The Great Movies III

The difference between the two films is that Sanjuro is a comedy in which ancient samurai traditions are exposed as ludicrous by the pragmatic hero, while Yojimbo is more subversive: the samurai were famed for their unyielding loyalty to their employers, but Sanjuro, finding himself unemployed because of the collapse of the feudal system, becomes a modern man and is able to manipulate both sides because they persist in thinking he will be faithful to those who pay him.

There is a moment at the end when old and new hang in the balance. The wounded Sanjuro no longer has his sword, but we have seen him practicing with a knife-skewering a bit of paper as it flutters around a room. He faces Unosuke, the gunman. Without revealing precisely what happens between them, let me ask you to consider the moment when Unosuke aims his pistol at Sanjuro. It may be loaded, it may not be. Sanjuro cannot be absolutely sure. He is free to move away or to disarm Unosuke, but instead he sits perfectly motionless, prepared to accept whatever comes. This, it strikes me, is the act of a samurai aware that his time has passed and accepting with perfect equanimity whatever the new age has to offer.

zoor: A Space Odyssey

The 40o Blows

81/2

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

All About Eve

The Apartment

Apocalypse Now

The Apu Trilogy

Battleship Potemkin

Beauty and the Beast

Belle de Jour

The Bicycle Thief

The Big Sleep

Blowup

Body Heat

Bonnie and Clyde

Bride of Frankenstein

Broken Blossoms

Casablanca

Chinatown

Citizen Cane

City Lights

Days of Heaven

The Decalogue

Detour

Do the Right Thing

Double Indemnity

Dracula

Dr. Strangelove

Duck Soup

E.T.

The Exterminating Angel

Fargo

Floating Weeds

Gates of Heaven

The General

The Godfather

Gone with the Wind

Grand Illusion

Greed

A Hard Day's Night

Hoop Dreams

Ikiru

It's a Wonderful Life

JFK

La Dolce Vita

The Lady Eve

Last Year at Marienbad

L'Atalante

L'Avventura

Lawrence of Arabia

Le Samourai

M

The Maltese Falcon

Manhattan

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Metropolis

Mr. Hulot's Holiday

My Darling Clementine

My Life to Live

Nashville

Network

The Night of the Hunter

Nosferatu

Notorious

On the Waterfront

Pandora's Box

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Peeping Tom

Persona

Pickpocket

Pinocchio

Psycho

Pulp Fiction

Raging Bull

Red River

Schindler's List

The Seven Samurai

The Seventh Seal

The Shawshank Redemption

The Silence of the Lambs

Singin' in the Rain

Some Like It Hot

Star Wars

Sunset Blvd.

Sweet Smell of Success

Swing Time

Taxi Driver

The Third Man

Trouble in Paradise

Un Chien Andalou

The "Up" Documentaries

Vertigo

The Wild Bunch

Wings of Desire

The Wizard of Oz

Woman in the Dunes

A Woman Under the Influence

Written on the Wind

12 Angry Men

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Alien

Amadeus

Amarcord

Annie Hall

An Hasard, Balthazar

The Bank Dick

Beat the Devil

Being There

The Big Heat

The Birth of a Nation

The Blue Kite

Bob le Flambeur

Breathless

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Buster Keaton

Children of Paradise

A Christmas Story

The Color Purple

The Conversation

Cries and Whispers

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Don't Look Now

The Earrings of Madame de ...

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fireman's Ball

Five Easy Pieces

Goldfinger

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

GoodFellas

The Gospel According to Matthew

The Grapes of Wrath

Grave of the Fireflies

Great Expectations

House of Games

The Hustler

In Cold Blood

jaws

Jules and Jim

Kieslowski's'Ihree Colors Trilogy

Kind Hearts and Coronets

King Kong

The Last Laugh

Laura

Leaving Las Vegas

Le Boucher

The Leopard

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Manchurian Candidate

The Man Who Laughs

Mean Streets

Mon Oncle

Moonstruck

The Music Room

My Dinner with Andre

My Neighbor Totoro

Nights of Cabiria

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Orpheus

Paris, Texas

Patton

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

The Producers

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raise the Red Lantern

Ran

Rashomon

Rear Window

Rififi

The Right Stuff

Romeo and Juliette

The Rules of the Game

Saturday Night Fever

Say Anything

Scarface

The Searchers

Shane

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Solaris

Strangers on a Train

Stroszek

A Sunday in the Country

Sunrise

A Tale of Winter

"The "Thin Man

This Is Spinal Tap

Tokyo Story

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

Touch of Evil

'Me Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Ugetsu

Umberto D

Unforgiven

Victim

Walkabout

West Side Story

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Table of Contents

Foreword by David Bordwell

Introduction

Women

Ace in the Hole

Adaptation

After Dark, My Sweet

After Hours ...............................................19

The Age of Innocence

Army of Shadows

Atlantic City

An Revoir les Enfants

Babel

The Band Wagon

Baraka

The Battle of Algiers

Bergman's Trilogy is Through a Glass Darkly

Bergman's Trilogy z: Winter Light 6o

Bergman's Trilogy 3: The Silence

The Best Years of Our Lives

The Big Red One

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Cabiria ...................................................8o

Cat People

Chimes at Midnight

Chop Shop

Chuck Jones: Three Cartoons

Cool Hand Luke

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crumb ..................................................109

Dark City

The Dead

Diva

Dog Day Afternoon

The Double Life of Veronique

Easy Rider

El Norte

ElTopo

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser