Top 1000

by MrDude_o_o | created - 08 Aug 2011 | updated - 06 Sep 2017 | Public

• Decades

00s: 1 film 10s: 3 films 20s: 54 films 30s: 44 films 40s: 53 films 50s: 91 films 60s: 183 films 70s: 129 films 80s: 95 films 90s: 84 films 2000s: 115 films 2010s: 107 films

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1. The Matrix (1999)

R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.

Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Votes: 2,052,735 | Gross: $171.48M

Philosophical topics like skepticism, ethics, belief mixed with revolutionary action scenes. Great performances by Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving. Beautiful cinematography by Bill Pope. Action scenes following each other beautifully, always different angels, it's like watching a comic book. Why no. 1? (As it was asked, comments below.) Firstly, since I saw "The Matrix" in the theater in 1999, this film had invaded my soul and my mind for a long time. I chatted about it endlessly; when I got the DVD, I watched it over and over again; wrote two essays and numerous notes on both this film and the sequels.

Secondly, I do love philosophy and I have been mostly interested in epistemology. For me, The Matrix is pretty unique. There are many philosophical films but they are mostly existentialist pieces. The Matrix, in addition to existentialism, picks a very different field of philosophy i.e. epistemology which philosophers like Plato, Descartes, Berkeley, Hume and Kant had worked on. Any field of philosophy can be used in a film of course but the main difference of The Matrix is, in an interesting way, epistemological arguments are part of the plot.

2. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)

97 min | Drama, Romance

A timeless Carpathian story - the young Ivan falls in love with the daughter of his father's killer among the Hutsul people of Ukraine.

Director: Sergei Parajanov | Stars: Ivan Mikolaychuk, Larisa Kadochnikova, Tatyana Bestayeva, Spartak Bagashvili

Votes: 8,451

I can say that if you haven't seen anything by Parajanov, you haven't seen cinema yet. Those images, compositions, colors. Also we can say that Russian and Eastern European cinema have the most interesting camera work.

3. Stalker (1979)

Not Rated | 162 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

85 Metascore

A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko

Votes: 144,719 | Gross: $0.23M

Brave enough to examine the most sensitive aspects of human nature. I saw "Stalker" back in 1999 and I don't know why but the scene in which writer said "You're just a God's fool" to Stalker engraved in my mind.

4. War and Peace (1965)

GP | 393 min | Drama, Romance, War

The Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.

Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Boris Zakhava

Votes: 8,341 | Gross: $0.13M

5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

After 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.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter

Votes: 719,370 | Gross: $56.95M

I saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" on TV when I was a kid and I guess my love for sci-fi began with this film.

6. Mirror (1975)

Not Rated | 107 min | Biography, Drama

82 Metascore

A dying man in his forties remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments and things that tell of the recent history of all the Russian nation.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Margarita Terekhova, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev, Oleg Yankovskiy

Votes: 52,221 | Gross: $0.18M

Very complex scenes filmed in single shots, images, compositions and the nature of mind which usually doesn't follow a direction.

7. Napoleon (1927)

330 min | Biography, Drama, History

A film about the French general's youth and early military career.

Director: Abel Gance | Stars: Albert Dieudonné, Vladimir Roudenko, Edmond Van Daële, Alexandre Koubitzky

Votes: 8,795

Epic.

8. The Master (2012)

R | 138 min | Drama, History

86 Metascore

A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons

Votes: 186,184 | Gross: $16.38M

A film I am in love with. Can not stop rewatching.

9. Three Colors: Blue (1993)

R | 94 min | Drama, Music, Mystery

87 Metascore

A woman struggles to find a way to live her life after the death of her husband and child.

Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Benoît Régent

Votes: 110,479 | Gross: $1.32M

From the trilogy, I like "Blue" best. Moreover, for me "Blue" is in a different league than "Red" and "White"; you truly get lost with Julie. Beautiful film. So far the best piece about isolation and loneliness I have ever seen.

10. Sleuth (1972)

PG | 138 min | Mystery, Thriller

A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alec Cawthorne, John Matthews

Votes: 50,157 | Gross: $4.08M

"Tell them it was a bloody game."

11. Barton Fink (1991)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller

69 Metascore

A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner

Votes: 128,944 | Gross: $6.15M

12. The Ascent (1977)

111 min | Drama, War

Two Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the winter cold, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.

Director: Larisa Shepitko | Stars: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergey Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova

Votes: 10,106

13. Dorogoy tsenoy (1957)

98 min | Drama

An adaptation of a story by Mikhailo Kotsyubinsky, a Ukrainian writer executed in the Stalinist purges but rehabilitated in 1955, that anticipates the Ukrainian "poetic cinema" of the '60s ... See full summary »

Director: Mark Donskoy | Stars: Vera Donskaya, Yuri Dedovich, Ivan Tverdokhleb, Olga Petrova

Votes: 137

14. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

R | 104 min | Drama, Music

93 Metascore

A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund

Votes: 163,472 | Gross: $13.24M

15. Opening Night (1977)

PG-13 | 144 min | Drama

69 Metascore

A renowned actress teeters on the edge of a breakdown as she counts down the days toward a big Broadway opening.

Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell

Votes: 12,207

16. Andrei Rublev (1966)

R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, History

The life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolay Sergeev

Votes: 57,048 | Gross: $0.10M

17. Blade Runner (1982)

R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos

Votes: 822,971 | Gross: $32.87M

18. Solaris (1972)

PG | 167 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

93 Metascore

A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy

Votes: 98,237

19. Come and See (1985)

Not Rated | 142 min | Drama, Thriller, War

After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.

Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas

Votes: 97,204

20. On the Silver Globe (1988)

Unrated | 166 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

72 Metascore

A team of astronauts land on an inhabitable planet and form a society. Many years later, a single astronaut is sent to the planet and becomes a messiah.

Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Andrzej Seweryn, Jerzy Trela, Grazyna Dylag, Waldemar Kownacki

Votes: 4,565

21. Marketa Lazarová (1967)

Not Rated | 162 min | Drama, History, Romance

A grim portrayal of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in medieval central Europe - as a young virgin promised to God is kidnapped and raped by a marauder who her religious father seeks to kill in return.

Director: Frantisek Vlácil | Stars: Josef Kemr, Magda Vásáryová, Nada Hejna, Jaroslav Moucka

Votes: 6,024

22. Jamilya (1969)

76 min | Drama, Romance, War

Dzhamiliya lives in a kirghizian village. She follows their parents' orders when she marries a man without loving him. Then World War II breaks out and her new husband has to leave the ... See full summary »

Directors: Irina Poplavskaya, Sergei Yutkevich | Stars: Natalya Arinbasarova, Suymenkul Chokmorov, Nasreddin Dubashev, Aliman Zhankorozova

Votes: 305

23. Uncle Vanya (1970)

104 min | Drama

The ordinary life of the Russian provincial intellectuals seems to them gray and bleak. Are exceptions possible?

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy | Stars: Irina Anisimova-Wulf, Sergey Bondarchuk, Irina Kupchenko, Yekaterina Mazurova

Votes: 834 | Gross: $0.05M

Tarkovsky and Konchalovsky met each other in 1960 and they wrote the script for ANDREI RUBLEV together. (Also IVAN'S CHILDHOOD.) It seems this film highly influenced Tarkovksy on making ZERKALO (though as a project, ZERKALO's birth date is 1964, similarity in style can be observed easily).

24. Farewell (1983)

121 min | Drama

Matyora is a small village on a beautiful island with the same name. The existence of the village is threatened with flooding by the construction of a dam. This is the story of the ... See full summary »

Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Stefaniya Stanyuta, Lev Durov, Aleksey Petrenko, Leonid Kryuk

Votes: 762

25. Stray Dogs (2013)

Not Rated | 138 min | Drama

84 Metascore

An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross path with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better life.

Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Kuei-Mei Yang, Yi-ching Lu, Shiang-chyi Chen

Votes: 3,097

26. Melancholia (2011)

R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

81 Metascore

Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.

Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård

Votes: 195,865 | Gross: $3.03M

I discovered this film thanks to Miquel-Angel's list. Some films manage to influence you on an emotional level. After seeing "Melancholia" I couldn't sleep for hours, although I needed some sleep desperately and I walked on the beach with a feeling I couldn't easily define.

27. Under the Skin (I) (2013)

R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

80 Metascore

A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.

Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay, Dougie McConnell

Votes: 158,188 | Gross: $2.61M

Breathtaking film. Scenes where we see random people reminded me of Arthur Lipsett's shorts. Some critics interpreted Lipsett's vision as "misanthropic." So those scenes merging with eerie music perfectly reflect the misanthropy of an alien. We got everything in this film. Minimalist sci-fi (compare with "Beyond The Black Rainbow") and that beautiful obscurity (compare with "Upstream Color").

28. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Biography

In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Del Negro

Votes: 62,271

Can't find the appropriate words for the things Herzog and Kinski accomplished! Still wondering what was written on the script which was ruined by vomit.

29. Love Streams (1984)

PG-13 | 141 min | Drama

Two closely bound, emotionally wounded souls reunite after years apart.

Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Diahnne Abbott, Seymour Cassel

Votes: 6,631

30. Brazil (1985)

R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

84 Metascore

A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.

Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond

Votes: 211,200 | Gross: $9.93M

Perfect film.

31. Satantango (1994)

Not Rated | 439 min | Drama

On the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.

Director: Béla Tarr | Stars: Mihály Vig, Putyi Horváth, László feLugossy, Éva Almássy Albert

Votes: 12,573

Bela Tarr is one of the film-makers who give me what I exactly demand from cinema. It's quiet rare a desire is satisfied perfectly and I'm grateful.

32. Electra, My Love (1974)

70 min | Drama

It has been fifteen years since the death of her father, Agamemnon, and Elektra still burns with hatred for Aegisztosz, who conspired with Elektra's mother to kill him.

Director: Miklós Jancsó | Stars: Mari Törőcsik, György Cserhalmi, József Madaras, Mária Bajcsay

Votes: 1,003

33. Playtime (1967)

Not Rated | 155 min | Comedy

99 Metascore

Monsieur Hulot curiously wanders around a high-tech Paris, paralleling a trip with a group of American tourists. Meanwhile, a nightclub/restaurant prepares its opening night, but it's still under construction.

Director: Jacques Tati | Stars: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Rita Maiden, France Rumilly

Votes: 25,931

Hypnotising. Do not watch it alone; you'll need someone to slap you after you watch it.

34. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)

Not Rated | 148 min | Drama, Romance

The adopted son of a legendary actor, and an aspiring star himself, turns to his infant brother's wet nurse for support and affection - only for her to give up everything for her beloved's glory.

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Shôtarô Hanayagi, Kôkichi Takada, Ryôtarô Kawanami, Kinnosuke Takamatsu

Votes: 4,394

Life becomes a play thanks to the angles Mizoguchi uses. In some scenes Mizoguchi gives the audience the seat in the front row and the view is very much like it is in the theatre.

35. Ivan's Childhood (1962)

Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, War

During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.

Directors: Andrei Tarkovsky, Eduard Abalov | Stars: Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeniy Zharikov, Stepan Krylov

Votes: 39,927

36. Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama

77 Metascore

Where are we humans going? A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. We meet people in the city. People trying to communicate, searching compassion and get the connection of small and large things.

Director: Roy Andersson | Stars: Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Bengt C.W. Carlsson, Torbjörn Fahlström

Votes: 20,347 | Gross: $0.00M

37. Harakiri (1962)

Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery

85 Metascore

When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.

Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba

Votes: 68,628

38. La Jetée (1962)

Not Rated | 28 min | Short, Drama, Romance

The story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.

Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich

Votes: 37,056

The art of photography, the finest source to make a film about time and memory. (Weerasethakul also uses photographs to show us the future in Loong Boonmee Raleuk Chat). Again I'm grateful to Miquel-Angel (comments below) for the recommendation.

39. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Passed | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History

98 Metascore

In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz

Votes: 60,652 | Gross: $0.02M

40. Rashomon (1950)

Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

98 Metascore

The 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.

Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura

Votes: 180,409 | Gross: $0.10M

A cinematic inquiry into the human nature.

41. Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Not Rated | 89 min | Drama

In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.

Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Elena Altieri

Votes: 175,132 | Gross: $0.33M

We the audience have - what I may call - an "artistic-sadomasochist" relationship with De Sica; he hurts us and we enjoy it. I'm so glad that I've finally seen this film; I was missing a lot.

42. The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

97 Metascore

A self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.

Director: Charles Laughton | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason

Votes: 97,336 | Gross: $0.65M

43. Locke (2013)

R | 85 min | Drama

83 Metascore

Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that sets in motion a series of events that threaten his carefully cultivated existence.

Director: Steven Knight | Stars: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott

Votes: 159,566 | Gross: $1.36M

44. Carlito's Way (1993)

R | 144 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

66 Metascore

A Puerto Rican former convict, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of N.Y.C.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo

Votes: 232,342 | Gross: $36.95M

Now, what we got here is a perfect film. Acting, script, direction. The final 25 minutes - including a fantastic long take - is one of the best cinematic experiences I have ever had.

45. Cat's Play (1974)

98 min | Drama, Music

The story of two elderly sisters who exchange letters, and through brief flashbacks we see glimpses of their younger years.

Director: Károly Makk | Stars: Margit Dajka, Ildikó Piros, Elma Bulla, Éva Dombrádi

Votes: 237

A cinematical reply to the question "What would we see, if we could monitor our thought process?"

46. Biutiful (2010)

R | 148 min | Drama, Romance

58 Metascore

A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella

Votes: 94,603 | Gross: $5.10M

47. Winter Sleep (2014)

Not Rated | 196 min | Drama

88 Metascore

A hotel owner and landlord in a remote Turkish village deals with conflicts within his family and a tenant behind on his rent.

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Stars: Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbag, Ayberk Pekcan

Votes: 55,562 | Gross: $0.17M

48. The Celebration (1998)

R | 105 min | Drama

82 Metascore

At Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.

Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Paprika Steen

Votes: 93,856 | Gross: $1.65M

Methodically one of the most innovative films ever. Camera work gives the viewer a "part time job" to work in a birthday party as a cameraman. Vinterberg's technique is not unique of course; for example two years before Festen, Refn's Pusher has the same style. Some angles he uses also remind me of Cranes Are Flying - especially the stairs scene. However, camera work still provides various fresh executions such as there is a scene where camera changes its position quickly (pulled from its place in a harsh way so it can be put in its new position) to follow the car which enters the garden behind a wall or there is a scene where camera behaves like a fly, after a flight, resting on a bed for a short time. Dynamic editing also gives the viewer a great pleasure. Brilliant film-making.

49. Happiness (I) (1935)

Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama

A hapless man undergoes misadventures with avaricious clergy, a tired horse, and a walking granary on his road to collectivized happiness.

Director: Aleksandr Medvedkin | Stars: Pyotr Zinovyev, Yelena Yegorova, Mikhail Gipsi, Viktor Kulakov

Votes: 1,200

50. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

87 Metascore

Cleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.

Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck

Votes: 27,281

51. Apocalypse Now (1979)

R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War

94 Metascore

A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest

Votes: 710,063 | Gross: $83.47M

Seen the Redux version. Brilliant. Will sound cliché but this film is like poetry.

52. The Seventh Continent (1989)

Not Rated | 108 min | Drama

89 Metascore

A European family who plan on escaping to Australia seem caught up in their daily routine, only troubled by minor incidents. However, behind their apparent calm and repetitive existence, they are actually planning something sinister.

Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Birgit Doll, Dieter Berner, Leni Tanzer, Udo Samel

Votes: 16,987

Haneke's film must be one of the biggest influences for independent film-makers.

53. House (1977)

Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Horror

A schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.

Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi | Stars: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ôba, Ai Matsubara

Votes: 33,716

54. Dogville (2003)

R | 178 min | Crime, Drama

61 Metascore

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.

Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson

Votes: 158,631 | Gross: $1.53M

55. Taxi Driver (1976)

R | 114 min | Crime, Drama

94 Metascore

A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks

Votes: 920,514 | Gross: $28.26M

"You Talkin' to Me?"

56. Last Year at Marienbad (1961)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.

Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff, Françoise Bertin

Votes: 24,882 | Gross: $0.06M

57. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)

Not Rated | 124 min | Drama

96 Metascore

In medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô

Votes: 18,224

This is not a film, this is the fire itself.

58. Breaking the Waves (1996)

R | 159 min | Drama

82 Metascore

Oilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.

Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr

Votes: 71,556 | Gross: $4.04M

Story of love and sacrifice. A true tearjerker.

59. Greed (1924)

Not Rated | 140 min | Drama, Thriller, Western

The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.

Director: Erich von Stroheim | Stars: Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller

Votes: 10,758 | Gross: $0.16M

Seen the "restored" version (239 min.) A masterpiece with one of the most powerful endings. I can see how the modern filmmakers have drawn inspiration from "Greed".

60. Ugetsu (1953)

Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy, War

A tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Mitsuko Mito

Votes: 25,810 | Gross: $0.01M

61. Blow-Up (1966)

Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

82 Metascore

A fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle

Votes: 67,635

62. Persona (1966)

Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Thriller

86 Metascore

A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand

Votes: 130,895

63. Bad Blood (1986)

Unrated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

74 Metascore

As a deadly virus which infects people who have loveless sex sweeps Paris, a lonely pariah attempts to steal a potent antidote, only to fall for the mistress of his partner-in-crime. Is the infectious young love the cure to the bad blood?

Director: Leos Carax | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Hans Meyer

Votes: 9,320 | Gross: $0.02M

Another innovative piece of art.

64. Angst (I) (1983)

Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller

A troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.

Director: Gerald Kargl | Stars: Erwin Leder, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Silvia Ryder, Karin Springer

Votes: 13,460

A disturbing masterpiece with tremendous camera work.

65. Pusher III (2005)

Not Rated | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

72 Metascore

Milo tries to be a family man and run his criminal organization, but a wrong drug shipment endangers everything.

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Zlatko Buric, Marinela Dekic, Slavko Labovic, Ramadan Huseini

Votes: 18,057

66. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Romance

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.

Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, Marcel Journet

Votes: 13,642

67. Medea (1988 TV Movie)

76 min | Drama

84 Metascore

Medea 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... See full summary »

Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Udo Kier, Kirsten Olesen, Henning Jensen, Solbjørg Højfeldt

Votes: 3,638 | Gross: $0.02M

68. Wild Strawberries (1957)

Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Romance

88 Metascore

After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand

Votes: 114,956

69. The Sandglass (1973)

124 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

Józef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.

Director: Wojciech Has | Stars: Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Irena Orska, Halina Kowalska

Votes: 4,964

With its beautifully crafted sets, it fascinates the viewer. The way the colors were used is simply charming. It's like watching surreal paintings coming to life.

70. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

Unrated | 193 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

100 Metascore

A mysteriously linked pair of young women find their daily lives preempted by a strange boudoir melodrama that plays itself out in a hallucinatory parallel reality.

Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier

Votes: 6,355 | Gross: $0.03M

Rivette is simply showing what cinema is truly capable of.

71. Pather Panchali (1955)

Not Rated | 125 min | Drama

Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.

Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Banerjee, Chunibala Devi

Votes: 38,533 | Gross: $0.54M

"Have you ever seen a train?"

72. Strike (1925)

Not Rated | 82 min | Drama

A group of oppressed factory workers go on strike in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Director: Sergei Eisenstein | Stars: Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Maksim Shtraukh, Mikhail Gomorov, I. Ivanov

Votes: 8,622

73. Fitzcarraldo (1982)

PG | 158 min | Adventure, Drama

The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.

Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes

Votes: 38,578

74. Through the Olive Trees (1994)

G | 103 min | Drama

A depiction of the off-screen relationship between the actors who play the newlyweds in the film And Life Goes On (1992).

Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Mohamad Ali Keshavarz, Farhad Kheradmand, Zarifeh Shiva, Hossein Rezai

Votes: 9,989 | Gross: $0.04M

Love has never been told cinematically this beautiful before. The best ending to a film ever.

75. Thirst (1957)

Not Rated | 146 min | Drama, Musical, Romance

Vijay, a talented but indigent poet, struggles for love and recognition in this selfish world.

Director: Guru Dutt | Stars: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha, Rehman Khan

Votes: 7,275

76. The Shooting Party (1978)

105 min | Drama, Romance

A romantic drama in which a beautiful but poor young woman has to choose between three suitors: an old widower, a decadent nobleman and a handsome but poor young man.

Director: Emil Loteanu | Stars: Galina Belyaeva, Oleg Yankovskiy, Kirill Lavrov, Leonid Markov

Votes: 1,191

77. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)

R | 103 min | Drama, Romance

85 Metascore

A boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.

Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Kim Ki-duk, Oh Yeong-su, Jong-ho Kim, Kim Young-min

Votes: 86,809 | Gross: $2.38M

78. A Woman Is a Woman (1961)

Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

71 Metascore

An exotic dancer is desperate to become a mother and accepts her reluctant boyfriend's suggestion that she be impregnated by his best friend.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henri Attal

Votes: 19,188 | Gross: $0.10M

I like to compare these two Godard films with Joyce's "Ulysses". The most creative films - without being too experimental - I have ever seen.

79. Pierrot the Fool (1965)

Not Rated | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Aicha Abadir

Votes: 36,935

"My name is Ferdinand."

80. Winter Light (1963)

Not Rated | 81 min | Drama

A small-town priest struggles with his faith.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom, Max von Sydow

Votes: 27,087

What Bergman accomplished is beyond script-writing or film-making. A philosophical piece and a very strong one.

81. 21-87 (1964)

Not Rated | 10 min | Documentary, Short

Snippets from discarded footage, and with footage shot on the streets of Montreal and New York City, combined to a collage with the underlying argument as to whether man is a complex machine or a creature with a soul.

Director: Arthur Lipsett

Votes: 688

82. Short Cuts (1993)

R | 188 min | Comedy, Drama

81 Metascore

The day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.

Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Andie MacDowell, Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins, Bruce Davison

Votes: 47,382 | Gross: $6.11M

83. Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947)

Approved | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy

After learning how to look inside himself, a poetic bum sells people vivid dreams.

Director: Hans Richter | Stars: Jack Bittner, Libby Holman, Josh White, Norma Cazanjian

Votes: 943

Ever wondered what it would be like if we had MTV in the 40s?

84. Vivre sa vie (1962)

Not Rated | 85 min | Drama

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe, Guylaine Schlumberger

Votes: 34,991

85. The Samurai (1967)

GP | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

90 Metascore

After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier

Votes: 57,135 | Gross: $0.04M

"What do you want?" - "To kill you."

86. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

R | 135 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

65 Metascore

A proud strip club owner is forced to come to terms with himself as a man when his gambling addiction gets him in hot water with the mob, who offer him only one alternative.

Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Robert Phillips

Votes: 14,749

87. The Hunt (2012)

R | 115 min | Drama

77 Metascore

A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.

Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm

Votes: 364,301 | Gross: $0.69M

88. Rope (1948)

Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

73 Metascore

Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Dick Hogan

Votes: 153,603

A technical wonder which consists of 11 long takes masterfully linked to each other (by a "rope") from Hitchcock, the mentor of all, from Godard to Tarkovsky. In 1947 Ophüls with "The Exile" offered some long takes but Hitchcock's idea was quiet unique. Later we see Tarkovsky followed this example with his "Offret". And finally what Hitchcock couldn't do due to technical incapabilities of his time was done by Sokurov, next entry.

89. Russian Ark (2002)

Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, History

87 Metascore

A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.

Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky

Votes: 21,814 | Gross: $0.04M

Nice editing, because there is none. Welles', Tarkovskiy's or Wajda's long takes may impress you but Sokurov's film is something beyond that. The film is actually one single long take which runs 96 minutes.

90. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

100 Metascore

The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.

Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins

Votes: 314,318 | Gross: $44.82M

Though for the first time I saw it when I was a kid, I couldn't forget O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence.

91. 1900 (1976)

Unrated | 317 min | Drama, History

70 Metascore

The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth-century Italy as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Francesca Bertini

Votes: 27,281

Now this is perfect film-making; though it runs 5 hours, in my first viewing, I have never got bored and never checked the time. A historical materialist view on class struggle; memorable performances from Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Burt Lancaster and Donald Sutherland; pain; joy and celebration.

92. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

PG-13 | 166 min | Western

82 Metascore

A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards

Votes: 349,053 | Gross: $5.32M

93. The Travelling Players (1975)

230 min | Drama, History, Music

Greece, 1939-1952: Fascist, Nazi, and Communist conflict, as seen through the eyes of a family of travelling provincial players.

Director: Theodoros Angelopoulos | Stars: Eva Kotamanidou, Vangelis Kazan, Aliki Georgouli, Kiriakos Katrivanos

Votes: 4,351

94. The Color of Pomegranates (1969)

Not Rated | 79 min | Biography, Drama, History

The 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.

Director: Sergei Parajanov | Stars: Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Alekyan, Vilen Galstyan, Gogi Gegechkori

Votes: 13,543

A series of beautiful compositions by Parajanov.

95. Post Tenebras Lux (2012)

Not Rated | 115 min | Drama

69 Metascore

Juan and his urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. And nobody knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another.

Director: Carlos Reygadas | Stars: Nathalia Acevedo, Adolfo Jiménez Castro, Rut Reygadas, Eleazar Reygadas

Votes: 5,941 | Gross: $0.04M

"In the past, my existence was enough, now it's Eleazar and Rut's turn." A film about nature and man, innocence and wickedness, life and death, happiness and tragedy, ordinary and disordinary, reality and the myth. The best opening sequence I have ever seen.

96. Seven Samurai (1954)

Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama

98 Metascore

Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.

Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki

Votes: 366,766 | Gross: $0.27M

Epic story of the samurai defending a village "just for rice".

97. Street Angel (1928)

Not Rated | 102 min | Drama

A woman on the run from the law finds her past catching up to her just as she is on the verge of true happiness.

Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Natalie Kingston, Henry Armetta

Votes: 2,570 | Gross: $3.71M

98. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Not Rated | 163 min | Drama, Romance, War

From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook, James McKechnie

Votes: 16,348

99. Army of Shadows (1969)

Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, War

99 Metascore

An account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret

Votes: 25,843 | Gross: $0.74M

100. Rififi (1955)

Not Rated | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

97 Metascore

Four men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...

Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Janine Darcey

Votes: 36,836 | Gross: $0.06M

A masterpiece from beginning to end.



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