1985: A Vintage Year for Cinema-Fifteen Films That Still Resonate
Thirty-nine years after their release, a remarkable collection of films from 1985 continue to captivate audiences and influence filmmakers, showcasing a diverse range of genres and styles that defined a generation. From groundbreaking horror to iconic comedies and thought-provoking dramas, 1985 delivered a cinematic bounty that remains strikingly relevant today. these films weren’t just products of their time; they became timeless.
The year saw a confluence of established directors hitting their stride and emerging talents making their mark, resulting in a slate of movies that pushed boundaries and explored complex themes. This wasn’t simply a strong year for box office hits; it was a period of artistic innovation,offering a snapshot of cultural anxieties and aspirations that still resonate with modern viewers. Here are fifteen gems from 1985 that deserve revisiting-or discovering for the first time.
1. The Breakfast Club: John Hughes’s iconic teen drama remains a cornerstone of coming-of-age cinema, exploring the complexities of high school social dynamics.
2. Back to the Future: Robert Zemeckis’s time-travel adventure became a cultural phenomenon, blending science fiction, comedy, and heartfelt storytelling.
3. Brazil: Terry Gilliam’s dystopian satire is a visually stunning and darkly humorous commentary on bureaucracy and technology.
4. Witness: Peter Weir’s thriller, starring Harrison ford, expertly blends suspense with a poignant exploration of cultural clashes.
5. The Color Purple: Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel is a powerful and moving story of resilience and female empowerment.
6. Rambo: First Blood Part II: George P. Cosmatos’s action sequel cemented Sylvester Stallone’s status as an action icon.
7. Year of the Dragon: Michael Cimino’s neo-noir crime thriller offers a gritty and unflinching look at New York City’s Chinatown.
8. Enemy Mine: Wolfgang Petersen’s science fiction film explores themes of prejudice and understanding through an unlikely alliance.
9. The Man with the Golden Gun: John Glen’s James Bond adventure delivers classic espionage thrills with Roger Moore in the lead role.
10. Marie: Alain Resnais’s drama is a poignant exploration of aging and memory, featuring a compelling performance by Simone Signoret.
11. The company of Wolves: Neil Jordan’s atmospheric horror film,described as ”a story with very different movements,” all variations on the central theme and “building to the fairy tale that everybody knows.” The production design and gorgeously sensual cinematography-all achieved on a limited $2 million budget-further enhance the dreamlike atmosphere.The Company of Wolves, like the fairy tale that inspired it, is an unapologetically Freudian metaphor for Rosaleen’s romantic and sexual awakening, in which she discovers her own power, which both frightens and fascinates her. It’s rare to find such a richly layered film rife with symbolism and brooding imagery.
12. Desperately Seeking Susan: In this quintessential 1980s screwball comedy about mistaken identity, Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) is a dissatisfied upper-class New Jersey housewife fascinated by the local tabloid personal ads, especially messages between two free-spirited bohemian lovers, Susan (Madonna) and Jim (robert Joy). She follows Susan one day and is conked on the head when a mob enforcer mistakes her for Susan, who had stolen a pair of valuable earrings from another paramour, who had stolen them from a mobster in turn. Roberta comes to with amnesia and, believing herself to be Susan, is befriended by Jim’s best friend, Dez (Aidan Quinn). Desperately Seeking Susan is director Susan Seidelman’s love letter to the (admittedly sanitized) 1980s counterculture of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, peppered with cameo appearances by performance artists, musicians, comedians, actors, painters, and so forth of that time period. The script is rife with witty one-liners and a stellar supporting cast, including John Turturro as the owner of a seedy Magic Club, Laurie Metcalf as Roberta’s sister-in-law Leslie, and a deadpan Steven Wright as Leslie’s dentist love interest. It’s breezy, infectious, frothy fun, and easily Madonna’s best acting role, perhaps because she is largely playing herself.
**13. *
