A few more of my picks have made the list, since the last time I posted.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was my
number 17.
The great performances by the main players, the beautiful colors and the fantastic music by Michel Legrand make this a very pleasant film to watch. The reason why I personally love it so much, is because it tells a very simple story, while making the viewer experience every bit of emotional intensity and profoundness of it. Of course there are plenty of films with a similar plot, but seldom have I seen one that can make me care so deeply about the themes and fictional characters that are tackled and portrayed in it.
In my opinion, the main goal of a storyteller is not always to search for something new or refreshing to tell. That's almost impossible (or at least very difficult) to do, keeping in mind the vast amount of stories that already exist in this world. The most important thing is to make people actually think and feel, while keeping them constantly engaged. Of course I'd encourage people to look for interesting "new" plots and stories to bring out, but this film proves that an old tale about tragic romance can be just as refreshing if it hits the right notes. Atmosphere, effective context and the way a story is told has become way more important than the originality of the content for me.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is surely one of the most moving film experiences I ever had.
Peeping Tom was my
number 22.
The sympathy this film shows for its main character is refreshingly disturbing and it's easy to understand why so many people were taken aback by it at the time of its release. It's probably one of the most ballsy films ever made and I highly respect it for that.
Besides that, Michael Powell is also simply a master of the visual. It's clear that he has an extremely rich cinematic vocabulary (Scorsese still regularly singles him out as one of his favorite directors of all time) and he uses it in extremely effective ways throughout this film. As a viewer who gets part of his satisfaction out of looking at how the director is visually trying to enhance the storytelling, this film was an absolute delight for me to witness.
Playtime was my
number 10.
When looking at the sheer magnitude and the incredible attention to detail that went into every single aspect of this film, which in my opinion results in one of the most mesmerizing and oddly fulfilling film experiences ever (visually and substantively), I think the only right conclusion you can make is that this picture is a cinematic miracle that should be rewatched again and again over time in order to fully captivate its brilliance.
La Dolce Vita was my
number 8.
I actually had three of Fellini's films on my list (tied with Ozu as the director with the most entries on my list). Here's what I said about this one in my Top 101 Thread:
36. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Before seeing this film, you might think that this is simply a large film that shows a glorified and beautiful version of Rome's nightlife spiced with some drama between the elitist characters. Well, in a way you wouldn't be completely wrong, but on the other hand, this film is also completely the opposite of that.
The film does bring us to some wonderful places and most of the time shows wealthy and handsome people partying and getting it on with eachother, but instead of romanticizing this lifestyle that many people always fantasize about so much, Fellini reveals the dark truth about what's beneath all the magnificent clothes, stylish clubs, expensive cars, liters of booze and evenings of sex...
In this world of careless partying and enormous wealth, it seems like noone is actually truly happy. Something seems to be wrong, but what could it possibly be? Don't these people have everything they can wish for?
The sad tragedy that Fellini exposes, is the fact that these characters are all stuck in a superficial reality they can't escape from. They're the people who seem to have everything, but all of them are looking for something "more" in life. True love, truthful connection, a purpose, something that will distract them from the senselessness of their existence and their way of living.
That's not everything, though. The real problem is the "can't escape" part. They are in a way addicted to the emptiness of their existence too. They know they're unhappy with their current status, but at the same time they're not strong, willing or capable enough to turn everything around anymore. They've lost all hope and simply keep going from one wild, but ultimately unfulfilling orgy to the next.
This film does a brilliant job at making the viewer understand the temptations that guide Marcello Mastroianni's character in the first place, but probably even more so the ultimate philosophical hangover he experpiences when he realizes he's wasting every bit of true potential within him. The title "
La Dolce Vita" couldn't be more cynical...
AND YET this film is not really as depressing as I'm making it appear. Fellini knows that life is not black or white, that it's not complete doom and gloom, nor moonlight and roses. There's a sadness and darkness present in this picture, but don't let that distract you from all the sheer beauty and sweetness it also has to offer.
High and Low was my
number 11.
As Holden already said, Kurosawa is way more than simply his (admittedly fantastic) period pieces. I actually started watching his modern day-set films (like
Ikiru,
Stray Dog and
Drunken Angel) before getting to the samurai films he's best known for today amongst regular moviegoers.
I consider
High and Low to be one of my top three Kurosawa films (from what I've seen so far). I agree with Sane when he says it's one of the best directed films of all time. The first third/half of the film, which is (almost) entirely set in one room, is just as engaging and visually interesting as the later parts of the film, in which we get to see the investigation unfold and explore the dark underbelly of the local society. Kurosawa really showcases in this film that he's one of the most brilliantly versatile and profound film directors that ever existed...
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