Cinema is a way of life: for some it is a mere means of indulgence, while for others it is a profound medium to satiate the intellect. Cinema’s omnipresence gives it the enormous potential to entertain and educate. In fact, cinema is the most effective means of communication ever devised as the message reaches everywhere and to everyone. Cinema that is primarily light-hearted and humorous can help punctuate the monotony associated with mundane lifestyles, while cinema that is thought-provoking can have cathartic effects on the viewers. Cinema can also become a medium to portray the deepest of the human emotions and thoughts that are otherwise inexpressible.
The commercialization of cinema has taken it a long way in becoming a ubiquitous medium of entertainment. While the technical advancements have transformed cinema into an exact science the attributes of art that make it insightful have taken a back seat. And cinema is increasingly becoming an instrument to generate revenue which has made people forget its true purpose and meaning.
Here is a compilation of my favorite films (in no particular order) that I have chosen from the films watched over the past few years. And while I have watched many I believe that I have just reached the tip of the iceberg, for I have been introduced to the real good ones only recently (not to mention the ones that get added every year). If you find one or more of your favorite films missing from the list then it’s highly likely that I may not have watched them yet.
Ran (1985), Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Stalker (1979), Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Solyaris (1972), Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Citizen Kane (1941), Directed by Orson Welles
Dersu Uzala (1975), Directed by Akira Kurosawa
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
8½ (1963), Directed by Federico Fellini
Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Rashomon (1950), Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Directed by David Lean
Ivan the Terrible [Part I (1944) & Part II (1958)], Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein
Bicycle Thieves (1948), Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Metropolis (1927), Directed by Fritz Lang
Belle de Jour (1967), Directed by Luis Buñuel
Andrei Rublev (1966), Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
The Seventh Seal (1957), Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972), Directed by Werner Herzog
Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Directed by Sergio Leone
The Three Colors Trilogy [Blue (1993), White (1994), Red (1994)], Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
Dekalog (Ten-Episode TV Series, 1988), Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
Doctor Zhivago (1965), Directed by David Lean
The Conversation (1974), Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Fellini Satyricon (1969), Directed by Federico Fellini
The Night of the Iguana (1964), Directed by John Huston
Le Samouraï (1967), Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Duck, You Sucker (1971), Directed by Sergio Leone
The Apu Trilogy [Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), Apu Sansar (1959)], Directed by Satyajit Ray
Apocalypse Now (1979), Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The Trial (1962), Directed by Orson Welles
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010), Directed by Raúl Ruiz
The Damned (1969), Directed by Luchino Visconti
Touch of Evil (1958), Directed by Orson Welles
Night Moves (1975), Directed by Arthur Penn
Get Carter (1971), Directed by Mike Hodges
Last Tango in Paris (1972), Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Le cercle rouge (1970), Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Heat (1995), Directed by Michael Mann
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Directed by Sergio Leone
Harakiri (1962), Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
A Clockwork Orange (1971), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
The Godfather Trilogy [Part I (1972), Part II (1974), Part III (1990)], Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Gone With the Wind (1939), Directed by Victor Fleming
Yojimbo (1961), Directed by Akira Kurosawa
North By Northwest (1959), Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
The Kid (1921), Directed by Charles Chaplin
The Europe Trilogy [The Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1987), Europa (1991)], Directed by Lars von Trier
The Turin Horse (2011), Directed by Béla Tarr
The Tree of Life (2011), Directed by Terrence Malick
Paths of Glory (1957), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
High and Low (1963), Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Korol Lir (1971), Directed by Grigori Kozintsev
Full Metal Jacket (1987), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Dr. Strangelove (1964), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Queimada (1969), Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
Dead Man (1995), Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Viridiana (1961), Directed by Luis Buñuel
La Strada (1954), Directed by Federico Fellini
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Directed by Ang Lee
Scarface (1983), Directed by Brian De Palma
Hannibal (2001), Directed by Ridley Scott
Magic (1978), Directed by Richard Attenborough
Amadeus (1984), Directed by Milos Forman
Crash (1996), Directed by David Cronenberg
Mr. Klein (1976), Directed by Joseph Losey
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011), Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
The Return (2003), Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
The Depression Trilogy [Antichrist (2009), Melancholia (2011), Nymphomaniac (Vol. 1 & 2) (2013)] Directed by Lars von Trier
The Great Beauty (2013), Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Guide (1965), Directed by Vijay Anand
F for Fake (1973), Directed by Orson Welles
Frenzy (1972), Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Barry Lyndon (1975), Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Shoot the Piano Player (1960), Directed by François Truffaut
La Jetée (1962), Directed by Chris Marker
Chinatown (1974), Directed by Roman Polanski
Sunset Blvd. (1950), Directed by Billy Wilder
Jalsaghar (1958), Directed by Satyajit Ray
Pyaasa (1957), Directed by Guru Dutt
Mirror (1975), Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Blood Simple (1984), Directed by Joel Coen
L’Eclisse (1962), Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
The Duellists (1977), Directed by Ridley Scott
Blue Velvet (1986), Directed by David Lynch
Hey Ram (2000), Directed by Kamal Hassan
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Directed by Steven Spielberg
12 Angry Men (1957), Directed by Sidney Lumet
The King of Comedy (1982), Directed by Martin Scorsese
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), Directed by Juan José Campanella
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Directed by Andrew Dominik
Lust, Caution (2007), Directed by Ang Lee
Live Flesh (1997), Directed by Pedro Almodovar
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Directed by Martin Scorsese
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), Directed by Tommy Lee Jones
There Will Be blood (2007), Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), Directed by Martin Ritt
Midnight in Paris (2011), Directed by Woody Allen
Magnolia (1999), Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Eastern Promises (2007), Directed by David Cronenberg
Yusuf Trilogy [Egg (2007), Milk (2008), Honey (2010)], Directed by Semih Kaplanoglu
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), Directed by Kundan Shah
Note: This article was originally published here