It’s safe to say that a lot happened during the 1960s, both within the world of cinema and just in/around the world at large. Technology and general attitudes about various things were changing at a rapid pace, and this certainly affected film industries around the world,especially in the U.S., where the Hays Code – which had impacted film content for decades – wasofficially done away with in 1968.
Filmmakers outside the U.S. had already been pushing more boundaries, but Hollywood could now keep up the pace there, leading to 1969 being the year when the first – and, to date, only –X-rated film won Best Picture at the Oscars. The times,they had already been a-changin’, and 1969 was a time when those changes were truly felt, with some radical and timeless movies being released, the best of which still hold up when watched today.
10’They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’
Director: Sydney Pollack
A grim title for a grim movie,They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?isan unrelenting psychological dramaabout desperate people getting pushed to their absolute limits. It’s set during the Great Depression, and follows the contestants of a dance marathon who are all forced to compete in a series of physically and emotionally taxing acts that all play out over an extended period of time.
Naturally,They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?is supposed to be stressful and tiring to watch, which makes it undeniably effective but perhaps hard to recommend for people who aren’t entirely aware of what they’re getting into.It’s also noteworthy forearning a whopping nine Academy Award nominationswithout any of those nominations being for Best Picture… which is odd, because if a movie’s doing so many things right across the board, why wouldn’t it qualify? Maybe this movie about a competition just had too much competition that year, as the following films help demonstrate…
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
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9’It’s Tough Being a Man'
Director: Yoji Yamada
Kicking off one of themost impressively lengthy film series in history,It’s Tough Being a Manis the originalTora-Sanmovie, with its series concluding in 2019 after 50 movies (conveniently spread out over 50 years). Each film tends to follow a similar plot, established right here in the first entry,following a perpetually unlucky bachelor as he causes chaos in his family before falling for a woman who ultimately rejects him or finds someone elseby the film’s conclusion.
It’s a series where the main character does bring about his misfortune to some extent, but sometimes he doesn’t, and it’s that – plus the continued involvement of numerous side characters – that makes the whole series oddly compelling.It’s Tough Being a Manis one of the better entries in the series, and it’s pretty easy to ascertain how you’ll feel about the series as a whole from sampling this original film.
8’Easy Rider'
Director: Dennis Hopper
Easy Ridermight well be the best time capsule film of the late 1960s, summing up much of what the era was about, and especially capturing how it’s remembered, for better or worse.It’s a loose, psychedelic, and rebellious kind of film in multiple ways, not having too much by way of narrativeand instead following two bikers on a strange and eventually harrowing cross-country trip.
The other reasonEasy Rideris well-remembered is that it helped establishJack Nicholsonas an actor to keep an eye on,getting him his first of many Oscar nominations. The stars here also make an impression, becausePeter FondaandDennis Hopperdo get the majority of the screen time (with the latter pulling double duty by also directing the film).
Easy Rider
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7’The Cremator'
Director: Juraj Herz
Ranking up there as anall-time great horror movie, according to Letterboxd users(they generally know their stuff),The Crematoris certainly unnerving, but also surprisingly funny, albeit in a dark way. It’s morbid right from the start, and only gets more tense as it goes along, centering on a Czechoslovakian crematorium worker who becomes obsessed with death, which has consequences for both him and his family.
There’s a lot that can be taken and interpreted aboutThe Cremator, particularly thanks to it being set in the 1930s and addressing the rise of Nazism that occurred in the years leading up to World War II.That it can touch on serious themes and be so grim while also having an odd sense of humorjust makes it all the more impressive as a film, and it’s an undoubtedly difficult one to shake, once seen.
The Cremator
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6’Funeral Parade of Roses'
Director: Toshio Matsumoto
Anyone who has a taste for classic arthouse cinema has likely seen – or at least heard of –Funeral Parade of the Roses, which also ranks up there as one of the most significant of all Japanese New Wave films. Having a narrative in the traditional sense doesn’t seem like too much of a concern here, with the movie instead being a fragmented, disorientating, but also mesmerizing look at areas of Tokyo’s underworld during the late 1960s.
Funeral Parade of the Roseshas such a bold sense of style that it can prove surprising even when watched today, and so it’s hard to imagine how people might’ve reacted to it back in 1969. Some might come away baffled,but it’s clearly a film that wants to challenge those who watch it, like agreat many noteworthy arthouse films tend to do.
5’Midnight Cowboy'
Director: John Schlesinger
As mentioned before, there’s only ever been one X-rated movie that’s won Best Picture at the Academy Awards: 1969’sMidnight Cowboy. Admittedly, anyone watching it today won’t find much here that feels worthy of such an extreme rating, and nowadays, it’s been re-rated down to an R (and the X-rating has also been replaced with the NC-17 rating in the U.S.).
Though films that have come out since might feel more shocking, it’s safe to assume thatMidnight Cowboywould have been quite confronting for many seeing it back during the 1960s, as it’s a pretty uncompromising look at the struggles of a young male prostitute working in New York City.Its honesty and sometimes brutal realism helped pave the way for many great New Hollywood movies of the 1970s, ensuring it’s easy to look back onMidnight Cowboyas one ofthe most important films of the 1960s.
Midnight Cowboy
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4’Army of Shadows'
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Army of Shadowstakesa unique look at war, centering on a Resistance fighter during World War II, and his ceaseless quest for revenge against an informant who’s responsible for his stay in a Nazi prison camp. Tension builds as this man tries to keep track of what he wants personally and what he wants for the world, given the Resistance, as a group, has much grander aspirations.
There’s a good deal of suspense, mystery, and paranoia found inArmy of Shadows, anditfunctions surprisingly well as a spy movieon top of being a war film and a story about revenge. It aims to do quite a lot all at once, and balances all these elements extremely well, making for a slow-burn but rewarding viewing experience for anyone who doesn’t mind a thriller that takes its time.
Army of Shadows
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3’Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'
Director: George Roy Hill
Not manymovies feel perfect or close to it, but then again, not many movies areButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This was one Western released in 1969 that helped show how the genre wasn’t quite dead yet, taking a story about two outlaws on the run and turning it into a buddy film, with all the Western elements you’d expect being coupled with action, comedy, and even some undeniably bromance.
PairingPaul NewmanandRobert Redfordtogether was a wise move, because the two have incredible chemistry here as the title characters (they’d also excel as co-leads in 1973’sThe Sting).Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidhas a tremendous amount of charm and entertainment value, and will prove hard to resist for most… perhaps even those viewers who don’t ordinarily consider themselves fans of the Western genre.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Director: Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavrasis a filmmaker whospecializes in making methodical and challenging thrillers, withZbeing rightly held up as one of his best. It may well have a simple title, but it’s a film that’s anything but simple, following the fallout that occurs after a well-known activist is killed under suspicious circumstances. The official story is that it was a traffic accident, but certain people have their doubts.
Zis a paranoia-heavy movie that also feels quite dark and discomforting, becoming even more so when you consider that it wasinspired by real-life events; namely, the assassination of Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. Capturing the turmoil of the political climate in the 1960s in a way that still feels unnerving,Zis a film with a lot to say, and though such things aren’t always easy to take in, they’re nevertheless important to hear.
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1’The Wild Bunch' (1969)
Director: Sam Peckinpah
In just about any other year,Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidwould reign supreme as its greatest Western, but 1969 gave that film some tough competition in the form ofThe Wild Bunch. This isperhaps the most forward-thinking and groundbreaking film of its year, and it pushed boundarieswhile influencing others, somehow doing so by looking back on the past and telling a story about getting old.
Theoutlaws at the center ofThe Wild Bunchare all getting on in years, with the plot of the film essentially involving them collectively deciding to go out in a blaze of glory, even if it kills them. It’s a fiery,exciting, explosive, and surprisingly bloody movie, and honestly, ifThe Wild Bunchhad served as the final Western ever made – a chaotic and astounding funeral of sorts for a sometimes outdated genre – it would have been a hell of a way for such a genre to go out.
