305. Blow Out
Rear Window, Vertigo, Blowup, Weekend, the Zapruder film and The Conversation are all to be seen and heard in Brian De Palma’s Blow Out.
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304. The Gospel According to Matthew
How did a blasphemous, homosexual, Marxist, atheist manage to make the greatest film about the life of Jesus Christ?
303. Blowup
Originally titled A Girl, a Photographer and a Beautiful April Morning, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Palme d’Or winner is still as enigmatic fifty years on.
302. Festen
William Shakespeare, Sigmund Freud, Ingmar Bergman and John Cassavetes are just some of the disparate influences on view in Thomas Vinterberg’s masterpiece.
301. Alien
We are told we watch horror films because they offer a vicariously thrilling, and thus safe experience. I don’t believe that. I believe horror films are instructive.
300. The Wages of Fear
Described as the most evil film ever made, Henri George Clouzot’s masterpiece resembles Hemingway, Hitchcock, neo-realism and Casablanca.
299. The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg’s adaptation of George Langelaan’s short story is appropriately, a fusion of Icarus, Prometheus, Frankenstein and Beauty and the Beast.
298. The Great Beauty
While Paolo Sorrentino’s film follows in the footsteps of Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni, its quest arrives at a very surprising answer.
297. A Matter of Life and Death
Francois Truffaut once claimed ‘cinema’ and ‘Britain’ were incompatible. Powell and Pressburger proved him wrong.
296. Un Chien Andalou
This film lasts seventeen minutes, features mutilation, insects and dismemberment. Yet it is one of the most influential ever made.
295. The Silence of the Lambs
Jonathan Demme’s film is a classic because its Little Red Riding Hood plot mines the moral depths of its central characters.
294. Ida
In ancient Greece, all violence took place off stage. How can filmmakers show the violence of the Holocaust without exploiting the memory of the victims?
293. A Clockwork Orange
Kubrick’s controversial film remains relevant because of the Ludovico Technique’s conversion therapy: Pray Away the Gay.
292. La Ronde
Released in 1950, Max Ophuls’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s scandalous play is a landmark exhibition of theme and style operating in perfect harmony.
291. Does Plot Matter?
For thousands of years, drama theorists from Aristotle to Robert McKee have been telling writers that plot is everything. But is that all there is to drama?
290. Babette’s Feast
In adapting Karen Blixen’s short story, Gabriel Axel chose to omit the politics and focus on the religious parable. But really, it works best as a recipe for life.
289. Meet Me in St. Louis
This hit from 1944 delivered one of the all-time classic Yuletide songs – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – as well as redefined the musical genre.
288. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
With his Palme d’Or winning masterpiece, Jacques Demy wove more than a musical. He delivered a socially relevant story worthy of tragic opera.
287. Reds
As the US embraced Reaganomics and Hollywood found the formula for the modern blockbuster, Warren Beatty embarked on a project examining the origins of American communism.
286. The Battle of Algiers
The impact of Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece is so great that it extends far beyond cinema and into terrorist organisations, as well as the US Pentagon.
285. Hannah and her Sisters
Woody Allen’s romantic drama draws from unusual sources; the Great American Songbook, Italian opera and Russian literature.
284. Belle de Jour
Long thought to be a satire on bourgeoise marriage, Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece is really a study of the traumas suffered by a sexual assault victim.
283. Dog Day Afternoon
With Frank Pierson’s Oscar-winning script, Sidney Lumet’s thriller is a masterclass in breaking the basic rules of screenwriting.
282. The Leopard
All countries have troubled histories they would rather forget. The Leopard is a masterpiece that admits to those troubles as well as the failure to fix them.
