36. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Directed by Norman Jewson
Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant from the novel by John Ball
Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, and Lee Grant
Oscar Nominations: 7 Oscar Wins: 5 (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor Rod Steiger, Best Editing, Best Sound)
A stunning movie about racial tensions in the south. A racist police chief arrests a black man passing through town on murder charges. The man is actually a respected homicide detective in Philly. What follows is a mystery, a movie about prejudice, and a cop film. The mystery is good. We see the murderer in the very first scene and it makes sense the second time around, especially with the clue we're given. However the motive takes some time and it's just so controversial and race was really just a red herring. But it also isn't.
The two main actors perfectly get across the main theme of the film. Rod Stiger's character growth is just stunning. At first, he's more than happy to put the black man away, thinking just because he has a fair amount of money that he killed the rich guy. He grows, asking Sidney Poitier's Vergil Tibbs for help. He even, by the end, learns to thanks him when he realizes they're not all that different. Tibbs also makes mistakes, going off of a prejudice against the rich white man on the hill. It shows that everyone is a little bit racist, that while you have to be taught to hate, you can learn not to as well.
35. Fargo (1996)
Directed and screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, and Harve Presnell
Oscar Nominations: 7 Oscar Wins: 2 (Best Actress Frances McDormand, Best Original Screenplay)
Fargo is quirky and possibly one of the best written movies I have seen from the nineties. It just has so many things going for it. Its main theme is just this haunting tune that undertones the seriousness of the film. Yet it's not completely serious. It does switch between the two so easily that it's natural. You almost don't notice. The dialogue is just so smart as well. It feels like how people talk, there's the awkwardness there, and it just does millions of bits of good for the movie. Another major point to the movie is the cinematography. It captures the spirit of a northern Midwest Winter so perfectly, the cold, the underlying cold to it's beauty.
There are two performances that I have to highlight here. The first is going to be William H. Macy as a car dealer who sets up the kidnapping of his wife to make some extra money. The desperation and nervousness of the character causes a fair amount of comedy but it also adds that extra bit of drama that makes the movie rock. It's a serious role that highlights a terrific actor. The other is Frances McDormand. The role is kinda hokey but it's also so true. Like Macy's, it's serious but funny at the same time. It also has the extra dimension in that the character is pregnant so McDormand has to to add an extra element to her movement as well. This is what good acting is made of: becoming a character, doing more than add an accent, add a movement to it as well. I love character actors.
Next Time: "A Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it 'Le Big Mac'." "We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"
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