Mobile Navigation
Swept Away... by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August
Looking for your next at-home movie fix? Each week, our staff will offer their recommendations for international films and TV shows, old and new, classic and obscure, all available online through streaming platforms. Share your #SaferAtHomeCinema thoughts with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to our email list to receive updates!
In this edition, our staff select their desert island films: the three movies they would take with them if they were cast away on an island.
Nate Rulf, Theater Manager
Trapped on a desert island, I want camaraderie, culture and connection—and what more heartwarming and bemusing films than Ishtar (1987, where to watch), the tale of two hopeless New York songwriters (Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman) who find Casablanca-style intrigue when they're booked in Marrakesh; Faces Places (2017, where to watch), in which two artists (Agnès Varda and JR) find a sweet surrogate family and travel the world on the cutest quest conceivable, making monumental art with the nice people they meet on the way; and The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988, where to watch), a loving document of the endless, dopey, deluded party that was hair metal and the strangely endearing goons who perpetuated it, to their own and our endless amusement.
Ishtar, Faces Places, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II
Mark Quigley, the John H. Mitchell Television Archivist
Desert island films—1970s edition. Enter the Dragon (1973, where to watch): A seminal '70s cult flick, eminently rewatchable due to Bruce Lee’s charisma and the exquisite fight scenes he personally choreographed. Shot on location in Hong Kong, the action-packed film successfully combines elements of Bond and Blaxploitation with quiet moments where Lee shares his philosophy on martial arts. An indelible superstar-making turn that forged Lee’s place in cinema history. Nashville (1975, where to watch): Robert Altman and Joan Tewkesbury’s deep ensemble classic is so dense with electrifying music, career-defining performances and intricately interwoven plot lines that it demands repeat viewings in order to absorb it all. Though made mid-decade, perhaps no other film better serves up as profound a time capsule of the American mood in the 1970s. An epic work you live as much as watch. Car Wash (1976, where to watch): With Franklyn Ajaye, George Carlin and Richard Pryor in the cast, Car Wash delivers on laughs, but director Michael Schultz utilizes the film’s diverse ensemble to even greater effect. In between jokes, the progressive (for 1976) slice-of-life touches on Black power, class inequality and features a proud transgender character. The Norman Whitfield-produced hit soundtrack invites you to watch (and listen) again and again.
Enter the Dragon, Nashville, Car Wash
Todd Wiener, Motion Picture Archivist
Singin' in the Rain (1952, where to watch): The perfect musical. Whether it is your 5th or 25th viewing, it joyfully celebrates the golden age of Hollywood with hilarity and profound production finesse. 8 ½ (1963, where to watch): An exceedingly textured and spiritually complex personal meditation from one of our greatest filmmakers. Sadly, Fellini’s brilliant wife Giulietta Masina is not in this particular venture, but I deeply love that this film is all about their complicated relationship/s and resilience. Postcards from the Edge (1990, where to watch): Having obsessively followed the careers of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher since I was a teenager, I’ve always felt a deep attachment to Mike Nichols’ seamless adaptation of Fisher’s semi-autobiographical book. The bittersweet pathos and self-deprecating humor; the piercing industry observations; and the pitch-perfect performances by Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine have made this an all-time personal favorite.
Singin' in the Rain, 8 1/2, Postcards from the Edge
Maya Montañez Smukler, Archive Research and Study Center Officer
These desert island films conjure up a checklist of what you need most to survive: food, storytelling and class warfare. Tampopo (1985, where to watch) brings together the road film and the Western when two dashing truck drivers make a pit-stop at a noodle bar and teach a determined widow how to make the perfect bowl of ramen. In Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019, where to watch), the late Nobel laureate reflects on everything from race politics, Muhammad Ali and the perfect carrot cake. Swept Away… by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (1974, where to watch), Lina Wertmüller’s epic battle of love, sex and class warfare, features an outstanding cast of two—Mariangela Melato and Giancarlo Giannini. What they tell us about survival is that it can be done; what they tell us about love is that it is a battle you cannot resist even though chances are you will lose.
Tampopo, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, Swept Away
< Back to the Archive Blog
