The 75 best looking films ever made

Sansho is a beautiful looking film. The shadows and lights of the Japanese countryside stand out in Kazuo Miyagawa's cinematography. The use of water and wind to exacerbate emotions and moving scenes is also prominent. A true great of world cinema.

Here's rooting for Princess Mononoke

Sacha Vierny's use of colour in this one is eye popping. The greens of the kitchen area to the blues of the outside and the reds to symbolize danger whenever Michael Gambon's filthy character is around. Visually arresting, gorgeous cinema. Changes in colour are done very well too.... The shot where Helen Mirren seems to float from white to red is beautiful:

Another film where the set design is so well thought out that it acts as a remarkable backdrop to several scenes. John Bailey's use of colour is pretty great. It is Schrader's best film (that I've seen) and is close to a masterpiece.

There's also a subtle nod to Bertolucci's The Conformist at one point:

Yeah, I would really have this movie up there in my list if I ever made lists. Striking film. Really sort of overlooked these days.

I was introduced to this film on this very forum, via a foreign language hall of fame (which it won). I am not a fan of musicals at all, so would likely never have watched this film. It does not have one spoken word in. It's all sung. So while the movie didn't really work for me, I did enjoy how it looked and its' heartbreaking story.

Jean Rabier's use of colour is striking, most notably the blues and pinks and oranges. The wardrobes used by the characters fit the wallpaper and the furniture and surroundings. It's masterfully done.

I expect to see this film high up the foreign language all time countdown, and while it's not one of my favourite films, I can see why it's so revered by cinephiles. It's certainly one of the best looking.

Have you seen The Young Girls of Rochefort? I'm of the unpopular opinion that it's better than The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

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I remember people saying that at the time but no I still haven't delved into his filmography if I'm honest. I will one day.

Sansho The Bailiff is indeed lovely and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is easily my favourite of the handful of Greenaway I've seen.

Not seen either Mishima: A Life in four Chapters or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, once again I'm a bad MoFo

We share this opinion.

This is my favourite Coen Brothers film. It's just bursting with noir homages and mystery. It's another entry for Roger Deakins too, who shows us some tremendous lighting reminiscent of Citizen Kane, The Exorcist and The Third Man. Billy Bob Thornton is also perfectly cast as the chain smoking protagonist. I feel it's a bit of a forgotten Coen brothers film as it never gets ranked highly in their filmography. Shame as it's stunning to look at.

Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' isn't just one of the best looking films ever made, it's one of the biggest influences on 'modern cinema'. Storaro's cinematography seems to revolutionze the way war films were shot, with more precise and eerie camerawork choices, colours that seem out of place, slow motion shots. Yes, Storaro was not the first to use these techniques but with this film, they are shoved in the viewers face.

As a result, there are many scenes that stick in the mind, and films have payed homage. Take a look below how Apocalypse Now (left) influenced Mallick's The Thin Red Line (right):


And again, more recently, how it influences Alejandro Landes film 'Monos':


These are very deliberate homages. They are not coincidences. They are directorial choices made my filmmakers that are so impressed / influenced / obsessed with those shots that they want to put them in their own films to create the same sense of dread / mystery / tension that they first felt when watching Apocalypse Now. There aren't many more compliments a film can have than to influence other films this directly. And Apocalypse Now does this time and time again. Perhaps this film should have been higher up the list!

Two more films I also have on my best looking list, nice work on the Apocalypse Now shots comparison!

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Thanks! And nice list.

Impressive movie indeed. Superb cinematography and very catching how the movie tells the story.

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On most days these days, I'd agree. At least my favorite since Fink, although nostalgia weighs heavy on those early ones for me. I certainly agree that it's the most criminally overlooked film in their catalogue.

Sirk's 'All that Heaven Allows' is a masterclass of colour and full of life filmmaking. Many scenes are bathed in blue, perhaps to indicate sadness and the doom laden atmosphere in the main plot about the relationship between the two characters. Then as the film progresses, there are more pinks, yellows and oranges right up until the finale.

Russell Metty's clever use of different colour lighting really stands out, so much so that it lights up entire backgrounds / streets / fields etc. It's a really pretty film, and even if the plot is a little melodramatic, it's worth seeking out just to gawp at the images.

The Man Who Wasn't There does indeed contain some lovely light/shadow work and Apocalypse Now is a good choice for a list such as this as well. I've seen All That Heaven Allows but not for decades which means it's just the vaguest of vague memories now so it wouldn't be right for me to comment on that one.

Cool list. Thanks for sharing.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Suspiria is quite famous for Argento's use of colours, and rightly so. The film features an array of brightly lit interiors. It also has gorgeous set design. I'm no expert in giallo and haven't seen that many but Suspiria is one of the finest looking horror films of all time. It's also extremely spooky and mysterious. Right from the start with all that rain that sets the scene, it's essential viewing.