Ground breaking films

[Paulie Tandoori]

That is one film that I never got tired of watching. Must have seen it about 10 times now.

I thought the first Nightmare on Elm Street was not exactly groundbreaking, but in terms of slash/horror films, the idea that it could happen when you fell asleep was really intriguing to me at the time, as a full-on horror film lover

Yes, came last night at beero-clock at stuck Wizard of Oz on again, sang along drunkenly to the songs, even managed to stay awake until nearly the end afore sleep washed me to sleep on the sofa

 

[littlebabyjesus]

The Motorcycle Diaries was the film that instantly turned me from an apolitical capitalist to a misanthropic lefty.

Good.
It is groundbreaking in the way it seamlessly combines fiction (or at least fictionalised history) with real-life stories. The film is set in the 1950s yet the plight of the poor remains so totally unchanged that there is no need to add period detail.

I would nominate, for very different reasons, M and City of God.

 

[Maltin]

I put A Clockwork Orange in there for a few reasons. It's far from my favorite film I should add - but as the focus is on 'groundbreaking' I'd say this broke ground in a few unique ways. Firstly the wider social commentary that the film inspired was unparalleled and still to this day evokes comment and reference in light of crime and youth. Secondly the censorship issue, it was rated X in America and was was of the first to be so. In the UK it was banned for 27 years and achieved a cult status because of it which only fed into the notoriety of the film which ultimately ensured a successful re-release. Thirdly, the use of the soundtrack - predominantly a Moog synthesizer. I think it was pretty unique for its time to soundtrack the film in a particularly stylised way that it did and it has been inspirational to cinema as a result.

Four Eyed Monsters was my wild card. Again, its far far from being one of my favorite films but this is truly a film set in the reality of 2007, the age of now - the web savvy twenty somthings and the 'myspace generation' for want of a better description. From its semi-fictitious storyline to its conception as a film and process in getting recognition when no major producer will back it is a story in itself but the way two people drove worldwide interest in the film - much of it online - is something I haven't seen before. It's an indie film down to the last and it's one of the few films where watching the DVD extras about making the film (which are also the podcasts and myspace videos) is more intriguing than the film itself and it's the real characters and the reality of two people trying to make a film successful against all the odds (money, representation, business advice, logistics etc) that makes this film groundbreaking in its method.

All just my opinon of course.

Couple of points with A Clockwork Orange.

It wasn't one of the first films in the US to receive an X rating. The ratings system was introduced into the US in 1968 and the film was released in 1971 so there were plenty of films to receive the X rating before then. Greetings was apparently the first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-rated#United_States

It wasn't banned in the UK. My understanding is that Kubrick withdrew it from release because of some blame the film and director were receiving.

Contrary to popular claims, this film was never banned in the UK. It originally received an "X" rating in 1971 and was withdrawn from distribution in 1973 by the film's director. In 1999, the film was released again and received an "18" rating.

I knew why you chose Four Eyed Monsters. I just think it's a little too early to tell whether it is groundbreaking or not.

 

[isvicthere?]

"Workers leaving the factory" - since it was the first ever moving film footage (made in 1895 in Paris) it must surely count as "ground-breaking". You used to be able to see it in MOMI.

 

[cybertect]

It wasn't banned in the UK. My understanding is that Kubrick withdrew it from release because of some blame the film and director were receiving.

Rather more than just blame, Kubrick received death threats against both him and his family over the film.

 

[agricola]

Heard of some of those? Even Kurosawa was recognised by the Academy before the release of Seven Samurai.

I didnt say "Academy", I said "world".

All manner of films get awards without attracting even the slightest attention from the public at large, so to cite the number of awards a film recieves is not always the best way of assessing its popularity or legacy - and as much as I love Rashomon it is not a film that could grab the public conciousness in the way that Seven Samurai did.