200 major worldwide classics (ranked)
- Fiction: excludes documentaries, animated movies and shorts.
- Tries to provide a high-level panorama of world cinema (countries, major directors, genres).
- To enhance diversity, only includes one movie by director. To compensate for this, sometimes indicates other of his/her movies that could have made it into this list.
- Listed roughly by artistic and historical importance (1 = most important).
Here is the indicative breakdown by country (disregards director's nationality and co-producing countries): USA: 49 Canada: 2 Latin America: 11 (Mex 3, Bra 3, Arg 2, Chl 1, Col 1, Cuba 1) Italy: 13 France: 9 Germany: 8 UK: 6 Spain: 5 Scandinavia: 8 (Nor 2, Swe 2, Fin 2, Dnk 2) Other Western Europe: 7 (Prt 1, Grc 1, Bel 1, Nld 1, Aus 1, Swi 1, Irl 1) Former Yougoslavia: 4 Eastern Europe: 14 (Pol 5, Hun 4, Cze & Svk 3, Rou 2) Former USSR: 7 Africa: 10 (Egy 2, Alg. 1, Tun 1, Sen 2, Zaf 1, Mli 1, Mrt 1, Bfa 1) Middle East (excl. Egy): 6 (Isr 2, Tur 2, Irn 2) India, Bangladesh: 9 Other Middle Asia: 3 (Pak 1, Afg 1, Sri Lka 1) Japan: 9 China, Taiwan: 9 (Chn 5, Twn 3, Hkg 1) Other East Asia: 8 (Kor 2, Idn 1, Phl 1, Vnm 1, Cam. 1, Tha 1, Mal 1) Australia, New Zealand: 3 (Aus 1, Nzl 2)
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200 titles
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Also: Touch of Evil, etc.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.Also: Ivan the Terrible, Alexander Nevsky, etc.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: La Chienne, Toni, The Grand Illusion, The River, etc. - DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.Also: Metropolis, etc.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: Rashomon, Dersu Uzala, Kagemusha, Ran, etc. - DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn 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.Also: Umberto D
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: Rear Window, North by Northwest, Rebecca, Notorious, etc. - DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.Also: Nosferatu, The Last Laugh
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.Also: The Crucified Lovers, Sansho the Bailiff, Taira Clan Saga, etc.
Click here to read my review of "The Crucified Lovers"
Click here to read my review of "Taira Clan Saga" - DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.Also: City Lights, Modern Times
Click here to read my review of "Modern Times" - DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.Also: Late Autumn, An Autumn Afternoon, Late Spring, etc.
Click here to read my review of "Late Autumn"
Click here to read my review of "An Autumn Afternoon" - DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMarcello MastroianniAnouk AiméeClaudia CardinaleA harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.Also: La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, La Strada, etc.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.Also: The Seventh Seal, Cries and Whispers, Persona, etc.
Click here to read my review of "The Seventh Seal" - DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.Also: Aparajito, The World of Apu, The Music Room
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.Also: The Scarlett Empress, The Devil is a Woman, etc.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsBurt LancasterAlain DelonClaudia CardinaleThe Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily.Also: Death in Venice, The Damned, Senso, etc.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: The Grapes of Wrath, The Man who Shot Liberty Valance - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter 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.Also: Paths of Glory, Barry Lyndon, Dr Strangelove
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: Le Jour se leve, Port of Shadows
Click here to read my review of "Le Jour se leve" - DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 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.Also: Gertrud, Ordet, Vampyr, Day of Wrath
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsCarmela SazioGar MooreWilliam TubbsAmerican military personnel interact warily with a variety of Italian locals over a year and a half in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces make their retreat.Also: Rome Open City, Germany Year Zero, Journey to Italy
Click here to read my review of this movie - DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAnatoliy SolonitsynIvan LapikovNikolay GrinkoThe life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.Also: The Mirror, Stalker, Solaris
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsZbigniew CybulskiEwa KrzyzewskaWaclaw ZastrzezynskiAs World War II and the German occupation ends, the Polish resistance and the Soviet forces turn on each other in an attempt to take over leadership in Communist Poland.Also: The Promised Land, Kanal
- DirectorGlauber RochaStarsGeraldo Del ReyYoná MagalhãesOthon BastosAfter killing his employer when he tries to cheat him out of his payment, a man becomes an outlaw and starts following a self-proclaimed saint.Also: Antonio das Mortes, etc.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.Also: To Have and Have Not, Rio Bravo
- DirectorStanley DonenGene KellyStarsGene KellyDonald O'ConnorDebbie ReynoldsA silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.Also: It's Always Fair Weather, etc.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCarole LombardJack BennyRobert StackDuring the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.Also: Trouble in Paradise, The Shop Around the Corner, etc.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.Also: The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAlfonso MejíaRoberto CoboEstela IndaA group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.Also: The Diary of a Chambermaid, Viridiana, L'Age d'Or, etc.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsRuggero RaimondiJohn MacurdyEdda MoserMozart's opera in lush sets: Don Giovanni, the infamous womanizer, kills Donna Anna's father. He is then chased by Donna Anna's fiancé, Don Ottavio, as well as Donna Elvira, one of his former conquests. But the real threat lies elsewhere.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: The Servant - DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsHumphrey BogartAva GardnerEdmond O'BrienThis is the life of a Hollywood movie star named Maria, as told by writer/director Harry Dawes, from being discovered in Madrid, Spain, until her funeral in Italy.Also: All About Eve, Suddenly Last Summer, etc.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsMartine CarolPeter UstinovAnton WalbrookWhen she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.Also: The Earrings of Madame de, Le Plaisir, Letter from an Unknown Woman
Click here to read my review of "The earring of Madame de" - DirectorSergei ParajanovStarsIvan MikolaychukLarisa KadochnikovaTatyana BestayevaA timeless Carpathian story - the young Ivan falls in love with the daughter of his father's killer among the Hutsul people of Ukraine.Also: The Color of Pomegranates
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiJingwu MaSaifei HeChina in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.Also: To Live
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsMania AkbariAmina MaherKamran AdlA visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: Where is the Friend's Home?, Life and Nothing More, Through the Olive Trees, etc. - DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsMahmoud Al MelejiNagwa IbrahimEzzat El AlailiA small peasant village's struggles against the careless inroads of the large local landowner. The Land shows why political oppression does not necessarily lead to a sense of solidarity among the disinherited.Also: Alexandria... Why?, The Iron Gate (Cairo Station)
- DirectorAmos GitaiStarsYaël AbecassisYoram HattabMeital BerdahTwo sisters become victims of the patriarchal, ultra-orthodox society.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksFritz KortnerFrancis LedererThe rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsJános GörbeZoltán LatinovitsTibor MolnárIn Hungary, the national movement led by Kossuth has been crushed and the Austrian hegemony re-established, but partisans carry on with violent actions. In order to root out the guerilla, the army rounds up suspects and jails them in an isolated fort. The authorities do not have the identity of the guerilla leaders, who are supposed to be present among the prisoners. However, they know enough about some of the suspects to apply perfidious forms of coercion effectively.Also: Red Psalm
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsGabriele FerzettiMonica VittiLea MassariA woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.Also: L'Eclisse, Blow-up, etc.
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsMakhouredia GueyeYnousse N'DiayeIsseu NiangA money order from a relative in Paris throws the life of a Senegalese family man out of order. He deals with corruption, greed, problematic family members, the locals and the changing from his traditional way of living to a more modern one.Also: Moolaadé
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRobert HarronMae MarshThe story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsGibson GowlandZasu PittsJean HersholtThe sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsEleanor BoardmanJames MurrayBert RoachThe life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles, and downfalls.Also: Our Daily Bread
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsLillian GishLars HansonMontagu LoveA frail young woman from the East moves in with her cousin in the West, where she causes tension within the family and is slowly driven mad.Also: The Phantom Carriage
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.Also: Steamboat Bill Jr, The Cameraman, etc.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.Also: The Wizard of Oz
- DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsStepan ShkuratSemyon SvashenkoYuliya SolntsevaIn the peaceful countryside, Vassily opposes the rich kulaks over the coming of collective farming.Also: Shors
- DirectorLeopoldo Torre NilssonStarsElsa DanielLautaro MurúaBerta OrtegosaThe House of the Angel focuses on the ruling class in 1920s Argentina, a deeply repressive society where political arguments were often settled by duels, and young women were expected to be totally ignorant of sex.
- DirectorArturo RipsteinStarsPatricia Reyes SpíndolaAlberto EstrellaBlanca GuerraA female cabaret artist has to leave Berlin, Germany, after an incident with the Nazis. Back in her motherland Mexico she tries and succeeds in remaking her career.Also: El Castillo de la Pureza, Principio y Fin, etc.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsMiyuki KuwanoYûsuke KawazuYoshiko KugaA harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsRock HudsonLauren BacallRobert StackAlcoholic playboy Kyle Hadley marries the woman secretly loved by his poor but hard-working best friend, who in turn is pursued by Kyle's nymphomaniac sister.Also: Imitation of Life, etc.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudAlbert RémyClaire MaurierA young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.Also: Jules et Jim
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe 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.Also: The Bridge on the River Kwai
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsEva KotamanidouVangelis KazanAliki GeorgouliGreece, 1939-1952: Fascist, Nazi, and Communist conflict, as seen through the eyes of a family of travelling provincial players.Also: The Suspended Step of the Stork, etc.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsLuís Miguel CintraDiogo DóriaMiguel GuilhermeEpisodes from entire military history of Portugal are told through flashbacks as a professorish soldier recounts them while marching through a Portuguese African colony in 1973. He easily draws his comrades into philosophical musings, and the little contingent suffers badly at the hands of the local military opposition.Also: La Lettre, etc.
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsAna TorrentConchita PérezMayte SanchezIn the twilight of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, an 8-year-old orphan and her two sisters find shelter in the house of their stern aunt and try their best to acclimatize to a new reality. Can they summon up the courage to grow up?Also: La Caza
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiShu-Fen HsinSung-Young ChenThe story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s.Also: A Time to Live, a Time to Die, etc.
- DirectorMohammed Lakhdar-HaminaStarsYorgo VoyagisMohammed Lakhdar-HaminaLeila ShennaA meticulous chronicle of the evolution of the Algerian liberation national movement. The film demonstrates that the Algerian War was a slow process of revolts and suffering, uninterrupted, from the start of colonization of Algeria in 1830Also: The Winds of the Aures
- DirectorNacer KhemirStarsNacer KhemirSoufiane MakniNoureddine KasbaouiA teacher is assigned to a remote desert village that is obsessed with a mysterious buried treasure and whose children are cursed to wander the desert.
- DirectorSerif GörenYilmaz GüneyStarsTarik AkanSerif SezerHalil ErgünWhen five Kurdish prisoners are granted one week's home leave, they find to their dismay that they face continued oppression outside of prison from their families, the culture, and the government.Also: Hope
- DirectorSouleymane CisséStarsIssiaka KaneAoua SangareNiamanto SanogoA young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.Also: Finye
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsGene TierneyDana AndrewsClifton WebbA police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.Also: Anatomy of a Murder
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsGregory PeckRichard BasehartLeo GennThe sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: The Maltese Falcon, Wise Blood, etc. - DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.Also: Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Witness for the Prosecution, Double Indemnity, Love in the Afternoon
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.Click here to read my review of this movie
Also: Manhattan, Interiors, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Match Point - DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsRod SteigerSalvo RandoneGuido AlbertiPrior to a city council election, the collapse of a building leaves a land developer and his political backers defending themselves against a scandal.Also: Salvatore Giuliano, The Mattei Affair
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsMartin LaSalleMarika GreenJean PélégriMichel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.Also: Au Hasard Balthazar, A Man Escaped, L'Argent, etc.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsKinuyo TanakaKyôko KagawaEiji OkadaA teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.Also: Floating Clouds, etc.
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsMachiko KyôKazuo HasegawaIsao YamagataA samurai pursues a married lady-in-waiting.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsStathis GiallelisFrank WolffElena KaramA young Greek stops at nothing to secure a passage to America.Also: Splendor in the Grass, etc.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsLana TurnerKirk DouglasWalter PidgeonAn unscrupulous movie producer uses an actress, a director and a writer to achieve success.Also: Meet Me in St Louis
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessJoan GreenwoodCecil ParkerAn altruistic chemist invents a fabric which resists wear and stain as a boon to humanity, but big business and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.Also: Sweet Smell of Success
- DirectorYu Hyun-mokStarsMu-ryong ChoiJin Kyu KimJeong-suk MoonA pressured accountant, his war veteran brother and their dysfunctional family struggle with integrating into post-War Korean society.
- DirectorLino BrockaStarsHilda KoronelBembol RocoLou Salvador Jr.Júlio Madiaga, a 'provinciano', arrives in Manila to search for his beloved, Ligaya.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsJosef KemrMagda VásáryováNada HejnaA 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.
- DirectorKaige ChenStarsLeslie CheungFengyi ZhangGong LiTwo boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
- DirectorMrinal SenStarsShabana AzmiAnnu KapoorPankaj KapurSubhash is a photographer from the city, who has come to take pictures of some old temples and ruins in a village. Ruins fascinate him. While in the village, he gets acquainted with a young woman, Jamini, who has had her heart broken in the past, by another visitor from the big city. Will history repeat itself, or will she find a way out of the ruins at last?Also: The Marginal Ones, Genesis
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.Also: Heaven's Gate
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsCecilia RothMarisa ParedesCandela PeñaA comedy-drama about a bereaved mother, and overwrought actress, her jealous lover, and a pregnant nun.Also: Laws of Desire, Talk to Her
Click here to read my review of this "Talk to Her" - DirectorBéla TarrStarsMihály VigPutyi HorváthLászló feLugossyOn 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.Also: The Turin Horse, etc.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsHanna SchygullaKlaus LöwitschIvan DesnyMaria marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. Alone, Maria puts to use her beauty and ambition in order to find prosperity during Germany's "economic miracle" of the 1950s.Also: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsDavid BennentMario AdorfAngela WinklerIn 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.Also: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsSean PennTim RobbinsKevin BaconThe tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.Also: Unforgiven, Bird
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsEiji FunakoshiMantarô UshioYoshihiro HamaguchiIn the closing days of WWII, remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain death by starvation.
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsShûji SanoNobuko OtowaMitsuko MitoAn Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsEmmanuelle RivaEiji OkadaStella DassasA French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.Also: Muriel ou le temps d'un retour, Last year in Marienbad
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.Also: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiRuy GuerraHelena RojoIn the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.Also: Fitzcarraldo, etc.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroCathy MoriartyJoe PesciThe life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.Also: Goodfellas
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsCharlton HestonJack HawkinsStephen BoydAfter a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.Also: The Best Years of our Lives
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsFred AstaireCyd CharisseJanis PaigeA Russian government official is sent to Paris to bring back her comrades; she soon gets a taste of Paris life and falls in love with an American movie producer.Also: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
- DirectorMario MonicelliStarsVittorio GassmanMarcello MastroianniRenato SalvatoriA motley quintet of inept small-time thieves attempt the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsLeon NiemczykJolanta UmeckaZygmunt MalanowiczA couple pick up a hitchhiker on the way to their yacht. The husband invites the young man to come along for their day's sailing. As the voyage progresses, the antagonism between the two men grows. A violent confrontation is inevitable.Also: The Pianist, Chinatown
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDavid BradleyBrian GloverFreddie FletcherA working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.Also: Family Life, Sweet Sixteen
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.Also: 2046, Chunking Express
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartDonna ReedLionel BarrymoreAn angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.Also: It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace