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Ten Best List for the Year 1976
- All the President's Men -- The investigation by two Washington Post reporters (Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) of the facts behind the 1974 Watergate break-in has been dramatized with restraint and objectivity. Director Alan Pakula's deliberatively low-keyed, well-acted and comprehensive account of a political scandal emphasizes the painstaking work involved in investigative journalism. Though it utilizes a few course words in a realistic context, the movie is one that most teenagers would benefit from seeing. A-III-adults (PG) 1976
- Bound for Glory -- Screen adaptation of the 1943 biography of folk singer Woody Guthrie (David Carradine) follows his odyssey among the Depression's dispossessed from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to migrant labor camps in California where his songs about his experiences lead to a national radio career. The outstanding achievement of director Hal Ashby's dramatization is its faithful re-creation of the Depression years and Guthrie's passion for social justice. Restrained depiction of sexual relationships. A-III-adults (PG) 1976
- Edvard Munch -- Complex but engrossing account of the life and times of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944), one of the founders of Expressionism and a great influence upon the direction of contemporary art. Writer-director Peter Watkins interweaves three main strands of narrative: the historical, the intellectual, and the personal. Beautifully photographed in semi-documentary style, the movie's treatment of the tormented life of this artist is at times intense, but diffused by the cultural context. Subtitles. A-II-adults and adolescents (Not rated by the Motion Association of America) 1976
- Face to Face -- Stockholm psychiatrist (Liv Ullmann) discovers that she must heal herself when she suffers from a nervous breakdown in director Ingmar Bergman's clinical investigation into the realm of the feminine psyche. Ullmann's magnificent performance conveys the failure of psychiatry as a remedy to the disappointments and contradictions of her guilt-ridden life. The movie includes some harrowing scenes, including an attempted rape, but the emphasis is on the interior journey to peace of soul. A-III-adults (R) 1976
- The Man Who Skied Down Everest -- In 1970, Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura set out from Katmandu, Nepal, for Mt. Everest where his objective was not to make an ascent to the peak but to reach a ledge 400 yards short of the crest from which he would ski down to the valley that lay more than a mile below. What happened during this dangerous undertaking may be seen in a splendid Academy Award-winning documentary with a narration adapted from Miura's diary, giving Western viewers some insights into this feat as a quest in achieving harmony with nature. An exciting adventure documentary, filled with dazzling scenic beauty, it is absorbing fare for the entire family, including those unconcerned with the paradoxes of Eastern and Western philosophy. A-I-general patronage (G) 1976
- The Marquise of O... -- French adaptation of a 19th-century novel by Heinrich von Kleist about a woman (Edith Clever) who is rescued from enemy soldiers by seemingly virtuous count who takes advatage of her sedated sleep as he guards her through the night. Director Erich Rohmer has fun with the conventions of the time but does not betray Kleist's characters and their concerns. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1976
- The Memory of Justice -- Documentary on the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals and whether they established a legal precedent for judging the wartime conduct of all nations. After an extensive examination of the Nuremberg process for trying crimes against humanity, producer-director Marcel Ophuls goes on to ask some uncomfortable questions about offenses committed by the Allies during the World War II and the Occupation, the conduct of the French military during the Algerian War and Americans during the Vietnam War. Ophuls brings patient intelligence and concern for human dignity to a four-and-a-half-hour demonstration of the difficulty but the necessity of establishing accountable standards of international conduct. Unflinching look at death camp atrocities and an unnecessary use of nudity. A-IV-adults with reservations (PG) 1976
- Rocky -- Underdog Philadelphia club fighter Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) has a shot at the heavyweight championship with the help of a tough old trainer (Burgess Meredith). Director John Avildsen concentrates on the gritty, back-street quality of life in the old neighborhood and the relationship that grows between the boxer and the introverted sister (Talia Shire) of his best friend. The bloody brutality of the prizefight game is abundantly evident. A-III-adults (PG) 1976
- Seven Beauties -- Italian tragicomedy about a petty crook (Giancarlo Giannini) in 1930's Naples who bungles a murder, gets drafted in World War II, deserts while being shipped to the Russian front, is interned in a concentration camp but survives having learned nothing. Director Lina Wertmuller's vision, though dark and stormy, is also permeated with a love for the beauty and richness of life. Some grisly violence and an earthy treatment of sex. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1976
- Small Change -- Episodic French seriocomedy about the natural innocence of childhood protecting the young from being overwhelmed by the harsher realities of life. Director Francois Truffaut offers older viewers a chance to rediscover their own childhood as well as becoming more attentive to the needs of youngsters who depend upon them. Subtitles. Excellent movie for parents to share with their families. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1976
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