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- January 4, 1982CINEMABEST OF '81
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- Body Heat. Dark and supple and unpredictable, like the femme
- fatale at its core. Body Heat establishes Lawrence Kasdan as
- an awesomely assured writer-director, and William Hurt as
- American's hunkiest loser.
-
- Chariots of Fire. The year's handsomest period piece is about
- athletes running for Olympic gold--and to save their souls.
- Writer Colin Welland and Director Hugh Hudson manage to inspire
- without being cloying, and mark an honorable return to the
- British tradition of quality.
-
- Cutter's Way. (Original title: Cutter and Bone.) A murder
- mystery set on the downslope of the California dream,
- flavorsomely written by Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, directed by Ivan
- Passer and acted by Jeff Bridges and John Heard.
-
- Excalibur. Or: "Camelot Goes to Woodstock." Writer-Director
- John Boorman recasts the Arthurian legends as a fable for our
- time and all time, with the most voluptuous evocation of
- pastoral imagery since Days of Heaven.
-
- The Last Metro. Paris show people retain their grace under
- pressure of the German Occupation. Director Francois Truffaut
- is at his best, too, in this suspenseful romance.
-
- Man of Marble. The life of a Polish Everyman--Stalinist hero
- turned Stanlinist victim--is examined in Andrzej Wajda's
- intricate, ironic study of humanity distorted by
- totalitarianism. The irony has become yet more bitter; Wajda,
- head of the Polish filmmakers' union, is now reported under
- arrest.
-
- On Golden Pond. Henry Fonda rages at the dying light and, with
- his hard brilliance, illuminates a twilight romance, while
- bringing his own career to a golden climax.
-
- Prince of the City. A corrupt New York cop (Treat Williams)
- further corrupts himself as he tries to expiate his crimes.
- Sidney Lumet has directed a fiercely acted and harrowing descent
- into paranoia's hellish center.
-
- Raiders of the Lost Ark. George (Empire) Lucas + Steven (Close
- Encounters) Spielberg + Lawrence (Body Heat) Kasdan + Harrison
- (Star Wars) Ford = intelligent, thrilling blockbuster. Moves
- like a Rolls-Royce over bad road.
-
- Reds. Could have been "Warren's Gate." Instead,
- Writer-Director-Producer-Star Beatty fashioned a biography of
- Radical Journalist John Reed into a love story that evokes
- laughter, tears, thoughtfulness, astonishment.
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