Your Opinion: Magnum Opus Works in Movies

pustelniakr

Silver Miner at Large
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We all have movie productions that we consider to be in at a level I refer to as a Magnum Opus (a greatest work). Do you have any examples of movies, that, in your estimation, qualify as a Magnum Opus? Tell us about it. Tell us why you believe it qualifies as such. Any genre is fair game. What I am looking for are works that are not only movie productions in general, but genuine works of "art" (another level up).

The following post is my initial contribution, and shall serve as an example of what I am looking for here:

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
2001 a Space Odyssey

This movie meets the standard of Magnum Opus for me, because it, like a great piece in an art gallery, provokes the viewer to ponder and interpret. The execution, and skill with which the music and imagery was selected and brought together is unmatched, in my opinion. It does not present an easily intelligible story line, per se, but provokes the viewer to develop one, unless you have read the book. The presentation is irresistibly immersive and enveloping (on a large screen and with a large audio system), in what is seen and heard, drawing one in to get lost within.

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Enjoy,
Rich P
 
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Redefined the conventional Western into an Existential workout. Took a minor U.S. actor and made him an iconic star. Made Ennio Morricone's music into a whole new genre. Sweeping cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli. Extras and character actors that look like the gates of Hell had opened. Corny, overblown but at the same time dark and brooding. Strong commentary about the senselessness of war and the fraility of life. A movie I can watch dozens of times and still find something new in it.

 
Night And Fog (Nuit et brouillard)
dir: Alain Renais
1956

Documentary short film made ten years following the liberation of the concentration and death camps built and used by the Nazis leading up to and during World War II. Narrated by Renais in a deadpan that is at once engaging and chilling, it IMO the greatest film -- fact or fiction -- ever made by a human being.
 
Night And Fog (Nuit et brouillard)
dir: Alain Renais
1956

Documentary short film made ten years following the liberation of the concentration and death camps built and used by the Nazis leading up to and during World War II. Narrated by Renais in a deadpan that is at once engaging and chilling, it IMO the greatest film -- fact or fiction -- ever made by a human being.

I have never seen this but it was recommended to my by an uber movie buff friend way back. Thanks for putting it on my radar again.
 
Director David Lean nearly had several but if I had to pick one, and it's tough, it would be Bridge Over the River Kwai. Runners up from him are Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia. He was superb at getting actors into a tortured soul but in Bridge and specifically Alec Guinness' performance plus the subject puts that film at the absolute top of his work. This scene moments before Guinness awakens to whom he's become -

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John Schlesinger has several too (Billy Liar & Marathon Man) but it's Midnight Cowboy that is at the absolute top. Uncomfortable subject matter yet portrayed in a way that doesn't pity the players. Brutal at times but the performances by Hoffman & Voight are spectacular. From the last scene of the film, still amazing now -

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But if I have to pick just one, it's a no-brainer. Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. I don't think Holden ever put in a better performance, even better than Stalag 17. He's lighthearted even though he is humiliated by his circumstance and Gloria Swanson is just flat out fantastic. Even more so when you read the backstory and see the role was actually her indictment of Hollywood and how it threw away and forgot the great silent film stars. She being one of the few that transcended silent film to talkies.

The film is magnificent and no frame is wasted. The scene where she discovers it's her car the studio wants and not her is where she finally breaks and tough to watch but you see what an incredible talent she was. Her desperation comes right through the screen. It's well worth seeing again & again and opens on likely one of the most shocking scenes ever for the time. This is in the back of your mind throughout the entire film, "What the heck happened?" -


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I'd nominate 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'. Fantastic cinematography (the train robbing scene in the dark was pure artistry), great score, and one of the best ensemble casts in decades.
 
Sunset Boulevard is so cool, I watched it just the other day. I don’t know if Iike it or Double Indemnity better. Both pictures are on my “at least once a year” list.
 
noirs/mysteries: 'Chinatown'. honorable mentions to 'KC Confidential' and 'Phenix City Story'.

monster: original Japanese 'Gojira' (Godzilla). honorable mention to original 'King Kong'.

small band of heroes recruited to fight off bad guys: original 'Seven Samurai'. honorable mention to 'Magnificent Seven'.

lone hero trapped with ton of really bad guys guided by an evil mastermind; 'Under Siege'. honorable mentions to 'Under Siege 2' and 'Con Air'.

Sci FI; 'Close Encounters'

WW2: 'Patton'
Nam: 'Full Metal Jacket'

political; 'JFK'

Spaghetti Western; 'Good/Bad/Ugly'. hon mention either of its predecessors.
 
Martin Scorsese made some great films, but he peaked at Goodfellas (1990). Liotta has never been better or more menacing. DeNiro subtle. And Joe Pesci's character needed to be shot. Can anyone listen to the piano coda on "Layla" and not think of dead mobsters?

Plus, Scorsese stole from the best.

Scorsese freeze frame:

Capra freeze frame (apologies for the colorized version):
 
Sixth Sense

I call it a magnum opus because it is the only movie he made that I liked. And it required a second viewing because he hid the reality so extremely well. It's one of my favorite movies, yet I don't care for anything else he created.
 
Pulp Fiction.

I can watch that movie many times over. The creation of mood throughout the movie in all of the different sub-stories, and the way's in which they all entwine, as well as its use of jumping around in time is remarkably engaging.
 
Crash

When a movie makes me cry like I just saw a dear friend die, and multiple times over, it's a keeper. This is one of the most powerful movies I own. It is remarkably moving. There is one scene - you'll know it when you see it - that I consider to be possibly the most emotionally powerful scene in motion picture history. Absolutely gut wrenching. I'm tearing up as I type this.
 
Sunset Boulevard is so cool, I watched it just the other day. I don’t know if Iike it or Double Indemnity better. Both pictures are on my “at least once a year” list.

It's been a long time since I've seen it and now I need to again. It never resonated with me the way SB did but I may also have been to young to have really appreciate it.
 
Pulp Fiction.

I can watch that movie many times over. The creation of mood throughout the movie in all of the different sub-stories, and the way's in which they all entwine, as well as its use of jumping around in time is remarkably engaging.

I just rewatched this and it is just as good as it was the first time I saw it. It builds on the great writing Tarantino did in True Romance...and then what the heck happened?
 
8 1/2 . Probably my favorite movie ever. I watched it for the first time when I was 18 years old. My thought at the time was: a narcissist, artificial film. Fourty years later I realize that this is one of the films that goes straight into the values and ways of living that I've chosen. Superbly written, filmed and acted. And with Nino Rota's superb music to round it up!

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