The Best Years in Cinema, pt. 2

Is there a greatest year in film history? We’ve already seen how some years simply stand head and shoulders above the rest, possessing a rare confluence of the artistic and the popular with an unfair claim to those movies that have stood the test of time. But even with years that boast representatives like It’s a Wonderful Life, Ben-Hur, Cool Hand Luke, The Fellowship of the Ring, and There Will Be Blood, somehow we haven’t even cracked the top five.

(Before we get into it, a brief retroactive note on structure: these are not ranked in order. Rather, they are tiered. Last week was five years that I think are C-tier contenders for the greatest of all time, this week is B-tier, and next week is A-tier—and coincidentally a tier of one.)

For some there is no need to look further than the peak of golden age cinema in 1939. In addition to classics like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, and Wuthering Heights, this was the year of technicolor with massive hits like Gone with the Wind (the Best Picture winner) and The Wizard of Oz, films that revolutionized the medium and put the power of moviemaking on full display. The grandiosity of Gone with the Wind, both in the film itself and its effect on the industry, cannot be overstated, demonstrated most clearly by its title as the highest-grossing movie of all time. Though studios dominated during this period, workers at every level of the cinematic art were coming into their own and directors like John Ford began to showcase their skill. Charles Bramesco articulates Ford’s directorial force: “On top of his accomplished minor effort Drums Along the Mohawk, John Ford gave the world two unassailable masterpieces Stagecoach and Young Mr Lincoln, which is sort of like inventing the cure for polio the same year you set the world record for fastest mile.” Such exuberance, with an industry reaching the pinnacle of its craft in every regard, is contrasted with a world plunging into war that same year. Decades would pass before Hollywood would reach the same heights.

According to Daniel Parris’s statistical analysis (mentioned last week), another contender, by any objective metric, is 1975, the year that forever changed the industry. In that year, Steven Spielberg gave the world Jaws, the first modern blockbuster and a movie that established the current Hollywood business model, pursuing high box-office returns from simple “high-concept” premises through wide summer releases. (It should not go unnoticed that beyond its industry effect, Jaws in effect gave us both Spielberg and John Williams, for which we are all eternally grateful.) But what makes this year truly special is more than its popular appeal; in fact, Parris’s analysis ranks 1975 high not for its box-office success but for its amassing of critically acclaimed films—ranked second in that category. With movies like Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (the Best Picture winner), Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Conversation, Jeanne Dielman, and Mirror, this unique year becomes the peak—or collision—of arthouse and blockbuster. (Also worth mentioning is that Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, which, while not a movie, would become a pivotal part of the moviemaking pipeline for years to come.)

And then in 1982, we go full blockbuster. Spielberg is back, this time with E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Poltergeist, which dominate the box-office along with Tootsie and Rocky III. Even the critical darlings are big, with the autobiographical epic Gandhi winning Best Picture. And while there are thought-provoking or artsy films that emerge in ’82, like Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, Sophie’s Choice, Cat People, and others, it is really Science-Fiction movies that define the year: Tron (groundbreaking for its use of CGI), Blade Runner, The Thing, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan trailing behind The Extra-Terrestrial. Notably, not all of these movies perform well upon their release, but with VCRs finally becoming mainstream and affordable, films that failed at the box-office are given new life (and enduring followings) in viewers’ living rooms.

Returning to years in film from within my lifetime, 1994 is another objective contender according to Parris—ranked second overall and scoring high across the board in terms of online database reviews, critical acclaim, and box-office success. Thus, similar to 1975, this year is a collision of the popular and the indie, with traditional Hollywood fare like The Lion King, True Lies, and Speed on one side, and artsy novelties like The Professional (Léon), Natural Born Killers, and Chungking Express on the other. This split would come to a head in the race for Best Picture with Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption representing the mainstream and Pulp Fiction and Four Weddings and a Funeral representing the offbeat. While Forrest Gump would go home with the Oscar, it was Pulp Fiction and Tarantino-style cool that would have the more outsized effect on cinema going forward. (Side note: I frequently hear people bemoan Forrest Gump’s win over Pulp Fiction and especially The Shawshank Redemption. But I think people forget just how good that movie is. Go rewatch it. It’s vast in scope with a tight script; it’s a technical marvel bolstered by a supporting cast of nuanced characters. I think we take for granted just how good of a movie it is.) In addition, we also see the mainstream welcome Jim Carrey, who becomes an un-ignorable part of the movie landscape with The Mask and the comedy classic Dumb and Dumber. All in all, I take ’94 to be the peak of polished. Even in its indie films, everything is sleek and refined, but especially in masterpieces like Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, The Lion King, and Speed, we see the formula of their respective genres and mediums perfected.

If you’re a movie buff and you’ve been keeping track of the years mentioned, you may already know what remains. But for the rest of us, we’ll have to live in suspense until next week when we finally arrive at the greatest year in cinema.