Rank: 20
Release Year: 1948
Genre: Romance/Drama/Ballet
Plot
Summary: Victoria Page is a young ballerina who is discovered by ballet impresario
Boris Lermontov, who asks for nothing less than her full devotion to her art.
He has devised a new ballet just for her – The Red Shoes; however, during
production, she falls in love with the equally up-and-coming composer Julian
Craster (who is composing the score for the ballet). She is torn between the
two. Lermontov will make her a superstar, but asks everything, while Craster is
the man that she loves. Her art or Her heart?
What
Makes It Special: The Red Shoes is one of the most beautiful films ever
created. Powell & Pressburger are masters of cinema, especially their
Technicolor films (always working with wonderful collaborators). This is their
finest. The ballet scenes alone are breathtaking. The drama is all consuming as
it engages its viewers on a deeply emotional level. The Red Shoes is a flawless
film of aesthetic beauty, technical craftsmanship, and dramatic power. The
score is also among cinema’s very best.
Rank: 19
Release Year: 1956
Genre: Western
Plot
Summary: Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards sets off on a harrowing journey
to rescue his niece from a Comanche tribe that has taken her prisoner during a
raid, accompanied by his nephew Martin (who is 1/8th Indian himself).
What first seems like an act of heroism turns dark when Edwards’s hatred for
the Indians begins to boil over. As their search begins to take over a year, a
question starts to form in Martin’s mind – is Edwards searching for his niece,
who has certainly been assimilated by the Indians, to bring her home or kill
her.
What
Makes It Special: The Searchers is in many ways the quintessential
Western, made by the genre’s most iconic team: John Ford and John Wayne. What
makes it interesting, however, is that Ford takes the classic cowboys and
Indians dynamic (the cowboys being heroes and the Indians villains) and starts
to dig deeper into it, revealing something much darker and warped. The film
also speaks to the true darkness within man (as Edwards gets a special pleasure
from killing Indians), even one whose motives may at first appear heroic and
even moral. All this is set against the stunning visuals of Arizona’s Monument
Valley, producing a film that is both aesthetically and dramatically striking.
Rank: 18
Release Year: 1959
Genre: Drama
Plot
Summary: Antoine Doinel just cannot find his place. He does not like
school and is mostly ignored at home. In an effort to find something new and
meaningful, he runs away from home, turning to a life of petty crime to get by.
What
Makes It Special: The 400 Blows launched the French New Wave movement
with Francois Truffaut as its primary architect. Simply, this is a story about
growing up and finding oneself (one’s liberty in an oppressive world), but
Truffaut took French cinema and completely revolutionized it with this simple
story. He made a film that feels vital, vibrant, and visceral. It feels real.
Truffaut shot the film in the streets of Paris using real people and real life
situations. It is refreshingly brand new, influencing independent cinema and
future filmmakers across the world.
Rank: 17
Release Year: 1928
Genre: Drama
Plot
Summary: After Jeanne d’Arc was captured, she was put on trial for
heresy in 15th Century France. This film chronicles the trial as her
ecclesiastical jurists try to force her to recant her claims of holy visions.
What
Makes It Special: The Passion of Joan of Arc from Danish auteur Carl
Theodor Dreyer is possibly the most emotionally powerful and overwhelming film
ever made, many calling Maria Falconetti’s performance the greatest in film
history (in all earnestness, she is not an actress playing a role, but the
embodiment of Jeanne – scared, alone, and filled with an unyielding sorrow for
what has befallen her). The title is a play on the trial of Jesus Crist leading
to his death. Similarly, Jeanne d’Arc is abused, tortured, and humiliated all
before being burned at the stake. The film is devastating, profound, and extraordinary.
Dreyer showcases the power of the close-up, utilizing it to its most compelling
effect, changing cinema’s narrative language forever. He also used distorted camera
angles to create emotional reactions in viewers – a whole atmosphere of the
utmost sincerity juxtaposed by the cruelty of man. The film is a plea to
humanity to turn away from the bitter hubris that seems to rule (something that
allows man to judge, hate, persecute, and even murder those that are perceived different
than themselves, often in the name of God – these prejudices and hatred shame
and scar us all).
Rank: 16
Release Year: 1948
Genre: Drama
Plot
Summary: Living in Italy’s economic post-war depression, Antonio Ricci
finally gets a job (which means everything to the survival of his family);
however, a thief steals his bicycle – vital to his job. Now, he and his son
must search the city for his bicycle or watch as his job goes to someone else
and his family back into destituteness.
What
Makes It Special: Bicycles Thieves (or sometimes called The Bicycle
Thief) looks at post-WWII Italy – the national shame and economic depression
that had overtaken the country. It is a poignant story of desperation in the
face of overwhelming poverty. Vittorio De Sica wanted to tell stories about the
average Italian, giving birth to Italian Neoralism, focusing on the poor and
working class. He filmed on location with non-professional actors, striving to
give a voice to the changing Italian psyche and to expose the conditions of
their everyday lives. The film is incredibly touching and powerful, and
ultimately effective both narratively and emotionally.
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