Favourite Films of 1974

Monday is about movies. And sometimes TV. I've started this ongoing series around favourite films of each year. Here we are with 1974...

1974 has a couple of the movies that have made the biggest impact on me, but it doesn’t feel as jam-packed with classics as the other years I’ve covered so far. Even so, I’m not going to include The Godfather Part II - which might seem silly, given many people consider it the greatest film of all time. I do like it. I like all of the Godfathers, but it’s too big, too obvious. So I’m leaving it off my list. Maybe it is on yours? That’s how lists work. The person making it gets to choose…My list of best films from 1974 is split (almost evenly) between the very big, obvious choices and some ‘smaller’ films, still very well known; between the very serious and the very silly…and on that note, I’ve also left out Blazing Saddles. Look, as a kid, I loved it a little bit, but I never quite understood its rating as one of the best-ever comedies. And that was long before any controversies around it being problematic. I’ll have left out other classics, as far as you’re concerned, and that’s how it is meant to be. But I always like to address the elephants.

You’ll remember I’ve done this already with 1973, with 1972 and with 1971. And I’ll soon attempt it with 1975, and on from there…But today, is about 1974. Let’s go…

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

It doesn’t really matter whether this is a good film, or whether I like it, it could still be on the list. It is arguably where modern horror starts. It is arguably the beginning of the slashers. It is also the real beginning of the “final girl” phenomenon in horrors. But, I really do love this film. More so with time. More so with rewatches. More so as the franchise expands, deviates, reboots, folds in on itself and then somehow surprises again. Texas is a viscerally filthy film. You can all but smell it. You can feel it. It is beyond creepy. It plays at its own pace, in its own way. It is endearingly amateur, and profound in its simplicity. I love the mad energy of this film so much.

Chinatown

Another of the ‘obvious’ picks. A must on anyone’s list really. Again, it doesn’t really matter what I think of it - it could still rightly be high on anyone’s list just for knowing about it. But I recently re-watched this and found it as good as ever. A masterclass - of directing, acting, and script. Its music is incredible. The look, the feel. Everything. Everything. So close to a perfect film. So close…

The Conversation

The classic ‘small’ film that Francis Ford Coppola made in-between his first two Godfather films. The Conversation would be on my list for Gene Hackman’s performance alone. It could be on my list for its amazing sound-design, score, and use of score (composed ahead of the film and then adapted, and cut to suit). It could be on my list for one or two key scenes alone. Its technical brilliance. Its tension. Its amazing film portrayal of paranoia. So hard to get right. So astounding and baffling and weirdly beautiful in this film. But when all is said, it is here because it is the film that really showed me Coppola’s chops. I knew and had seen the Godfathers and Apocalypse Now, so of course I knew he was a big director. But that’s the problem. His films were almost too big, and the timing of this movie - but in the way it plays out, and in where it sits within FFC’s filmography - is what sold me on him as a key director of the decade.

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

This film stays with me. I’ve only watched it once. I keep thinking about re-watching it. I’ve seen most things Scorsese has done several times. I’d still consider this one of his greatest. It introduced me (properly) to Ellen Burstyn. I’d already seen the previous year’s Exorcist - sure. But it was less important who was the mother in that film (even though she was great). Here, Alice is all about the character of ‘Alice’, and, therefore, the person playing here. It blew me away how good Kris Kristofferson was too. Just a wonderful drama. One I think about a tremendous amount, for having (so far) only watched it once.

A Woman Under The Influence

I saw this for the first time quite recently. And I was blown away. That’s the power of great cinema. It suddenly becomes unimportant when a film was made, and where it comes from when you see and feel great performances, writing, and direction. There are legends all across this film - pioneering indie filmmaker John Cassavetes is at the helm, his wife Gena Rowlands is in the lead role, with the great Peter Falk playing alongside her. All three are so great here. But it’s their work in service of the story that astounds. This is a compelling, grim, and ultimately amazing drama. One of the best I’ve ever seen.

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And here’s five notable mentions – again in no particular order:

Death Wish

These sorts of films become silly when they become a franchise, but go back to the original and you’ll find a gem. I feel the same way about Death Wish and its eventual franchise and multiple volumes as I do Rambo and its seed-movie, First Blood. This is a dark, grim movie that is more about revenge in a psychological and dramatic way, than just action-parody (Gah - and a remake! Ew). Which is where it ended up going. But its dark vigilantism is compelling and was huge for me when I first saw it.

Phantom of the Paradise

A box-office failure. A horror film that is also a musical. That is also a comedy. That stars the songwriter Paul Williams. There shouldn’t really be any reason for me to be into this film - beyond being a Paul Williams fan (and, well, a horror fan too of course). But I absolutely love it. Love a good cult film of course, and that’s what this has become. About as bonkers as you might think. And then some on the top.

Young Frankenstein

In the same year as his Blazing Saddles, comedy legend Mel Brooks also created this comedy masterpiece. This one sits better with me. And the central performance by Gene Wilder is one of his very best. Which is surely saying something.

Lenny

I’ve always loved this film, partly because it helped me understand the phenomenon of Lenny Bruce, but mostly for Dustin Hoffman’s incredible peformance. It’s also so beautifully shot, captured. I feel like this film was an influence on Raging Bull, in my mind they are linked at least.

Female Trouble

I’m almost always going to include a John Waters film in a list when there’s a chance. His films are beautifully ugly, hysterically funny, profoundly weird, and were all so impactful for me. Even in the 90s and early 00s, discovering them felt like finding out about a naughty secret. And I love that.

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So that’s how I saw 1974. That’s what I saw in it, or from it. That’s how I leave 1974. An interesting list to consider as a set of viewing options all at once, no? Imagine a film festival that run those. Obviously I’d sign up right away! But would you? Seen anything on this list and love it too? Don’t agree at all? What’s your favourite film from this year? What movies did you see at the time, or after, from 1974 that continue to have the most impact?