“Forgotten Hollywood”- 21st Century 50 Fav Films (#50, #49)…
Manny P. here…
“`Over the next twenty-five weeks, I will count down my fav FIFTY movies made in the twenty-first century. You can argue if they are the best films of the last two decades.
“`These personal choices gives you an insight into my point of view with regards to modern cinema. I will present two flicks a week. This series of blogs will be completed just as the 2021 awards season starts to get into full swing. So, let the countdown begin…
====================
~ #50 – GOSFORD PARK (2001)
“`The comedy of manners, inspired by Upstairs Downstairs and it was the inspiration for Downton Abbey, was created by Julian Fellowes. Containing a measure of improvisational dialogue (after all, the director was Robert Altman), it is influenced by Jean Renoir’s French classic, La Règle du jeu. A couple of the stars would go on to appear in Downton, such as Maggie Smith and Jeremy Swift. Historical fiction about British class plays well in cinema.
“`The film is a study of the British class system during the 1930s. Set in 1932, between the world wars, the impact of the World War I is explored in the film’s screenplay. The final work comes across as if Agatha Christie and Jane Austen had collaborated. It also references the foreboding decline of the British Empire and the peerage system.
“`Gosford Park is on many critic’s Top 100 list of the twenty-first century. It was nominated for sixty-one different awards following its release, winning twenty-five of them. There were seven Academy Awards nominations; Fellowes winning a Best Original Screenplay statuette.
~ #49 – THE READER (2008)
“`Critics lauded Kate Winslet in 2008 for her magnificent work in Revolutionary Road and they were determined to influence award-voters towards that path. They even went so far as to suggest that her role in The Reader was a supporting part (It was not!). I was very vocal during the award’s season about Kate earning an Oscar for her performance in The Reader. Eventually, my hunch paid off.
“`The Reader was based on the 1995 German novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. It was the last movie for producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both of whom died prior to its release. The cinematic lineage of the plot can be traced to the earlier production of Judgement at Nuremberg, which traced the Allied response to Nazi atrocities during World War II. The plot takes place in 1958, around the moment of the very-real Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials. The movie is also a coming-of-age story of unrequited love.
“`The Reader received five total Academy Award nods, and was on many critics Top Ten lists for 2008. The power of the film comes from Winslet’s character, who remains unrepentant for her actions as an Auschwitz camp guard. The production ponders questions about existing in a post-genocide society that unfortunately extends beyond mid-century Germany.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
You must be logged in to post a comment.