Three Dozen Greatest Films of All Time, by Alexander Soifer
When my university film students asked me for my ten greatest films of all time, I realized that ten would not work, and selected three dozen great works of cinematic art. Perhaps, I should have chosen five dozen or 100 films, but here we are!
You probably noticed that when the celebrated film critics select their "10", they nearly exclusively select black and white films. Of course, b&w is already an abstraction and thus instantly looks like an art. In my opinion, color present greater difficulties in creating art - colorit, or color harmony alone present a great task for a director. And so I believe it is harder to create a masterpiece in color, and this somewhat influenced my selection.
Would be happy to receive constructive feedback!
You probably noticed that when the celebrated film critics select their "10", they nearly exclusively select black and white films. Of course, b&w is already an abstraction and thus instantly looks like an art. In my opinion, color present greater difficulties in creating art - colorit, or color harmony alone present a great task for a director. And so I believe it is harder to create a masterpiece in color, and this somewhat influenced my selection.
Would be happy to receive constructive feedback!
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- DirectorOtar IosselianiStarsKatja RupéAlix de MontaiguFrançois MichelA porcelain table service and a painting from the 19th century pass from hand to hand and deteriorate over time, sealing the fate of different characters who cross paths in an unusual Paris.Directed by Otar Iosseliani
- DirectorTengiz AbuladzeStarsAvtandil MakharadzeZeinab BotsvadzeIa NinidzeVarlam, the despotic mayor of a small town, dies. After his funeral, his body is repeatedly unearthed and buried again. Through flashbacks and dreamlike scenes, we witness his rise, power and ambiguities.Directed by Tengiz Abuladze
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsDaniel OlbrychskiStanislawa CelinskaAleksander BardiniThe film opens with the mad rush of haphazard freedom as the concentration camps are liberated. Men are trying to grab food, change clothes, bury the tormentors they find alive. They are then herded into other camps as the Allies try to devise means to control the situation. A young poet, who cannot quite find himself in this new situation, meets a headstrong young Jewish girl who wants him to run off with her to the West. He cannot cope with her growing demands for affection, and still feels hatred for the Germans and disdain for his fellow men, who quickly revert to petty enmities.Directed by Andrzej Wajda
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsIrène JacobWladyslaw KowalskiHalina GryglaszewskaTwo parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don't know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonLiv UllmannKari SylwanWhen a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.Directed by Ingmar Bergman
- DirectorDerek JarmanStarsNoam AlmazDexter FletcherNigel TerryA retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.Directed by Derek Jarman
- DirectorSergei ParajanovStarsSofiko ChiaureliMelkon AlekyanVilen GalstyanThe life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, from childhood to death: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavors, and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia. Hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.Directed by Sergei Paradzhanov
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsOleg YankovskiyErland JosephsonDomiziana GiordanoA Russian poet and his interpreter travel to Italy researching the life of an 18th-century composer, and instead meet a ruminative madman who tells the poet how the world may be saved.Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsSilvana ManganoFranco CittiAlida ValliRescued from abandonment and raised by the King and Queen, Oedipus is still haunted by a prophecy--he'll murder his father and marry his mother.Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsLuc SimonLaura Duke CondominasHumbert BalsanKing Arthur learns that his wife, Queen Guinevere, has been having an affair with Lancelot, who at the same time remains loyal to the king, particularly after Arthur's traitorous nephew Mordred commits an attempt on his life.Directed by Robert Bresson
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsMichalis ZekeTania PalaiologouStratos TzortzoglouTwo children journey the long road to Germany to find the man they believe to be their father.Directed by Theo Angelopoulos
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.Directed by Jane Campion
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsUlrich ThomsenHenning MoritzenThomas Bo LarsenAt Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJack NicholsonMaria SchneiderJenny RunacreUnable to find the war he's been asked to cover, a frustrated war correspondent takes the risky path of co-opting the identity of a dead arms-deal acquaintance.Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsGérard DepardieuWojciech PszoniakAnne AlvaroIn 1793, as the Terror begins in France, Georges Danton, a champion-of-the-people, returns to clash against Maximilien Robespierre and his extremist party.Directed by Andrzej Wajda
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsVladimir GarinIvan DobronravovKonstantin LavronenkoIn the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father - a man they know only through a single photograph - resurfaces.Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsMaria CallasMassimo GirottiLaurent TerzieffAfter his quest to retrieve the fabled Golden Fleece, Jason returns to Greece with powerful sorceress Medea. However, when the king banishes her, it's only human that Medea plots her furious revenge. Can they escape her wrath?Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsNatalya BondarchukDonatas BanionisJüri JärvetA psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBibi AnderssonLiv UllmannMargaretha KrookA nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.Directed by Ingmar Bergman
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.Directed by Kurosawa Akira
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.Directed by Miloš Forman
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsNatalie PortmanMila KunisVincent CasselNina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.Directed by Darren Aranofsky
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsUdo KierKirsten OlesenHenning JensenMedea is in Corinth with Jason and their two young sons. King Kreon wants to reward Jason for his exploits: he gives the hand of his daughter, Glauce, to Jason as well as the promise of the throne. In exchange, Medea and the boys are to be banished. Jason explains that his actions ensure a rich future for Medea and her sons. She asks that she be allowed to stay; Kreon refuses. She asks for one more day, and begs Jason to seek the king's permission to allow their sons to stay in Corinth. Jason agrees and Medea prepares a gift for her sons to give to Glauce. Will Medea leave peacefully?Directed by Lars von Trier
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.Directed by Stanley Kubrick