Alex Barrett is an independent filmmaker and critic. His debut feature, LIFE JUST IS, was released in December 2012. For information, please visit Life Just Is and/or AlexBarrett.net.
The two lists which follow were thrown together in something of a rush, and without much thought. It's arguable, however, that such a process makes them more instinctual and therefore more accurate than they would be if I'd have spent more time on them. Either way, I reserve the right to change my mind!
It's probably worth noting that towards the bottom of my ranked list of 'cinema's greatest films' are several works which I don't much care for. I'll leave to the reader to guess where in the list these films begin. In contrast to this, bar the first two films listed, I found it extremely difficult to rank many of the works placed towards the top of the list. Haste and lack of analysis were therefore the only ways to complete the list on time and without going insane.
- The Passion of Joan of Arc | Carl Th. DREYER | 1928
- Ordet | Carl Th. DREYER | 1955
- Barry Lyndon | Stanley KUBRICK | 1975
- Andrei Rublev | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1966
- Stalker | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1979
- 2001: A Space Odyssey | Stanley KUBRICK | 1968
- L'Avventura | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1960
- L'Eclisse | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1962
- Gertrud | Carl Th. DREYER | 1964
- Sátántangó | TARR Béla | 1994
- Battleship Potemkin | Sergei EISENSTEIN | 1925
- Metropolis | Fritz LANG | 1927
- In the Mood for Love | WONG Kar-wai | 2000
- Persona | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1966
- The Seventh Seal | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1957
- Pickpocket | Robert BRESSON | 1959
- Raging Bull | Martin SCORSESE | 1980
- Mirror | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1975
- Bicycle Thieves | Vittorio DE SICA | 1948
- Les Enfants du Paradis | Marcel CARNÉ | 1945
- Fanny & Alexander | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1982
- The Third Man | Carol REED | 1949
- Casablanca | Michael CURTIZ | 1942
- Taxi Driver | Martin SCORSESE | 1976
- La Jetée | Chris MARKER | 1962
- Un Chien Andalou | Luis BUÑUEL | 1929
- La Dolce Vita | Federico FELLINI | 1960
- M | Fritz LANG | 1931
- A Man Escaped | Robert BRESSON | 1956
- Wild Strawberries | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1957
- 8½ | Federico FELLINI | 1963
- Man with a Movie Camera | Dziga VERTOV | 1929
- Seven Samurai | KUROSAWA Akira | 1954
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | F.W. MURNAU | 1927
- Aguirre, Wrath of God | Werner HERZOG | 1972
- Apocalypse Now | Francis Ford COPPOLA | 1979
- The Searchers | John FORD | 1956
- Citizen Kane | Orson WELLES | 1941
- The Leopard | Luchino VISCONTI | 1963
- Journey to Italy | Roberto ROSSELLINI | 1954
- Rashomon | KUROSAWA Akira | 1950
- A Matter of Life and Death | POWELL & PRESSBURGER | 1946
- The Godfather | Francis Ford COPPOLA | 1972
- The Godfather: Part II | Francis Ford COPPOLA | 1974
- A Brighter Summer Day | Edward YANG | 1991
- Lawrence of Arabia | David LEAN | 1962
- Sans Soleil | Chris MARKER | 1983
- Vertigo | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1958
- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp | POWELL & PRESSBURGER | 1943
- The Spirit of the Beehive | Víctor ERICE | 1973
- Modern Times | Charles CHAPLIN | 1936
- Madame de… | Max OPHÜLS | 1953
- Le Mépris | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1963
- Greed | Erich VON STROHEIM | 1924
- Pather Panchali | Satyajit RAY | 1955
- The Battle of Algiers | Gillo PONTECORVO | 1966
- Psycho | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1960
- The Night of the Hunter | Charles LAUGHTON | 1955
- Sunset Blvd. | Billy WILDER | 1950
- Touch of Evil | Orson WELLES | 1958
- City Lights | Charles CHAPLIN | 1931
- The Magnificent Ambersons | Orson WELLES | 1942
- Blade Runner | Ridley SCOTT | 1982
- Blue Velvet | David LYNCH | 1986
- Breathless | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1960
- North by Northwest | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1959
- La Règle du Jeu | Jean RENOIR | 1939
- Partie de Campagne | Jean RENOIR | 1936
- The General | Clyde BRUCKMAN & Buster KEATON | 1927
- Some Like It Hot | Billy WILDER | 1959
Unranked
(aka the shameful gaps in my viewing)
- L'Atalante | Jean VIGO | 1934
- Au Hasard Balthazar | Robert BRESSON | 1966
- Beau Travail | Claire DENIS | 1999
- Chinatown | Roman POLANSKI | 1974
- Close-Up | Abbas KIAROSTAMI | 1990
- The Colour of Pomegranates | Sergei PARAJANOV | 1968
- The 400 Blows | François TRUFFAUT | 1959
- La Grande Illusion | Jean RENOIR | 1937
- Histoire(s) du Cinéma | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1998
- Imitation of Life | Douglas SIRK | 1959
- Intolerance | D.W. GRIFFITH | 1916
- Jeanne Dielman | Chantal AKERMAN | 1975
- Late Spring | OZU Yasujirō | 1949
- La Maman et la Putain | Jean EUSTACHE | 1973
- Mulholland Dr. | David LYNCH | 2001
- Nashville | Robert ALTMAN | 1975
- Once upon a Time in the West | Sergio LEONE | 1968
- A One and a Two | Edward YANG | 2000
- Pierrot le Fou | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1965
- Play Time | Jacques TATI | 1967
- Rear Window | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1954
- Rio Bravo | Howard HAWKS | 1959
- Sansho Dayu | MIZOGUCHI Kenji | 1954
- Sherlock Jr. | Buster KEATON | 1924
- Shoah | Claude LANZMANN | 1985
- Singin' in the Rain | Stanley DONEN & Gene KELLY | 1952
- Tokyo Story | OZU Yasujirō | 1953
- Touki-Bouki | Djibril DIOP MAMBÉTY | 1973
- Ugetsu Monogatari | MIZOGUCHI Kenji | 1953
- The Wild Bunch | Sam PECKINPAH | 1969
Alternative 100
- About Schmidt | Alexander PAYNE | 2002
- The Age of Innocence | Martin SCORSESE | 1993
- AI: Artificial Intelligence | Steven SPIELBERG | 2001
- Akira | ŌTOMO Katsuhiro | 1988
- Alexander the Great | Theo ANGELOPOULOS | 1980
- Alice in the Cities | Wim WENDERS | 1974
- American Pie | Paul WEITZ | 1999
- Batman Returns | Tim BURTON | 1992
- Before Sunrise | Richard LINKLATER | 1995
- Before Sunset | Richard LINKLATER | 2004
- La Belle et la Bête | Jean COCTEAU | 1946
- Birth | Jonathan GLAZER | 2004
- Blow-Up | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1966
- The Cabinet of Dr Caligari | Robert WIENE | 1920
- Café Lumière | HOU Hsiao-hsien | 2003
- Camera Buff | Krzysztof KIEŚLOWSKI | 1979
- Casino | Martin SCORSESE | 1995
- A City of Sadness | HOU Hsiao-hsien | 1989
- A Cock and Bull Story | Michael WINTERBOTTOM | 2005
- A Cottage on Dartmoor | Anthony ASQUITH | 1929
- Cria Cuervos | Carlos SAURA | 1976
- Cries and Whispers | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1972
- The Crucible | Nicholas HYTNER | 1996
- Daisies | Vera CHYTILOVÁ | 1966
- Day of Wrath | Carl Th. DREYER | 1943
- Days of Being Wild | WONG Kar Wai | 1990
- The Devil, Probably | Robert BRESSON | 1977
- The Devil's Backbone | Guillermo DEL TORO | 2001
- Dr Mabuse, the Gambler | Fritz LANG | 1922
- Duck Season | Fernando EIMBCKE | 2004
- Edward Scissorhands | Tim BURTON | 1990
- The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser | Werner HERZOG | 1974
- Europa '51 | Roberto ROSSELLINI | 1952
- Eyes Wide Shut | Stanley KUBRICK | 1999
- Francis, God's Jester | Roberto ROSSELLINI | 1950
- Freaks | Tod BROWNING | 1932
- Full Frontal | Steven SODERBERGH | 2002
- Gangs of New York | Martin SCORSESE | 2002
- The General Line | Sergei EISENSTEIN | 1929
- Die Gezeichneten | Carl Th. DREYER | 1922
- Good Night, and Good Luck. | George CLOONEY | 2005
- Heaven | Tom TYKWER | 2002
- Hidden | Michael HANEKE | 2005
- In the City of Sylvia | José Luis GUERÍN | 2007
- The Innocents | Jack CLAYTON | 1961
- Jackie Brown | Quentin TARANTINO | 1997
- King of the Hill | Steven SODERBERGH | 1993
- Lalka | Wojciech HAS | 1968
- Landscape in the Mist | Theo ANGELOPOULOS | 1988
- The Last Laugh | F.W. MURNAU | 1924
- The Last Picture Show | Peter BOGDANOVICH | 1971
- The Last Temptation of Christ | Martin SCORSESE | 1988
- Mamma Roma | Pier Paolo PASOLINI | 1962
- Manhattan | Woody ALLEN | 1979
- The Matrix | The WACHOWSKIs | 1999
- Meshes of the Afternoon | Maya DEREN & Alexander HAMMID | 1943
- Michael | Carl Th. DREYER | 1924
- The Motorcycle Diaries | Walter SALLES | 2004
- Naked Island | SHINDŌ Kaneto | 1960
- Napoleon | Abel GANCE | 1927
- New York, New York | Martin SCORSESE | 1977
- Die Nibelungen | Fritz LANG | 1924
- Nostalgia | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1983
- Oedipus Rex | Pier Paolo PASOLINI | 1967
- Onibaba | SHINDŌ Kaneto | 1964
- Out of Sight | Steven SODERBERGH | 1998
- Pan's Labyrinth | Guillermo DEL TORO | 2006
- The Parson's Widow | Carl Th. DREYER | 1920
- The Passenger | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1975
- Paths of Glory | Stanley KUBRICK | 1957
- The Portuguese Nun | Eugène GREEN | 2009
- Predator | John MCTIERNAN | 1987
- The Proposition | John HILLCOAT | 2005
- Ratcatcher | Lynne RAMSAY | 1999
- The Red and the White | JANSCÓ Miklós | 1967
- Saraband | Ingmar BERGMAN | 2003
- The Saragossa Manuscript | Wojciech HAS | 1965
- Sawdust and Tinsel | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1953
- The Seashell and the Clergyman | Germaine DULAC | 1928
- The Shining | Stanley KUBRICK | 1980
- Sleepy Hollow | Tim BURTON | 1999
- Solaris | Steven SODERBERGH | 2002
- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring | KIM Ki-duk | 2003
- Stromboli | Roberto ROSSELLINI | 1950
- Summer Hours | Olivier ASSAYAS | 2008
- Three Colours: Blue | Krzysztof KIEŚLOWSKI | 1993
- Three Colours: Red | Krzysztof KIEŚLOWSKI | 1994
- The Trip | Roger CORMAN | 1967
- The Turin Horse | TARR Béla | 2011
- 12 Angry Men | Sidney LUMET | 1957
- 21 Grams | Alejandro GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU | 2003
- The Usual Suspects | Bryan SINGER | 1995
- Vampyr | Carl Th. DREYER | 1932
- Waking Life | Richard LINKLATER | 2001
- The Weeping Meadow | Theo ANGELOPOULOS | 2004
- Werckmeister Harmonies | TARR Béla | 2000
- Winter Light | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1962
- The Wolf Man | George WAGGNER | 1941
- Woman of the Dunes | TESHIGAHARA Hiroshi | 1964
- X2 | Bryan SINGER | 2003
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