1981 in film. • Page 3

One year per thread? Wouldn't that take the rest of our lives and we would never catch up?

 

Have you watched Possession yet?

 

It's currently on Kanopy (the free public library app) and I keep meaning to watch it

 

I've been going through my watchlists in chronological order for a while now, I'm in the 50's now and was going to start posting in these threads but I forgot we started with the 60's. If we do these threads again we should start earlier.

 

The 20s and 30s deserve threads. I know the further back you go the less widely seen some of the movies get, but if it’s done again, maybe the 20s, 30s, (even the 1910s) should get their own decade lists, then the 40s and 50s can start narrowing the focus.

 

I watched Possession not too long ago. Unsettling.

 

How about a decade per month? We are almost to June. We can start at the Tens if you want but other than arguing on the merits of still watching The Birth of a Nation I don't know how much more there is. Maybe it will be The 1910's (and earlier).

 

Pre-1920s can probably get its own thread, then maybe one thread for the 20s. I’d love to go year by year starting in the 30s but I understand going by decade until the 60s

 

The 50s definitely deserve one for each year at least, there's so much great stuff.

 

I like decade per month, we won’t be treading the exact same ground after the 60s and well have more time to watch films while the thread is active

 

June 1st will be 1890's - 1910's, and then decades from there.

 

Happy to see these threads again in some form, but is there much interest in a month for pre 1920s cinema? Maybe this is just my ignorance talking, but is that basically just Melies shorts, some DW Griffiths films that most people are a little wary of watching and maybe some early Chaplin?

Maybe that says more about me though!

 

Thief and road warrior are my favorites, but decline of western civilization, all three of the parts, are some of the most important films ever made

 

I think Chaplin and Melies pre-1920 work is well worth delving into, and there's also Abel Gance, but general interest in pre-1920s (and even the 20s at all) is a realistic concern. I guess I didn't remember the threads were monthlong dedications, in which case a month of discussion on pre-1920s stuff would probably peter out quickly. I do think taking the time to actually watch something like Monkeyshines No. 1 or the early Lumiere's stuff is worthwhile for appreciating the medium. There are also interesting cultural artifacts like the 1894 Japanese Imperial Dance and the 1899 Arabian Gun Twirler, which show how cinema/film from the beginning were built on opening one to the other parts of the world in a more immediate, visceral way.

James Williamson's The Big Swallow from 1901 is also worth watching and thinking about, from levels of technique to theory. That being said, this post mostly covers the pre-1920 stuff I was thinking about, so a whole month doesn't seem necessary.

 

Victor Sjöström's work and some of the early Ernst Lubitsch films are worth watching too.