The Lady Eve (dir. Preston Sturges, 1941) 3.5/5
With its preposterous story and cynical satire, Preston Sturges’ romantic comedy, The Lady Eve, still manages to charm and entertain with its story concerning a conwoman falling in love with her rich and naive mark.
The Rules Of The Game (dir. Jean Renoir, 1939) 5/5
Jean Renoir’s denigrated, vilified, and banned masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, takes a farcical and satirical look at French society during a weekend shooting party at a country chateau.
Man With A Movie Camera (dir. Dziga Vertov, 1929) 5/5
Dziga Vertov’s extraordinary filmmaking experiment, Man With A Movie Camera, gives an exhilarating account of life in the Soviet Union, over the course of one day, with its inventive use of dissolves, split screen, slow motion, and freeze-frame.
Bicycle Thieves (dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1948) 4.5/5
Vittorio De Sica’s affecting neo-realist classic, Bicycle Thieves, explores desperation and survival in a post-war Italy suffering from privation with the simple yet powerful story of a man and his son in search of their stolen bike.
Private Road (dir. Barney Platts-Mills, 1971) 4/5
Barney Platts-Mills’ enticing follow-up to the acclaimed Bronco Bullfrog, Private Road, stars Withnail & I director Bruce Robinson as a young author torn between his bohemian lifestyle and the domestic conformity he faces when his girlfriend becomes pregnant.
Herostratus (dir. Don Levy, 1967) 5/5
Don Levy’s first and only feature, Herostratus, which tells the cyclical story of a young man who hires an advertising company to promote his suicide, is, although little seen, a stylistically innovative and influential masterwork.
Man Of Violence (dir. Pete Walker, 1970) 2.5/5
Pete Walker’s irksome Britsploitation film, Man Of Violence, sees a London criminal, hired by rival crooks in a plot to smuggle stolen gold into the country, plan to make off with the loot himself.
The Bed Sitting Room (dir. Richard Lester, 1969) 3/5
Richard Lester’s surrealist comedy, The Bed Sitting Room, takes a bizzare look at a post-apocalyptic London in which a Lord can turn into a bedsitting room and a woman can be 17 months pregnant.
Shame (dir. Steve McQueen, 2011) 4.5/5
Steve McQueen’s astoundingly brilliant second feature, Shame, explores the anomie and alienation suffered by a sex addict whose managed lifestyle spirals out of control when his sister comes to stay with him.
1. Red Desert (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
2. Woman Of The Dunes (dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara)
3. Gertrud (dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer)
4. I Am Cuba (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov)
5. The Gospel According To Matthew (dir. Pier Paolo Passolini)
6. Une Femme Mariee (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
7. Before The Revolution (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
8. The Diary Of A Chambermaid (dir. Luis Bunuel)
9. Black God, White Devil (dir. Glauber Rocha)
10. Charulata (dir. Satyajit Ray)
I Am Cuba (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964) 5/5
Mikhail Kalatozov’s agitprop hymn to the Casto revolution, I Am Cuba, which takes the viewer on a journey from the decadent days of Batista’s Havana through the rise of the revolution, is a masterwork of cinematic beauty.
Black God, White Devil (dir. Glauber Rocha, 1964) 4/5
Revolutionary filmmaker Glauber Rocha’s visually arresting feature, Black God, White Devil, sees a poverty striken cowhand drawn into a life of violence after killing his exploitative boss.
Woman Of The Dunes (dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964) 5/5
Hiroshi Teshigahara’s claustrophobic masterpiece, Woman Of The Dunes, explores the human condition with the beguiling story of an entomologist mysteriously imprisoned at the bottom of a sandpit.
