An unrecognisable John Hurt stars as the tragically-deformed Joseph Merrick in David Lynch’s “The Elephant Man”.
In the new reality that accompanied the Coronavirus pandemic our health, both physical and mental, became infinitely more important to us all. Whilst governments enacted laws to protect our physical health, we were left to tend to our own mental wellbeing.
The main challenge was to how best fill the void left by no work, no study and little socialising. I, like most, turned to the much-maligned but always cherished television. Thankfully in the age of connectivity, the TV is so much more than just a handful of channels. Netflix, Stan and various others platforms have given us access to a world other than the news and reality shows.
It feels as though a million movies are orbiting our homes just waiting to be pressed into action, and with time on my hands, I’ve been happy to wave plenty of them in for landing. I adore losing myself in a great motion picture, and whilst I can’t say I never miss a major release, I am sure I’ve clocked up plenty of “popcorn” miles during my 55 years.
Movie greatness is as subjective as it gets, but I am always happing to be pointed in the right direction by a movie literate tipster.
With that in mind, I submit my 50 all-time favourite films. I don’t suggest these are the 50 greatest movies ever made, but I would be delighted if my compilation prompted you to see a pic or two you hadn’t previously considered.
The list will appear in this column in five instalments, so without further ado, I submit part one, my all-time favourite films, numbers 50 to 41.
50 – TRADING PLACES
1983, Directed by John Landis
16th Time Out 100 Greatest Comedy Movies of all Time
“Saturday Night Live” alumni Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy team up in a comedy that essentially examines the first question of psychology, nature or nurture. The appeal may have been catching Murphy at the height of his comedic powers or Dan Ackyroyd’s best work sans John Belushi, though my 18-year-old self back in 1983 would have told you that Jamie Lee Curtis and her bathroom scenes played their part.
49 – IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES
1976, Directed by Nagima Oshima
Banned in Australia until 2000, this French/Japanese co-production tells the true story of Sade Abe, a former prostitute turned hotel worker in pre-war Japan. Abe, who has a love affair with the husband of the hotel owner where she is employed, becomes consumed by love for her lover. The affair is confrontingly physical and builds to a shocking denouement that engrossed a nation. More infamous than famous, thanks to graphically explicit sex scenes that many viewed as little more than hard-core pornography, “In The Realm Of The Senses” is actually much more than that, and a treasure for anyone intrigued by cultures vastly different to their own.
48 – AMERICAN PSYCHO
2000, Directed by Mary Harron
435th – Empire Magazine, 500 Greatest Movies of All-Time
Many thought a screen adaptation of Brent Ellis Easton’s best-selling slasher, “American Psycho”, would have been undoable due to the unprecedented violence and sadistic evil contained in the novel. Director Mary Harron performed a miracle by not only making the movie but by making it a classic. She mined the darkest of dark comedy from a book that mercilessly lampooned ‘80’s American uber-excess, and used iconic music from the decade to serenade the on-screen slaughter. Her cause was also helped immeasurably by an Academy Award-worthy performance from lead actor Christian Bale, playing label-obsessed maniac, Patrick Bateman.
47 – SLING BLADE
1996 – Directed by Billy Bob Thornton
422nd IMDB – 500 Greatest Ever Movies
Billy Bob Thornton went from an industry darling to worldwide superstar on the back of directing and starring in this heaving tale of murder set in small town Arkansas. “Sling Blade” tells the story of criminally insane murderer Karl Childers, who is released back into the same community that he lived in when he murdered his mother and her lover, with, you guessed it, a sling blade. A bit cheesy at times, nails-in-the armrest tense at others, “Sling Blade” is at its best when Karl is giving us a quotable quote such as: “Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser Blade”. I guess you’ll just have to see the movie if you don’t think that was much of a quote!
46 – THE KING OF COMEDY
1982 – Directed by Martin Scorsese
87th – Empire Magazine, 500 Greatest Movies of All-Time
This black comedy was Martin Scorsese’s fifth collaboration with Robert De Niro, and whilst it may not be what you would expect from the pair, it is nonetheless a masterpiece. A cautionary tale about fame and hero-worship, in which De Niro stars alongside Jerry Lewis as a deluded wannabe late night TV host called Rupert Pupkin. Part of the movie’s appeal is how far Lewis and DeNiro are from their on-screen wheelhouse and how well they handle that. Despite the star power of the two male leads, the movie may have been stolen from under their noses by that under-used actress Sandra Bernhard.
45 – RESERVOIR DOGS
1992 – Directed by Quentin Tarantino
97th – Empire Magazine, 500 Greatest Movies of All-Time
This was Tarantino’s full-length directorial debut and took him from “who” to “wow” quicker than any Hollywood director in living memory. “Reservoir Dogs” is no more than a robbery gone wrong. It’s not allegorical, nor is it non-linear, it’s just six men with six colours for aliases painting the screen red for 99 minutes. Tarantino’s emergence from the sidelines made such an impact because it was as cool as it was cruel. He had us barracking for the bad guy just because of the suit he was wearing and the music he was listening to. If you like the idea of a great bullet-riddled cast dying to a genius soundtrack, then Reservoir Dogs is the next movie you see.
44 – LET IT RIDE
1989 – Directed by Joe Pytka
OK, let’s make something crystal clear. If you are NOT a gambler who has spent way too much time at the track or in a TAB, “Let it Ride” would not make your top 1000 movies, let alone your top 50. This Richard Dreyfuss comedy speaks the language of the mug punter and a life that is an endless cycle of dreaming big, betting, losing, and scrounging up money to do it all again. “Let it Ride” works best for people who know their way around a form-guide. The racecourse vernacular is familiar, the stories are relatable, and best of all, the characters that inhabit Dreyfuss’ world could have been plucked from my, oops, I mean their lives.
43 – FREAKS
1932 – Directed by Tod Browning
448th, IMDB – 500 Greatest Movies Ever
The motion picture “Freaks” was an attempt by director Tod Browning to outstrip the success he enjoyed a year earlier as director of “Dracula”. He believed the only way to ratchet up the horror was to take his subject matter from the real world and not from legend or the pages of a story book. So it was that Browning turned to the murky world of the circus sideshow alley. There he found not only the inspiration for his movie but also the majority of its cast. Individuals whose appearance was so different to the norm that money could be charged just to see them. In 1932, such people were thought to be freaks of nature, hence the title of the movie. The movie “Freaks” was immediately seen as little more than an extension of sideshow alley, and Browning was accused of exploitation. Your moral compass may direct you away from this movie, but it’s on record that all of those who were asked to take part cherished the experience. “Freaks” is almost 90 years old. Visually, aurally, and morally, it speaks to that fact with every passing reel, but to consign it to the waste-basket because we see ourselves as having evolved beyond being party to such a film would be as profligate as it would be delusional.
42 – ED WOOD
1994 – Directed by Tim Burton
193rd – Empire Magazine – 500 Greatest Movies of All-Time
Where there is Tim Burton you will invariably find Johnny Depp, and personally that has me running the other way. That is unless the film in question is “Ed Wood”. Burton’s movie provides an excellent depiction of Ed Wood’s life, but it is the subject matter that makes the film a must see for movie nuts and industry insiders. Ed Wood was very much a real person who came to notice for directing some of the worst movies ever to come out of Hollywood. He was a relative nobody during his life, but in death has become a much-loved figure in the industry of which he so desperately wanted to be a respected part. So how does a crappy movie-maker become feted? Watch the movie “Ed Wood” and you’ll get your answer, and I’m betting become a fan as well. By the way, this movie contains a true cinematic gem. It is Martin Landau’s portrayal of Bela Lugosi, who had become a close friend of Wood’s in his final years and actually appeared in his films.
41 – THE ELEPHANT MAN
1980, Directed by David Lynch
335th – IMDB, 500 Greatest Movies Ever
Director David Lynch is rightly considered a genius, one of the very few who creates film genres rather than becoming a part of them. Such was not the case with “The Elephant Man”, in which Lynch sensitively and faithfully chronicles the tragic life of Joseph Merrick, a sideshow attraction that had such horrendous deformities he became known throughout Europe as the “Elephant Man”. Shot in black and white to best portray the era, “The Elephant Man” feels so honest that it has you wishing you could go back in time, save poor Joseph from his wretched life, then give his tormentors a good going over. John Hurt, wearing make-up that took several hours each day to apply, is unrecognisable in the lead role. He researched the part thoroughly, using medical journals and newspaper articles from the period to best understand how Merrick’s afflictions affected his speech and movement. Hurt was so convincing, that the “Elephant Man” the world is familiar with today is in fact not Joseph Merrick, but Hurt’s on-screen portrayal of him.
COMING SOON: Mark Fine selects Nos. 40-31 in his Top 50
