I don’t consider myself a cinema connoisseur and could never understand the finesses critics find in films such as their quintessential favorite Citizen Kane.
To me films just have to be emotionally uplifting but of course it helps if they’re esthetically appealing, too. Following is my top ten list of movies (in no particular order; I even took the liberty of including TV series and listing three films under a “Trilogy”).
Cinema Paradiso by Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988
Speaking of “emotionally uplifting”, here my favorite growing up story; a testament to love of cinema and its impact. Below the final scene with Alfredo’s compilation of censored kisses. Music by Ennio Morricone is divine.
Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen, 1981
Watch how the fresh and enthusiastic group of young men turns into a haggard, pale, stinky, and nerve-wrecked crew of a submarine in its claustrophobic conditions. Following is one of the most nail-biting moments in the movie where the sub recovers from a nearly fatal damages inflicted by the British in the u-boat’s failed attempt to sail through the Gibraltar and the vessel starts to raise from the “rock bottom”.
Nothing beats watching samurai movies to start your day off. Best examples of the genre below.
Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, 1954
The action, humor, great characters, great optimism, “human spirit”, faced with the greater realities; all here:
Harakiri aka Seppuku by Masaki Kobayashi, 1962
The macho world of the samurai becomes an empty shell as an outdated, brutal code of honor faces the human reality.
One, Two, Three by Billy Wilder, 1961
I could have selected any of Wilder’s movies (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard) but I think this is the most unappreciated one.
Crimes and Misdemeanors by Woody Allen, 1989
The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray
Pather Panchali 1955
Aparajito 1956
Apur Sansar 1959
Heimat Trilogy by Edgar Reitz
Heimat I: Eine deutsche Chronik, 1984
Heimat II: Die Zweite Heimat – Chronik einer Jugend, 1993
Heimat III: Chronik einer Zeitenwende, 2004
Following is a compilation from the three parts.
Come and See by Elem Klimov
Never has war been portrayed quite so harrowingly and realistically; in all its terror, as seen through the eyes of a Ukrainian youth during the Nazi occupation. Just look at the expression of the main character in these amazing scenes:
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring by Kim Ki-duk, 2003
