329. The Godfather Part II
Less a sequel and more a cloak that wraps itself around the original, it has a son haunted by the memory of his dead father.
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328. Nosferatu
Long before it was revered as a masterpiece, F.W. Murnau’s radical reimagining of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel had to be saved from the furnaces.
327. The Godfather
Regarded as the greatest gangster picture of them all, the passing years continue to reveal new layers and meanings in Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece.
326. Pather Panchali
Pather Panchali translates into English as Song of the Road, but the production was so arduous and fortuitous it should be called Song of Miracles.
325. Munich
Upon its release, Munich was attacked for historical inaccuracy, political naivety and moral equivalency. But it is one of Spielberg’s greatest works.
324. Y Tu Mamá También
This drug fuelled tale of two youths and an older woman in search of a mythical beach is really about social connectivity.
323. Saturday Night Fever
While mostly remembered for John Travolta’s dancing, his white suit hides misogyny, racism, homophobia and gang rape.
322. Yi Yi
As the title to Edward Yang’s masterpiece indicates, Yi Yi is a series of doubles; narrative, thematic, visual and aural, that deliver a subtle family portrait.
321. Die Hard
What makes a classic film? The plot’s originality, director’s vision, or the star’s magnetism? Paradoxically, any, all, yet none of the above. It’s the audience.
320. Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers was Ingmar Bergman’s fourth colour film but with a palette of just black, white and red, he still painted deep emotions and vivid dreams.
319. 2001: A Space Odyssey
For all its groundbreaking effects and narrative innovation, this owes a debt to a romantic fantasy and a Soviet propaganda film.
318. Battleship Potemkin
Sergei Eisenstein devised montage for black and white and silent film. How have sound, colour and digital extended his theories?
317. The Cook the Thief his Wife & her Lover
First seen as a critique of Thatcherism, this now lives in the era of MeToo and Time’s Up.
316. The Marriage of Maria Braun
In The Marriage of Maria Braun, Rainer Werner Fassbinder mixed Hollywood melodrama, historical drama and political indictment.
315. Letter from an Unknown Woman
Max Ophuls’ adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s novella is more than a romance; it explores memory, delusion and the meaning of art.
314. Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion
Elio Petri’s bitterly satirical Oscar winner from 1970 cuts a stark picture of today’s political leaders.
313. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Critics have long called Robert Altman’s 1971 picture a revisionist western. Truth is, the western has always been revising itself.
312. Les Diaboliques
Often called the greatest thriller Hitchcock never made, Les Diaboliques is based on a book written to catch the attention of the Master of Suspense.
311. Peeping Tom
Reviled upon its release and long out of circulation, the influence of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom is now to be found in the most unexpected places.
310. Pandora’s Box
There has never been a more iconic and influential hairstyle in all of cinema than ‘the black helmet’ sported by Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box.
309. The Ladykillers (1955)
Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom may star, but Katie Johnson gives one of cinema’s greatest comedic performances.
308. Wadjda
Precious few films celebrate the joys of riding a bike. Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda is more than just a celebration; it is a dissection of an entire culture.
307. Easy Rider
Upon its release, it seemed that Easy Rider typified the spirit of the nineteen-sixties. But it really should be viewed as the first film of the seventies.
306. Bicycle Thieves
Many films enjoy exaggerated reputations, but it is almost impossible to underestimate the beauty, truth and importance of Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves.
