Many of us turned into movie fans from a young age, but there’s a difference between watching films and understanding art. We spend years watching the same kind of cinema and never watch anything memorable that will expand our tastes. This could lead us to ignore some of the prized jewels that have been made through this audiovisual experience in the past years.
The Cultura Colectiva+ team has compiled a list of the films they feel are important to start understanding film on a world scale. Some of the directors on this list have more than just one great film. There are films that might be missing from this list that are considered some of greatest. However, they don’t significantly contribute to film history. These are aesthetic, narrative, epic, and even simple. They prove there’s not just one kind of film, vision, or style. In this list you might find some of your favorites. Others, however, can be heavy and, at times, incomprehensible, but are vital to comprehend a context or moment in which cinema shaped the world’s view.
American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes
Incendies (2010) – Denis Villeneuve
Three Colors trilogy (1993) – Krzysztof Kiéslowski
The Tin Drum (1979) – Volker Schölondorff
The 400 Blows (1959) – Francois Truffaut
Citizen Kane (1941) – Orson Welles
The Exorcist (1973) – William Friedkin
Blade Runner (1982) – Ridley Scott
Alien (1979) – Ridley Scott
The Matrix(1999) – The Wachowskis
Interstellar (2014) – Christopher Nolan
Princess Mononoke (1997) – Hayao Miyazaki
My Own Private Idaho(1991) – Gus Van Sant
Cinema Paradiso (1988) – Giuseppe Tornatore
Casablanca (1942) – Michael Curtiz
Amores Perros (2000) – Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu
City of God (2002) – Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund
Gone with the Wind (1941) – Victor Fleming
Taxi Driver (1976) – Martin Scorsese
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) – Sergio Leone
Scarface (1983) – Brian De Palma
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) – Wes Anderson
Her (2014) – Spike Jonze
The Master (2012) – Paul Thomas Anderson
I Killed My Mother (2009) – Xavier Dolan
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) – Sergio Leone
No Country for Old Men (2007) – Brothers Coen
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) – Martin Scorsese
The Blue Kite (1993) – Tian Zhuangzhuang
Persepolis (2007) – Marjane Satrapi/ Vincent Paronnaud
M (1931) – Fritz Lang
Dogville (2003) – Lars von Trier
Jaws (1975) – Steven Spielberg
The Star Wars Trilogy (1977) – George Lucas
The Color Purple (1985) – Steven Spielberg
Life of Brian (1979) – Terry Jones
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) – Jim Sharman
Saturday Night Fever (1977) – John Baham
Rocky (1976) – John G. Avildsen
Spaceballs (1987) – Mel Brooks
Back to the Future I & II (1985) – Robert Zemeckis
Let The Right One In (2008) – Tomas Alfredson
The Piano Teacher (2001) – Michael Haneke
The Lives of Others (2007) – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Steven Spielberg
Irreversible (2002) – Gaspar Noé
Adaptation (2002) – Spike Jonze
Synecdoche, New York (2009) – Charlie Kaufman
Suspiria (1977) – Dario Argento
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – Michel Gondry
Alice in Wonderland (1951) – Clyde Geromini/ Hamilton Luske
Japón (2003) – Carlos Reygadas
Last Tango in Paris (1972) – Bernardo Bertolucci
Akira (1988) – Katsuhiro Otomo
Seven Samurai (1954) – Akira Kurosawa
On the Waterfront (1954) – Elia Kazan
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather I & II (1972) – Francis Ford Coppola
The Great Beauty (2013) – Paolo Sorrentino
The Bycicle Thief (1948) Vittorio de Sica
Wall-E (2008) – Andrew Santon
A Trip To The Moon (1902) – Georgés Méliés
Un Chien Andalou (1929) – Luis Buñuel/Salvador Dalí
The Exterminating Angel (1966) – Luis Buñuel
Y tu Mamá También (2001) – Alfonso Cuarón
The Triplets of Belleville (2003) – Sylvain Chomet
Donnie Darko (2001) – Richard Kelly
Onibaba (1964) – Kaneto Shindo
Magnolia (2000) – Paul Thomas Anderson
Reservoir Dogs (1992) – Quentin Tarantino
Breathless (1960) – Jean-Luc Godard
Raging Bull (1980) – Martin Scorsese
Nanook of the North (1921) – Robert J. Flaherty
Metropolis (1927) – Fritz Lang
The Birth of a Nation (1915) – W.D. Griffith
Rebecca (1940) – Alfred Hitchcock
Hunger (2008) – Steve McQueen
Los Olvidados (1950) – Luis Buñuel
The Bricklayers (1976) – Jorge Fons
Cronos (1992) – Guillermo del Toro
Days of Heaven (1978) -Terrence Mallick
Knife In The Water (1962) – Roman Polanski
Z (1969) – Costa-Gavras
Paris, Texas (1984) – Wim Wenders
Orlando (1993) – Sally Potter
Fitzcarraldo (1982) – Werner Herzog
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972) – Werner Herzog
Paintings from the Chauvet Cave (2012) – Werner Herzog
Pina (2011) – Wim Wenders
In the Mood for Love (2000) – Wong Kar-Wai
This list contains the best screenplays, performances, special effects, historical representations, and more. It’s not definitive, which is why we ask you to give us your opinions. What films would you add or take off?
Translated by María Suárez
