Film Honors: 1979

My own personal choices for the year. They reflect not just necessarily what I think is the best or essential cinema, but perhaps resonate with me or inspire, both at the time, and still today. Subject to alter choices based on viewings.

Cinematography

Michael Ballhaus (Die Ehe der Maria Braun)
Giuseppe Rotunno (All That Jazz)
Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now)
Geoffrey Unsworth, Ghislain Cloquet (Tess)
Derek Vanlint (Alien)

Actor Support

Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now)
Justin Henry (Kramer vs. Kramer)
Ian Holm (Alien)
Dennis Hopper (Apocalypse Now)
Ricky Schroder (The Champ)

Set Designing

Alien
Die Blechtrommel
Die Ehe der Maria Braun
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Costume Designing

Die Blechtrommel
Die Ehe der Maria Braun
Life of Brian
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Tess

Actress Support

Isabelle Adjani (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht)
Diane Keaton (Manhattan)
Ann Reinking (All That Jazz)
Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer)
Katharina Thalbach (Die Blechtrommel)

Sound Designing

Alien
All That Jazz
Apocalypse Now
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Picture Editing

Alien
All That Jazz
Apocalypse Now
Mad Max
Rocky II

Special Effects

Alien
Moonraker
The Muppet Movie
Prophecy
Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Actor Lead

Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer)
Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht)
Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome)
Al Pacino (…And Justice for All)
Roy Scheider (All That Jazz)

Score Composing

Ralph Burns (All That Jazz)
Jerry Goldsmith (Alien)
Peer Raben (Die Ehe der Maria Braun)
Philippe Sarde (Tess)
Popol Vuh (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht)

Directing

Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now)
Bob Fosse (All That Jazz)
Werner Herzog (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht)
George Miller (Mad Max)
Ridley Scott (Alien)

Cast Ensemble

Alien
All That Jazz
Apocalypse Now
Die Ehe der Maria Braun
Manhattan

Actress Lead

Sally Field (Norma Rae)
Jane Fonda (The China Syndrome)
Nastassja Kinski (Tess)
Hanna Schygulla (Die Ehe der Maria Braun)
Sigourney Weaver (Alien)

Screenwriting Adapted

Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer)
Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski, John Brownjohn (Tess)
Jean-Claude Carrière, Volker Schlöndorff, Franz Seitz, Günter Grass (Die Blechtrommel)
Costa-Gavras (Clair de femme)
Jerzy Kosiński, Robert C. Jones (Being There)

Screenwriting Original

Robert Alan Aurthur, Bob Fosse (All That Jazz)
Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman (Manhattan)
Valerie Curtin, Barry Levinson (…And Justice for All)
Pea Fröhlich, Peter Märthesheimer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Die Ehe der Maria Braun)
Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, James Bridges (The China Syndrome)

Motion Picture

Alien (Ridley Scott) UK / USA
All That Jazz (Bob Fosse) USA
Amator (Krzysztof Kieślowski) Poland
…And Justice for All (Norman Jewison) USA
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola) USA
The China Syndrome (James Bridges) USA
Die Ehe der Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) West Germany
Mad Max (George Miller) Australia
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Werner Herzog) West Germany
Tess (Roman Polanski) France / UK