My 10 Favorite Films from 1970

In our on-going series of ten best films from the years 1950, 1960, 1970, etc.- we focus on 1970 which happens to be the year I was born. For the longest time, I thought "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was a 1970 film but it was actually released in 1969.

Not all of these films were released in the United States until at least 1971, but we thought we would focus only on the films which first came out in their country of origin in 1970.

"The Conformist" (poster pictured here) tops the list. The Bernardo Bertolucci film is also a favorite film of my friend Bilge Ebiri, a film critic in New York.

My number two film "Claire's Knee" happens to be a favorite of my friend Moviezzz who is an ardent admirer of Eric Rohmer, the French New Wave master who passed away several months ago.

"MASH" which is actually being remade (?!) is my favorite American film of the year. Robert Altman's film is considered to be one of the best contemporary domestic political comedies ever made. I also admire the film "Five Easy Pieces" which many argue should have won Jack Nicholson his first Oscar (George C. Scott actually won for "Patton" that year. Nicholson would Oscar five years later for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).

Here is the list:

1. "The Conformist" (Italy. d-Bernardo Bertolucci)
2. "Claire's Knee" (France. d-Erich Rohmer)
3. "The Red Circle" (France. d-Jean-Pierre Melville)
4. "MASH" (d-Robert Altman)
5. "Five Easy Pieces" (d-Bob Rafaelson)
6. "The Honeymoon Killers" (d- Leoanrd Kastle)
7. "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (d- Sam Peckinpah)
8. "Zabriskie Point" (d- Michaelangelo Antonioni)
9. "The Wild Child" (France. d-Francois Truffaut)
10. "Umut/Hope" (Turkey. d-Yilmaz Guney)

Honarable Mention: "El Topo," "The Butcher" (France), "Little Big Man," "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," "Beneath the Valley of the Dolls," "Husbands," "Performance" and "Even the Dwarfs Get Small" (Germany).