Imitiaz Ali Recco on Film Companion
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali goes back in time and lists all the films that have left a deep impression on him over the years. Some of them he saw as a child with his father in the theatre and others after he started his filmmaking journey in Mumbai. Some were also introduced to him by friend and fellow filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. Ali clarifies that although these films influenced him as a movie watcher, none of them directly shaped the kind of films he makes himself. “While coming up with this list I was trying to find some correlation they could have with my own films but I couldn’t find direct ones. But it’s true that these are movies that have influenced me,” he says.
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- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
- DirectorSergei BodrovStarsOleg MenshikovSergey BodrovSusanna MekhraliyevaTwo Russian soldiers, one battle-seasoned and the other barely into his boots and uniform, are taken prisoner by an anxious Islamic father from a remote village hoping to trade them for his captured son.
- DirectorHrishikesh MukherjeeStarsAmitabh BachchanRakhee GulzarVinod Mehra'Bemisal' is the story of noble orphan Sudhir, who sacrifices everything he has, from the love of his life to his profession and reputation, to save his foster family.Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsShashi KapoorNafisa AliShabana AzmiSet during the 1857 War of Independence, an obsessed Indian Nawab desires to wed a young Anglo-Indian woman, but the girl's obstinate mother stands between them.Streaming on Youtube
- DirectorRamesh SippyStarsSanjeev KumarDharmendraAmitabh BachchanAfter his family is murdered by a notorious and ruthless bandit, a former police officer enlists the services of two outlaws to capture the bandit.Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
- DirectorBimal RoyStarsDilip KumarVyjayanthimalaJohnny WalkerA young man takes shelter in a mansion when a landslide blocks his route to the railway station. Then, he finds the mansion familiar and soon learns about the story of his previous birth.Streaming on Youtube
- 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.Streaming on YouTube
- DirectorJon AmielStarsRichard GereJodie FosterLanny FlahertyA farmer returns home from the Civil War, but his wife begins to suspect that the man is an impostor.Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsSlavko StimacSlobodan AligrudicLjiljana BlagojevicA young man's personality is shaped, involving some weird happenings around.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsPredrag 'Miki' ManojlovicLazar RistovskiMirjana JokovicTwo underground black marketeers, Marko and Blacky, sell weapons to the Communist resistance in wartime Belgrade, living the good life along the way.Streaming on YouTube
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinTakeshi KaneshiroTony Leung Chiu-waiTwo melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal waitress at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
- 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.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsMaribel VerdúGael García BernalDaniel Giménez CachoIn Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsPayman MaadiLeila HatamiSareh BayatA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
- 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.Streaming on Eros Now
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorRaj KapoorStarsNargisRaj KapoorNadiraWhen a young man from a small town decides to make it big in a city, he faces several challenges.Streaming on YouTube
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsLeela NaiduNeena GuptaAnita KanwarA Goan native returns to his now-derelict, palatial childhood home, recalling his family's interpersonal drama during the end of Portuguese rule.Streaming on Netflix
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.Streaming on YouTube
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodGian Maria VolontèMarianne KochA wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsPhilippe NoiretEnzo CannavaleAntonella AttiliA filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.Streaming on YouTube