIO GHIBLI
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984, Japan)
Castle in the Sky (1986, Japan)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988, Japan)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Japan)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989, Japan)
Porco Rosso (1992, Japan)
Pom Poko (1994, Japan)
Whisper of the Heart (1995, Japan)
Princess Mononokee (1997, Japan)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
Spirited Away (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

DOCUMENTARIES
Winged Migration (2002, France/Italy/Germany/Spain/Switzerland)
Born into Brothels (2004, India/USA)

THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965, Czechoslovakia)

The Shop on Main Street (1965, Czechoslovakia, Not Rated)

Directed by Ján Kadár; Starring Jozef Króner and Ida Kaminska

Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film (1965); Nominations: Best Actress (Kaminska)

THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET reminds me of the 1998 film Life is Beautiful. It is sweet, humorous, and emotionally spiritual. And like Life, it continues to haunt the mind long after the final flicker of the screen. So why should you bother with this 1965 Czechoslovakian film? Other than being a great movie, it offers some observations about our present-day life...

Set in a small WWII Slovakian town during the rising influence of the fascist prejudices, our story revolves around the slightly comical, yet compassionate relationship between two unlikely people. Tono (Jozef Króner) is an easy-going carpenter, a hero to his canine friend who tags along and bum in the eyes of his nagging wife. His hated fascist leader brother-in-law comes for a surprise dinner and Tono finds that he is to become a shop owner. Setting out to occupy “his” new shop, he finds that the current owner is a near-deaf elderly Jewess named Rosalie (Ida Kaminska). He cannot bring himself to throw the woman out (and she can’t really understand him anyways), so he “takes” a job as her assistant in the poor button store, in order to both shield her from the horror of losing her shop and the prejudices occurring on the outside of the small store, as well as keeping a front for his wife and the regime. An awkward relationship ensues between the two, one that is filled with humor and compassion. Soon, however, the momentum of the outside movement builds and the Jewish people of the community are assembled together for the deportations to the concentration camps. Rosalie, somehow, is overlooked, forcing Tono against the wall of his conscience: should he force the sweet old woman into the fascist’s hands or risk his life to save hers? The results are staggering and realistic.

The question is, as posed of every film, what makes it worth the time to watch?

For The Shop on Main Street, it’s an easy smorgasbord of answers to choose from. From a technical standpoint, the film excels in all departments: the music effectively uses strings (annoyingly at times, which help propel the mounting tension); the black-and-white photography has nice movement and close-ups without many unneeded “60’s zooms” (which are those awkward zoom-ins or zoom-outs that filter several films in the 60’s and 70’s that, for some reason, really grate on my nerve endings); film editing and direction feels very focused and well paced; and the performances, led by instruments Króner and Kaminska, lend the vital key to this successful film. On a more “emotional” side, Shop equally excels in bringing a factual feel to the fictitious story. It’s a Schindler’s List (which is an essential film for viewing for anyone, period) story, slightly, though this is one poor and unsure man contemplating saving the life of another with different results. It’s the mind process of Tono that brings out the real issue of integrity – and it’s certainly quite easy to relate with him. He wishes to progress in life without any of the difficult work involved yet doesn’t want to see this unknowing, deaf woman to suffer the extreme persecution of death. After all, he exerts, he’s a good guy and doesn’t want to see anyone hurt. While the entire film is both entertaining and thought-provoking, it’s this last “act” of his struggle that really places the importance of the film (and I’ll have to reveal some important plot points – READ: spoilers – in order to examine more fully).

One scene particularly sticks in my mind above many others. Tono, who is a little weak for the drink, becomes drunk while trying to “save” his new friend. In his drunkness, he becomes enraged viewing the assembling of the Jews for the deportations outside and violently begins shouting at the crowd. Seeing them unresponsive, he gains confidence and yells all the more. The thing he doesn’t seem to realize is that he is completely unnoticed by the Nazi’s outside the glass barrier and he is silent in voicing his objections.And it made me wonder about the people in that era during the Holocaust. I won’t make any assumptions, but I’m curious what thoughts and emotions were going through many minds as they saw many of their friends, acquaintances, and fellow WWI comrades they fought alongside being rounded up for the ghettos and camps. Were parts of Europe showing calmness in demeanor while inwardly screaming at the top of their lungs? Did they really agree with destroying a people group? These, who were so “civilized” and “scientifically advanced”? I don’t know. It just seems so incomprehensible that an entire nation or sections of Europe could condone such atrocities. And know that there were many of those that helped. Maybe it was fear instead of hatred. And it’s easy to point our finger but our nation, while not killing off a group, has its fare share of prejudices with African-Americans (civil rights) and the Japanese (WWI “Japs”) as well as other misguided stereotyping.

Something that stuck me as interesting – and this is purely an assumption – was the relationship between Tono and Rosalie. It seems as though the lazy carpenter falls in love, to a degree, with the hearing-impaired woman. This is alluded to in a dream that Tono has where the two of them, elegantly dressed, ride through the town with Tono as the husband of Rosalie. He wakes to hear the gathering of the people outside and his difficult decision reaches its peak of tension. In fear, he drastically changes his mind and nearly forces the aged Jewess out into the street as it is finally somewhat apparent to Rosalie what is going on. In a moment of repentance, he recoils. His brother-in-law, however, begins to approach the store and, in desperation, he shoves Rosalie into a closet. The leader doesn’t enter, to the elation of Tono; however, in the rush to hide the woman, he actually destroys what he meant to save. You see, the poor woman landed on a piece of furniture which ended her life. Utterly destroyed, he joins her. And here is the really beautiful part (and don’t get me wrong, I don’t approve or see beauty in suicide): the doors of the closed shop vibrantly open to a blinding light and the odd couple slowly dance into the distance across the town as the local band strikes up a tune. It’s interesting because he could have easily gone back to his wife and had a business with no ill thought by the Nazi party whatsoever – in fact, they would have probably given him an actual semi-thriving business to tend to. But in his remorse, he decided to join her. And, maybe it’s not love, per se, that he found, but a certain peace or purpose in being with Rosalie. This shouldn’t replace a relationship with Christ but it is encouraging to see an everyday man make an effort to do what is right by saving the life of another.

The Shop on Main Street, directed by Ján Kadár, was the first Czechoslovakian film to be nominated for or to win the Best Foreign Film Academy Award (1965) and received Best Actress nomination (1966) for the warm portrayal by Ida Kaminska. It set off a string of subsequent successes for Czechoslovakia including three continuous trips to Oscar with Foreign Film nominations as well as the “golden age” of Czechoslovakian cinema.

The movie can be declared an important film in a historical context for the effect that it had within its country of origin, but possibly more significant, it can encourage us to always do what is right regardless of the consequences. Other excellent films on the Holocaust (and there are many) include the already mentioned Spielberg masterpiece Schindler’s List (1993) and Italy’s Life is Beautiful (1998).

To read a reflection from Shop’s director Ján Kadár, visit http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=130&eid=202&section=essay. It’s much better than I could write about it, especially coming from the director himself.