Tuesday, May 27, 2008

10 films you must watch before you die..!!

I have put together a list of film which i have felt are probably the most original films ever made,who also have a very good entertainment value. Quite a few of my favorite films have not made to this list because either they were based on a book or were inspired by an actual event.
This list is also a compilation of top 10 films of world cinema, and i have put it together based on the little knowledge that i have on the subject matter and the films that i have seen,and how they have effected me .

So this list doesn't generalizes anything and its just the list of my personal favorites which i feel should be seen by people who are interested in watching quality films.


So here it goes......


1.

Chinatown (USA) -

Directed by Roman Polanski , the film redefined Noir, an exceptional film, multi layerd and complex this film is nothing short of brilliant, a killer screenplay by Robert Towne and beautifully acted by Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston.


2.

Children's of Heaven (Iran)

Directed by Majid Majidi, probably the simplest film ever made, People who think Tare Zameen pe and Masoom( Shekhar Kapoor) were sensitive..they must see this, the film totally depends on the interplay of the two protagonist which the child actors have pulled off with elen .


3.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Korea)

Directed by Chan-wook-Park whose more popular film is Old Boy and with Old Boy getting away with so much acknowledgment and focus.this little gem gets over shone by its predecessor ,which is a shame cause its is the strongest of three film in the Vengeance Trilogy ( Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance, Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance).


4.

Audition (Japan)

Directed by Takashii Mike, this film is a film which took Japan by a storm , starts out like a family drama/comedy later turning into what some calls Japan's answer to "Fatal Attraction", very Hitchcockian and still original in its own right.


5.

Man bites Dog (Belgium)

Directed by Rémy Belvaux & André Bonzel The film which set new trend in the convention of breaking the fourth wall, the mockumentary style of narrative, this dark comedy may sometime get very difficult to watch ,but this still remains to be a film which was way ahead of its time.


6.

Cinema Paradiso (Italy)

Although Guissipie Tornatore made a few other films which were widely accepted, this by far remains to be his best work till date , anyone who is in love with films and the whole craft will have no problem identifying with the central character and although on surface this looks like a coming of age film, its way more than that, probably one of the most satisfying cinematic experience.


7.

Blowup (UK)

Michelangelo Antonioni's first English Film and its a home run, so many films till today have tried to lift up the underlying themes of voyeurism and plot points from this one, but the original still outshines all of them..A timeless Classic thats what this one is.


8.

Seven Samurai's (Japan)

Its nearly impossible ,not to have this film in this list . since this is the film which put the Japanese Cinema on the world map, this film made in 1954 has aged like a wine with time and has actually become better. If you have reservations against watching a 3 hrs long foreign film done in Black and white and if you think its going to bore you out of your wits, you couldn't be more wrong..


9.

City of God (Brazil)

Directed by Fernando Meirelles this is a supernova of a film which explodes on the screen from the very first scene and hooks you,and then it plays backwards unveiling the chain of events that have lead to the opening sequence, the raw and agressive style of direction just compliments the story and keeps you riveted till the end credits start to roll.


10.

Dolace Vita La (Italy)

Federico Fellini probably started the trend of episodic film with interconnected stories with this one and though it was made in 1960 ,it still remains to be the best film with interpolated narratives of various stories,
the film is cold and poignant and leaves you awestruck once you are done watching it.



Following are worthy mentions who came real close to making to this list:

Blade runner (final Cut)
Amelie
Jamon Jamon
Fallen Angels
Rashamon
Dileverance
straw Dogs
2001 A Space Odessy
Funny Games

6 comments:

R Kamal said...

Wow!this was long expected from you...i love this post,

chinatown tops the list...great!

aroop said...

:D Thanks Man..glad you liked it

Jafar said...

Yeah, nice post and a worthwhile list..I've seen most of them...and yes, will watch the rest before I die!

Looks like you've been playing around with wacom. I see pretty decent stuff spread all across. My fav however is the "Haircut"!

Thanks for your comments on my blog. Its always a pleasure.

Regards

aroop said...

Thanks Jafar bhai.. :)

Phani Tetali said...

hey, nice post!

no further update from you for a long time. Waiting for us to watch all these films or waiting for us to die?

:-)

thanks for your comments on my blog!

aroop said...

lol..mortality is something i dont have any control over (sigh)or the list would be 100 films to watch until you live.. lol :)

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