Continuing my resurrected journey of watching each of the British Film Institute’s 100 best films of the 20th Century. Starting at 100 and working my way to Orson Welles’ The Third Man at number 1. Today, vintage cars in the 1953 film, Genevieve. I’ll keep these short updates spoiler-free. Consider them a small record of moving through this series.
It’s funny how things change. When I took my first shot at this BFI project, I watched Genevieve and remember enjoying it. On re-watching, the film left me irritated, and I wanted it to end. Released the day after my dad was born, the film is 70 years old this year and while it did make me smile, it bored me. The 3rd of 5 films directed by South-African, Henry Cornelius, the film tells the story of 2 couples getting involved in all sorts of hi-jinks competing in a vintage car rally. It is odd though, through the prism of the post-millennium craze for all things retro, to imagine there being the first mania for vintage cars in the early 1950s. It’s not a bad film, and there is plenty of farcical fun. I was not in the mood for it, I suspect.