Meg

Happy December.

The more and more I get into film, I think about how different the film industry is now compared to how it was, you know, then. There are some cases where I think you really get a sense of old school film, like in Garrel’s Les Amants réguliers, but those cases are extremely rare.

Well anyway. today I was thinking about some actors and directors that just have never been able to be replaced. Guess they shouldn’t be though. They are gone (or really old in some cases) but they are immortal really.

Buster Keaton. the funniest man I have ever seen on screen. He is funny without saying anything (well, ok no pun intended….). Looking at him cheers me up. His looks are funny but sometimes also heartbreaking. Comedians these days just cannot touch this man, no one carries as much emotion in a face as Buster (no, not even Chaplin, sorry).

Jean-Paul Belmondo was, and still is, the pinnacle of a Frenchman to me. He embodies everything I think most people think of when French actors come to mind. His never ending nonchalance and cool just blow my mind. I don’t think anyone has ever been this strangely appealing since his appearance in Pierrot Le Fou. He even made it into Donovan’s famous “Sunny South Kensington.”  Jean-Paul probably was the first person that made you want to wear a suit every day and chain smoke cigarettes.

Marlon Brando is, of course, the epitome of the American movie star. No one since has had the perfect mixture of beauty and talent. Of course he is genius as the Godfather, but I think his performance in Last Tango in Paris is just stellar. Not many folk can make the characters he played sympathetic the way he did. Marlon has a lot of what I don’t think many actors have, which is respect from his peers, no matter what.

Clint Eastwood is the man. Even some of these ridiculous films he made, like Play Misty For Me, are enjoyable because his performances are mesmerizing. His acting is above most others, but what is most stunning about this man is the control he took of his own career and how he used his talent to make films. He is without a doubt the best actor/director out there.

Jimmy Stewart, who most people know is one of my all time favourite actors. Not only did he execute some of the best, most memorable Hitchcock films (i.e. Rear Window, Vertigo) but created one of the best actor-director relationships ever in my opinion with the man. His accent, his slightly awkward looks and choice in films makes him one of the best loved, most unique, and most missed actors that has never been replaced. Mr Smith Goes to Washington and It’s A Wonderful Life are just unforgettable.

Audrey Hepburn, who doesn’t even really need an explanation. She set the bar for actresses after her. Her performances are so convincing and emotional. She immortalized so many things, like little black dresses, the 1960s style, and beauty. Although she is gone so many girls still look up to her as a role model for being yourself and expressing it.

Greta Garbo. Queen Christina. So unusually beautiful and mesmerizing. {edit} apparently the photo I used to have here was of Joan Crawford. tbh I couldn’t tell the difference and I know nothing about joan crawford. but this photo now IS Greta!

Grace Kelly. I think watching and looking at Grace in films like Rear Window and High Noon is where you can really see a definite difference between Old Hollywood and what’s around today. Of course she was beautiful, but she was beautiful in a way that was so enhanced by her talent. Not to diss on most actresses today, but it seems to me that a lot of them are popular because of how “hot” they are. Grace is a perfect example to me of a beautiful, talented woman. I would go as far as to call her an artist. Even alongside stars like Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper, she stole every film she was in.

Michael Caine is by far the coolest man on earth today. He could very well be my all time favourite. What sets him apart from others is that after all these years (40+) he continues to make great, great films, and immortalize his characters. Of course there are the obvious greats like Alfie, Get Carter and  The Italian Job (okay people, anyone who watches the new version of this film and hasn’t seen the original/prefers the new version honestly has a mental disorder) but like Brando, a lot of his lesser known roles are just as brilliant. His newer roles are also just as memorable as the old ones, if not more. He is Alfred in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, he is Jasper in Children of Men, and he is Nigel in Austin Powers (the only thing that makes the AP movies tolerable). Plus, all the kids love ‘im. They just don’t know who he is. Tsk tsk.

Stanley Kubrick is the best director of all time, and anyone who wants to argue with me is wrong. He might not be your favourite, but he is the best. Tons of people make good films. A smaller amount of people make great films. But Stanley is the only one, the ONLY one who made truly stylistic, artistic, gorgeous, unrepeatable films art.  Almost every one he made is on people’s Best Films Ever lists. How can you even try to compete with A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and 2001: A Space Odyssey? There just is no competition for a more innovative director ever. The way he utilized symmetry and colour is copied in every film you ever see. Every single one (a la There Will Be Blood, closing scene anyone?). Be thankful this man existed, or else the world wouldn’t have directors like Paul Thomas Anderson, or hell, anyone really.

Alfred Hitchcock is the ultimate master of suspense. Everyone has seen a Hitch film whether they are aware of it or not. He used so many weird techniques it almost became surreal at some points (points to the scene falling-down-the-stairs-scene in Psycho) but so many traditional ones with a spin. He made you afraid of so many daily, normal things. Because of him, you are scared of showers in an empty house, and of course, you are afraid of birds.

Martin Scorsese is the epitome of American filmmaking. He might be the youngest person in this post, but he is a veteran of the film industry. He is like Michael Caine in that he continues to make AMAZING FILM after AMAZING FILM. Dude, like, Gangs of New York and The Departed are two of his best films and they were both made this decade. Everyone wants to work with him, which is not something a lot of people can claim. No one does it like Marty does.

I was almost not doing to talk about Jean-Luc Godard because I have no idea how to. I really don’t know how to articulate what he does or why it is attractive. Breathless is the best French film ever made but Band Of Outsiders and Masulin Feminin are so, so fucking great. I really don’t even know how to say it. He’s just amazing and inspirational. I think he was one of the first directors to purposefully and successfully make art out of what he shot.

Those are just some of my favourites though, off the top of my head. There are so many I didn’t name, like Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Anna Karina, Christopher Plummer, James Dean, Gene Kelly, Chaplin (as a filmmaker), Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Francois Truffaut, Bernardo Bertolucci, and more, who are all amazing. The talent that existed in those times is honestly incomprehensible to me.