Welcome to 1966, a year of tremendous turmoil worldwide, with the Cold War at its peak, the Vietnam War still on the rise, anti-colonial upheaval across the globe, and rapidly advancing movements for racial justice, gender equality, and sexual liberation. That's all reflected on screen too: the very best movies of 1966 all bring us into the lives of characters living through times of uncertainty, anxiety and possibility, when things have come unmoored, searching for a foundation or a sense of purpose - and sometimes failing to find it, or ruining themselves in the process. It's a heavy year - but these films are also a heck of a lot of fun to watch.
Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck as they discuss the year in cinema, the swinging sixties, the death of the Hays code, Soviet censorship, the cost of war, "the Mount Everest of film," orgies, duels, and the misunderstood legacy of Clint Eastwood - and then we dig into the data and the numbers (and our expert-panel votes) to identify the best film of 1966.
The nominees are Andrei Rublev, Battle of Algiers, Blow Up, The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly, and Persona. Who wins the Moonlight?