Tag: 1972

Film

‘The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the Penalty,’ directed by Wim Wenders

Movie, 1972 Film following the wanderings of a professional footballer, as he drifts from one place to another and one woman to another, murdering a cinema cashier on the way, and keep tabs on the news and police investigations while he’s at it. I suspect this is a film which can carry and support a number of interpretations, with some of the actions pretty brutal … Continue reading ‘The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the Penalty,’ directed by Wim Wenders

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Film

“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” directed by Luis Buñuel

Movie, 1972 Surreal satire addressing many societal aspects, most notably inequality and class. The various scattered elements – terrorism, martial law, diplomacy, etc – are played out against the backdrop of three couples trying to get together and share a meal. A film which feels of its time and still, somehow, fresh – the army manoeuvres and theatre scenes recall Monty Python, though the latter, … Continue reading “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” directed by Luis Buñuel

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“Fugue for a Darkening Island”, by Christopher Priest

Novel, 1972 A hugely problematic book, where a story of survival and the destruction of the narrator’s family and way of life is set against a backdrop of racial unrest. This is a post-apocalyptic world in which cosy communities just don’t exist like they do in similar novels, and where Africans solely exist in barbaric, largely de-humanised militias, with a back story very quickly dropped … Continue reading “Fugue for a Darkening Island”, by Christopher Priest

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“A Dog’s Ransom” by Patricia Highsmith

Novel, 1972 Story of an Ivy League graduate who’s somewhat compromised over his life on the beat, and who makes a few choices which are both strange, and which lead him into situations he’s hopeless at trying to deal with. A book where the tension is skillfully ratcheted up with the reader taken on a journey focused on a main character who slips away from … Continue reading “A Dog’s Ransom” by Patricia Highsmith

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"Don’t Point That Thing at Me", by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Novel, 1972 Adventures of an art enthusiast and amateur gentleman sleuth, with more than a touch of Wodehouse, some very non-reconstructed 1970s views towards women and “foreigners” and briefly dark passages punctuating the sprightly overall tone of the book. The mixture of keen plotting and a brisk pace make for a compelling read, and while the book isn’t really an absolute classic, there’s more than … Continue reading "Don’t Point That Thing at Me", by Kyril Bonfiglioli

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