Favorite Films of 1971

No reason for this, really. I'm just waiting for my lentils to finish cooking and have nothing else to do in particular at this moment. I picked a fairly random year.

1. Summer of ‘42 (Robert Mulligan, USA)
2. The Devils (Ken Russell, UK)
3. Blanche (Walerian Borowczwyk, France)
4. Silent Running (Douglas Trumbull, USA)
5. Four Nights of a Dreamer (Robert Bresson, France)
6. He Who Waits for a Deadman’s Shoes Shall Die Barefoot (João César Monteiro, Portugal)
7. A New Leaf (Elaine May, USA)
8. How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazil)
9. WR—Mysteries of the Organism (Dušan Makavejev, Yugoslavia)
10. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, USA)
11. Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman, USA)

Numbers 1 and 4 are very sentimental, extraordinarily beautiful commercial films. 2 and 3--unrelenting historical reconstructions. 5 and 6--slightly inscrutable statements from often misunderstood, underappreciated individuals. One was still fresh in his "late" period, the other just beginning his cine-odyssey. 7 through 11--portraits in how we've lived our lives, yesterday and today, and perhaps how satisfying the tiniest freedoms can be in the face of much, much futility.

There are some films I haven't seen yet, obviously, and some that I'm just not crazy about.

Honorable Mentions (unordered): Minnie and Moskowitz (John Cassavetes, USA); A Gunfight (Lamont Johnson, USA); Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song (Melvin van Peebles, USA); Play Misty for Me (Clint Eastwood, USA); Wild Rovers (Blake Edwards, USA); El Coraje del pueblo(Jorge Sanjinés, Bolivia)