Kurosawa’s lost masterpiece has finally come to light. Filmed in 1970 and aired on Japanese television “Song of the Horse” is his visual poem for the horse, the creature that he loved the most. Told through narration by an old man speaking with his grandson while the visual mastery of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time expands before one’s eyes. Kurosawa ordinarily avoided television work and this is the only time that he had any involvement with the small screen. A rare and beautiful ode to the most gallant member of the animal kingdom!
Tag: 1970s
The Idea of North is part filmed docudrama, part fantasy, part forerunner of music television. Based on the radio play by Glenn Gould, North’s montage of words, images and music tells a universal story of the quest for our last frontier. A young man boards a train going North. It is a real train on a scheduled run, yet also a train of mind and mythology. As the journey unfolds, he chats with a seasoned guide, and passes his time in reading, watching the rugged landscape and speculating about his fellow travelers. He encounters four of them in his imagination, sharing their memories and the challenges that transformed their lives in the North.
Loosely adapted from a short story by Andrzej Pastuszak. A film about refusal to compromise. Takes place in 1968, following the events of Polish political crisis in March of that year. The protagonist, student, Józef Moneta is trying to intervene after his friends are expelled from school. He gets expelled himself. He looses his chance for a better life, is forced to do physical labor. He tries his hand as a writer. Here he’s also expected to compromise (rewrite a piece), to which he doesn’t want to agree. His girlfriend calls it a lack of humility towards the world. Everybody around him accepts the rules of the game, settle, but not Moneta. In the end it turns out that for the younger generation, his uncompromising attitude is not enough.
Intrigued by the mysterious, primitive, human-like creature captured on film roaming the wilds of Africa, Lord Carter organises a scientific expedition to the Dark Continent to find out if there is such a thing as a human ape. There, amid ferocious beasts and blood-thirsty cannibalistic tribes, the ambitious explorers find not one but two rare specimens: undefeated Karzan, the mighty lord of the jungle, and fierce Shiran, his untamed mate. However, capturing the wild couple is easier said than done, and before long, the white invaders get what’s coming to them. Will they manage to catch savage Karzan and wild Shiran and lock them in a zoo cage?
This film celebrates the life and work of one of Cornwall’s best-loved artists, Alfred Wallis (1855-1942). We’re invited to look afresh at his paintings in light of the land and seascapes that inspired him. Reminiscences by friends and relatives are the focus rather than appraisal of his work by an authoritative art critic – aptly enough for an artist who worked outside the ‘establishment’.
The rugged world of those who built the Alaskan pipeline provides the backdrop for this drama featuring the non-singing film debut of soul-singer Gladys Knight (she and her Pips do sing on the soundtrack though). The story centers on her attempts to regain the love of her estranged husband who works up there. She goes to the wild, wooly town where he is based. There women are hard to find, and those who are there make big bucks selling themselves to lonely workers. Knight is a pretty woman so it doesn’t take long for the man who runs the town to try and convince her into becoming a high–priced prostitute.
An old empty mansion. The ghost of a man who lived there returns to recall the crucial moments of a lifetime. Faced with the proximity of death, the experiences of his past come to the memory of Juan. In a fragmented, sometimes confused way, Juan relives crucial moments of his life and his family, from 1915 to 1966, almost always linked to the names of several women. Memories that remind him of having missed numerous opportunities to be happy.
The 1978 series pilot True Grit is based on the 1969 John Wayne film of the same name. Warren Oates brings his own characteristic touches to the old Wayne role of Rooster Cogburn, the “one-eyed fat man” (now a one-eyed thin man with a beard) who agrees to help headstrong orphaned teenage girl Mattie Ross (Lisa Pelikan). Mattie wants to get to her relatives in California, but she and Cogburn get off to a bad start when Rooster loses their train fare in a poker game. He tries to recoup their loss by mining for gold in Wyoming, then by riding shotgun on the gold shipments. Had the pilot sold, it would have detailed the further adventures of Cogburn and Mattie (as indicated by the original network title, True Grit: A Further Adventure).