The Conformist (1970, Bernardo Bertolucci) - One of the most beautifully shot movies of the 70s as far as usage of color goes. Coppola watched this film many times in preparation of making The Godfather and even hired Vittorio Storaro to do the cinematography in Apocalypse Now because of his work in this film. It makes a great double feature with The Godfather because of the grim nature as well. A Fascist in Italy is sent to kill his old professor, then stuff happens and we learn more about our protagonist along the way. Good stuff.
The Heart of the World (2000, Guy Maddin) - Delightfully off-kilter and interesting, which is something that I am growing to love from Guy Maddin as I search through his offerings. Clocking in at 6 minutes, it flies by. You probably need to watch it twice to really appreciate it and catch all of the references to silent films from Germany and Russia. It makes me want to watch more of those films as well. I think I shall do that. Fritz Lang and Sergei Eisenstein here I come.
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