Classic Film : Overrated Films From Your Favorite Directors

A few that come to mind:

Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa. I should probably revisit it, but I remember finding that its themes and symbolism were rather obvious and ham fisted.

L'age d'Or by Luis Bunuel. I love Un Chien Andalou, but I don't find that its structure worked as a feature.

The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman. I've seen it twice ( though I was probably 16 when I last saw it) and wasn't particularly grabbed by it. I was actually turned off from watching more Bergman for while because of it. But now that he's one of my favorite filmmakers I might appreciate it more.

L'argent by Robert Bresson. I usually love Bresson's slow deliberate style, but with this film I didn't find it to be in service to anything much more than a rather simplistic message of " money is evil".

Yours?

Soshite chichi ni naru (2013) Like Father Like Son from Hirakazu Koreeda seems more setup than execution.

Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951) Diary of a Country Priest from Robert Bresson is either the most wretched character study or the darkest comedy ever made. I guess that it could be both.

Yao a yao, yao dao wai po qiao (1995) Shanghai Triad doesn't allow Zhang Yimou to ease the acidity of his observation with any depth of vision. This could have been made in Hollywood.

jj

John Ford - The Searchers. A good movie but hysterically over-praised.

The Searchers Ford`s greatest film and a stellar achievement with too many film fans who react against what they perceive as hysterical over-praising.

---

Liberty E Pluribus Unum In God We Trust

---

Hitchcock's Vertigo. An intriguing premise, but James Stewart is all wrong for his role.



I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

Hitchcock's Vertigo - The Master`s masterpiece with a note perfect performance by Stewart who is absolutely correct in the role.

---

Liberty E Pluribus Unum In God We Trust

---

After Vertigo failed at the box office, Hitchcock himself placed part of the blame on Stewart, feeling he was too old for the part. Kim Novak in a dual role was more believable than Stewart as her love interest disguised in a toupee
and what looks like eye shadow.



I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

CARRIE (1953) from William Wyler.

While "overrated" may be the wrong term (the film was never highly regarded to begin with), I'm PO'd that Wyler was forced by Paramount (probably under pressure from HUAC) to alter the pessimistic theme of Dreiser's novel "Sister Carrie": that the American Dream is a fallacy, that money, success, and material things do not bring happiness, and that a man can fall as quickly and easily as he can rise.
Instead, Wyler was forced to film a turgid romantic soap opera, with a miscast Jennifer Jones in the title role.

Truffaut`s Jules and Jim
Did not care for it much. Love most of his films, though. That`s about it.

---

Liberty E Pluribus Unum In God We Trust

---

Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick. I went to watch it because I am a fan of his cinema and this was his posthumous work. I put aside my feelings about that moron called Tom Cruise who sees himself as an actor, and digested the film. I came out of the theatre feeling cheated and having wasted my money. With all my respects, this is Kubrick at his worst.