Top 10 Films of 1972

1. ''The Godfather'' (Francis Ford Coppola, USA)

2. "Cabaret" (Bob Fosse, USA)

3. "Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie" (Luis Bunuel, France)

4. ''The Canterbury Tales'' (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy)

5. ''Deliverance'' (John Boorman, USA)

6. ''The Ruling Class'' (Peter Medak, UK)

7. "Sleuth" (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, UK)

8. ''Red Psalm'' (Miklos Jancso, Hungary)

9. "The Harder They Come" (Perry Henzell, Jamaica)

10. "Trzeba zabic te milosc" (Janusz Morgenstern, Poland)

Other great films:

Aguirre: The Wrath Of God (Germany)

L'Amour l'après-midi (France)
And Now For Something Completely Different (UK)

Behind The Green Door

The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant (Germany)

The Case Of The Bloody Iris

César et Rosalie (France)

Ciao Manhattan

Cocksucker Blues

Deep Throat

Delirium

Diabel (Poland)

Ecstasy Of The Angels (Japan)

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex

Fellini's Roma (Italy)

Female Prisoner Scorpion (Japan)

Fist Of Fury (Hong Kong)

Frenzy

Fritz The Cat

Godzilla Vs Gigan (Japan)

Last House On The Left

Letter To Jane (France)

Lunch

The New Land (Sweden)

Oh Calcutta!

Perla w koronie (Poland)

Pictures Of The Old World (Czechoslovakia)

Play It Again, Sam

Savage Messiah (UK)

The Seduction Of Mimi (Italy)

Slaughterhouse-Five

Solaris (Soviet Union)

Le Temps d'une chasse (Canada)

Tout va bien (France)

Trzecia czesc nocy (Poland)

La Vraie nature de Bernadette (Canada)

The Way Of The Dragon (Hong Kong)

What Have You Done To Solange ?

What The Peeper Saw

Short Top 3:

1. "La Cabina" (Antonio Mercero, Spain)

2. "Frog Story" (Ron Satlof, USA)

3. "Lucifer Rising" (Kenneth Anger, USA)

Other great shorts:

The Rehearsal
The Sex Garage

Top Music Video:

"John I'M Only Dancing" (Mick Rock, UK)

Top Commercial:

"Mickey Likes It" (Life)

Other great commercials:

Polski Fiat (Poland)

TV Top 3:

1. "Gallux Show: Wieczor 5" (Olga Lipinska, Poland)

2. "All In The Family: Archie And The Editorial" (Norman Campbell, CBS)

3. "Mission Impossible: Kidnap" (Peter Graves, CBS)

Other great TV shows:

Columbo: Blueprint For Murder

Gallux Show: Wieczor 3 i pol (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Och! Och!" (Bronislaw Zeman, Poland)

2. "Kama Sutra Rides Again" (Bob Godfrey, UK)

3. "Tup Tup" (Nedeljko Dragic, Yugoslavia)

Other great cartoons:

For The Love Of Pizza
Pecking Holes In Poles

Street Musique (Canada)

Weak films of 1972:

1776
Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes

The Cruel Sea (Kuwait)
Liberté à Breme (Germany)

The Poseidon Adventure
Québec: Duplessis et après (Canada)
Sounder
Travels With My Aunt
Wniebowzieci (Poland)

Weak shorts:

Ballet Adagio (Canada)
Garden Of Luxor (UK)
The Process

Weak cartoons:

Ainsi vint la mort (Canada)
Chili Con Corny
A Christmas Carol
The Creation Of Birds (Canada)
Damon The Mower (UK)
Indian Corn
Modulations (Canada)
Tchou-Tchou (Canada)

Top Musical of 1972

"Cabaret" (Bob Fosse, Allied Artists)

The Godfather (1972) *****

One of the greatest gangster films of all time, starring Marlon Brando as the head of an influential mafia family in New York City. Al Pacino plays his youngest son. 

The Harder They Come (1972) ****

Trzeba zabic te milosc (1972) ****

Red Psalm (1972) ****

Frenzy (1972) ****

The Ruling Class (1972) ****

Deliverance (1972) ****

The Canterbury Tales (1972) ****

Cabaret (1972) ****

Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical stories about Berlin in the early 30's form the basis of this excellent musical film starring Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York. Songs:

"Wilkommen" **
"Mein Herr" ***
"Maybe This Time" *
"Money, Money" ***
"Two Ladies" **
"Tomorrow Belongs To Me" ***
"If You Could See Her" ***
"Cabaret" **

Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972) ****

Brilliantly funny surrealistic satire from Luis Bunuel.

Sleuth (1972) ****

Excellent, expertly directed film starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine.

Godzilla Vs Gigan (1972) ***

Campy, but entertaining Godzilla flick.

Letter To Jane (1972) ***

The first 20 minutes of this 51-minute film consist of incoherent mumblings from Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin. Excerpts of the narration:

The spectator must to be able to really think. And think, first of all, about this problem of questions and answers. We must be able to be really upset about the spectator's questions, or answers, and to answer, or ask questions, other than with ready-made answers, or questions, to ready-made questions, or answers. But ready-made by whom? For whom? Against whom?

Yes indeed, the spectator of the first 20 minutes of this movie must to be able to laugh. And laugh, first of all, about this verbal deluge of complete nonsense. And he must be able to be really upset about Godard's, and Gorin's, incoherent ravings, and questions, and answers, and ready-made answers, and ready-made questions. But ready-made by whom? By Godard ? Or by Gorin ? For whom? For us ? Against whom? Against us, the viewers.

However, passed the 20-minute mark, the film suddenly becomes very interesting. The analysis becomes coherent. Interesting points are made.

Delirium (1972) ***

The Case Of The Bloody Iris (1972) ***

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) ***

What Have You Done To Solange ? (1972) ***

Ciao Manhattan (1972) ***

Fritz The Cat (1972) ***

Last House On The Left (1972) ***

An American remake of Ingmar Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" (1960).

Oh Calcutta! (1972) ***

Cocksucker Blues (1972) ***

Aguirre: The Wrath Of God (1972) ***

Spanish conquistadors, led by a madman (Klaus Kinski), are searching for a mythical kingdom of Eldorado.

The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant (1972) ***

Excellent melodrama directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, a companion piece to his "Fox And His Friends" (1975), this time dealing with cruelty, deception and betrayal among lesbian women.

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask (1972) ***

Woody Allen's sex comedy comsists of several segments. The first is set in the Middle Ages. Woody Allen plays a court jester who's in love with the queen. He gives her an aphrodisiac, but a chastity belt prevents him from making love to her. It has hilarious dialogue inspired by Shakespeare. In the second episode, Gene Wilder plays a physician who falls hopelessly in love with an Armenian sheep. The third segment is a parody of Michelangelo Antonioni's films (particularly "La Notte" and "Blow Up"). Woody Allen plays an Italian man who has troubles satisfying his wife. Unable to find her erogenous zones, he discovers that she can only enjoy having sex in public places. The dialogue is in Italian, with English subtitles. 

"Do Aphrodisiacs Work?" *** 

"What Is Sodomy?" **** 

"Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching An Orgasm?" ***

Le Temps d'une chasse (1972) ***

Trois adultes et un garçon part à la chasse en forêt.

And Now For Something Completely Different (1972) ***

Excellent compilation of the best scenes from Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Play It Again, Sam (1972) ***

An unusual film for Woody Allen in two respects: he didn't direct it and it's set in San Francisco. But otherwise, it's vintage Woody.

Solaris (1972) ***

Soviet film (by Andrei Tarkovsky) adapted from a Polish novel (by Stanislaw Lem).

La Vraie nature de Bernadette (1972) ***

Excellent Canadian film about a young city woman who moves to the countryside.

Une femme naïve (Micheline Lanctôt) quitte la ville pour vivre à la campagne.