Oh come on, Rumplesink! I thought you’re in Scotland? You can’t pick ALL of the UK – choose a Scottish film!!
“The Big Tease”, anyone?
Fredo – Let’s not get into a political debate here. My passport says UK and I have no problem with that – Scotland’s part of mainland UK. I’m not one of these Braveheart nutjobs that want Scotland to be a separate country.
US:
A Woman Under the Influence
Dog Star Man
At Land
Unforgiven
Apocalypse Now
Mean Streets
Sunrise
Stardust Memories
Nashville
Killer of Sheep
Fredo – Actually there are a few notable films from Scotland without having to resort to The Big Tease. My Name Is Joe, Sweet Sixteen, Whiskey Galore, Trainspotting, Local Hero, Gregory’s Girl to name a few. But I don’t rate these films as highly as the ones I picked.
Wow, Trainspotting is the only one you mentioned that I’ve heard of. I need to get out more.lol
I didn’t mean to be political – I know next to nothing about politics of the UK – just wanted to hear your thoughts on Scottish films, since I know nothing about that either.
Uhhh, I guess I could go with “Massachusetts,” in which case god only knows, but if I pick “USA” it’ll probably be a bit easier on me. I’m also taking “favorite” to mean “favorite” as opposed to “objectively best.”
Numbered only for the sake of keeping track of how many I’ve written down as they come to me — there’s no way I could set the list in stone one way or the other.
But anyway, lists lists lists.
1. Apocalypse Now (Coppola, ’79)
2. RoboCop (Verhoeven, ’87)
3. Caddyshack (Ramis, ’80)
4. Charade (Donen, ’63)
5. Aliens (Cameron, ’86)
6. Some Like It Hot (Wilder, ’59)
7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, ’74)
8. Repo Man (Cox, ’84)
9. Chinatown (Polanski, ’74)
10. There Will Be Blood (Anderson, ’07)
Honorable mention: Rope, because I can’t remember if it’s an American or an English production.
Anyway, if you ask me again in five minutes at least four of those picks are liable to be different, and there are much more staggering works of genius in the American canon than, say, “Repo Man.” But these are the ten movies that I just get the most kick out of, whether from aesthetics, attitude, or just plain personal significance.
I’m not sure I even can name 10 great Austrian films but anyway – here are my favourites.
I have included co-productions as well as films with an Austrian director.
1. Funny Games (1997, Michael Haneke)
2. Der Untergang / Downfall (2004, Oliver Hirschbiegel) Germany/Austria
3. Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei / The Edukators (2004, Hans Weingartner) Germany/Austria
4. Der Schüler Gerber (Wolfgang Glück)
5. La pianiste / Die Klavierspielerin (2001, Michael Haneke) France/Austria
6. Darwin’s Nightmare (2004, Hubert Sauper)
7. Caché (2005, Michael Haneke) France/Austria
8. Revanche (2008, Götz Spielmann)
9. Tempo (1996, Stefan Ruzowitzky)
10. Die Verwundbaren (1967, Leo Tichat)
i won’t suggest a top 10 of favorite films,instead..i’ll suggest to u all a:
Top 10 of Greek Films to Start With if You’ve Never Seen Any (in no specific order) :
1: The Counterfeit Coin by Yorgos Javellas (1955)
2: Kavafis by Yannis Smaragdis (1996)
3: Rembetiko by Costas Ferris (1983)
4: Reconstruction by Theodoros Angelopoulos (1970)
5: Life with Alkis by Dimitris Kollatos (1988)
6: One Day in August by Constantine Giannaris (2001)
7: Little Aphrodites by Nikos Koundouros (1963)
8: Serenity by Gregory J. Markopoulos (1958)
9: The Price of Love by Tonia Marketaki (1984)
10: Stella by Mihalis Kakogiannis (1955)
In chronological order:
Minderjährige klagen an / Asphalt (1951) by Harald Röbbeling
Schwechater (1958) by Peter Kubelka
Cafe Malaria (1982) by Niki List
Der siebente Kontinent / The Seventh Continent (1989) by Michael Haneke
Der Kopf des Mohren / The Moor’s Head (1995) by Paulus Manker
Passagen / Passages (1996) by Lisl Ponger
Die totale Therapie (1996) by Christian Frosch
Copy Shop (2001) by Virgil Widrich
Elsewhere (2001) by Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Zur Lage: Österreich in sechs Kapiteln / State of the Nation: Austria in Six Chapters (2002) by Barbara Albert/Michael Glawogger/Ulrich Seidl/Michael Sturminger
from AMERICA:
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Lady Eve
The Apartment
The Roaring Twenties
Footlight Parade
The Royal Tenenbaums
Sullivan’s Travels
Manhattan
How Green Was My Valley
Blues in the Night
I was born in Germany but live in Argentina, so I will just list my favorite films from both countries since I can´t decide which I should consider my home country:
(GER)
1. Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924)
2. Berlin Alexanderplatz (R. W. Fassbinder, 1980)
3. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
4. Nosferatu (F. W. Murnau, 1922)
5. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Werner Herzog, 1974)
6. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
7. Beyond Silence (Caroline Link, 1996)
8. Pandora´s Box (G. W. Pabst, 1929)
9. The Bitter Tears of Petra v. Kant (R. W. Fassbinder, 1972)
10. Requiem (Hans- Cristian Schmid, 2006)
(ARG)
1. Rosaura at 10 o´ Clock (Mario Soffici, 1958)
2. The Dependent (Leonardo Favio, 1969)
3. The Truce (Sergio Renán, 1974)
4. Time for Revenge (Adolfo Aristarain, 1981)
5. The House of the Angel (Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, 1957)
6. Man Facing Southeast (Eliseo Subiela, 1986)
7. Autumn Sun (Eduardo Mignogna, 1996)
8. The Night of the Pencils (Héctor Olivera, 1986)
9. The Official Story (Luis Puenzo, 1985)
10. The Wind (Eduardo Mignogna, 2005)
born in Germany but live in Argentina?
how did that happen…
“I know nus-sing, NUS-SING…!”
Well, I came here a couple of years ago in order to get to know the continent and study film, and finally decided to stay in Buenos Aires because I liked the city a lot.
And you really grew up in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, Apursansar? Damn, makes me feel like I haven’t seen much of the world so far…
Arsenal
Man with a Movie Camera
Earth
Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors
Ballad of a Soldier
The 41st
The Ascent
And Quiet Flows the Don
Ivan’s Childood
Getting to Know the Big Wide World - you’d know it if Eclipse did the right thing and issued a Kira Muratova set.
CHILE
0- El Husar de la Muerte (Pedro Sienna, 1925)
1- Valparaiso Mi Amor (Aldo Francia, 1969)
2- Largo Viaje (Patricio Kaulen, 1969)
3- El Chacal de Hanueltoro (Miguel Littin, 1969)
4- La Batalla de Chile (Patricio Guzmán, 1975, 1976, 1979)
5- La Frontera (Ricardo Larraín, 1990)
6- El Desquite (Andrés Wood, 1999)
7- La Sagrada Familia (Sebastián Campos, 2005)
8- Caluga o Menta (Gonzalo Justiniano, 1990)
9- Llueve Sobre Santiago (Helvio Soto, 1975)
Canada : 10 favorites
Mon Oncle Antoine (Jutra)
Kamouraska (Jutra)
The Grey Fox (Borsos)
Act Of The Heart (Almond)
Isabel (Almond)
The Decline Of The American Empire (Arcand)
Water (Mehta)
Fire (Mehta)
Exotica (Egoyan)
Up The Yangtze (Chang)
Canada’s 10 Best Films (according to the critics)
1984
1. Mon oncle Antoine (1971, Claude Jutra)
2. Goin’ Down the Road (1970, Don Shebib)
3. Les bons débarras (1980, Francis Mankiewicz)
4. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974, Ted Kotcheff)
5. The Grey Fox (1982, Phillip Borsos)
6. Les ordres (1974, Michel Brault)
7. J.A. Martin photographe (1976, Jean Beaudin)
8. Pour la suite du monde (1963, Pierre Perreault and Michel Brault)
9.. Nobody Waved Goodbye (1964, Don Owen)
10. La vraie nature de Bernadette (1972, Gilles Carle)
1993
1. Mon oncle Antoine (1971, Claude Jutra)
2. Jesus of Montreal (1988, Denys Arcand)
3. Goin’ Down the Road (1970, Don Shebib)
4. The Decline of the American Empire (1986, Denys Arcand)
5. Les bons débarras (1980, Francis Mankiewicz)
6. Les ordres (1974, Michel Brault)
7. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974, Ted Kotcheff)
8. The Grey Fox (1982, Phillip Borsos)
9. I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987, Patricia Rozema)
10. The Adjuster (1991, Atom Egoyan)
2004
1. Mon oncle Antoine (1971, Claude Jutra)
2. Jesus of Montreal (1988, Denys Arcand)
3. The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Atom Egoyan)
4. Goin’ Down the Road (1970, Don Shebib)
5. Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) (2001, Zacharias Kunuk)
6. Dead Ringers (1988, David Cronenberg)
7. Les ordres (1974, Michel Brault)
8. Les bons débarras (1980, Francis Mankiewicz)
9. Le Déclin de l’empire américain (1986, Denys Arcand)
10. Les Invasions barbares (2003, Denys Arcand)
Well, i hope there will be a lot of different and usually neglected countries represented here. Plenty of films i didn’t know have been picked to check out already, and a Greek list with only 1 Angelopoulos, quite instructive.
erm, Wales, not easy, i like
Sleep Furiously (Koppel)
Hedd Wyn (Turner)
Eldra (Lyn)
Jerry the Troublesome Tyke (Bilby, Griffiths)
a pity Peter Greenaway hasn’t done more in Wales, and i’ve not seen The Tulse Luper Suitcases which has a Welsh subject
or UK
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (Hamer)
Brazil (Gilliam)
My Childhood (Douglas)
Street of Crocodiles (Quay bros)
Of Time and the City (Davies)
The Thief of Bagdad (Berger, Powell, Whelan)
Dr Strangelove (Kubrick)
The Red Shoes (Powell, Pressburger)
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean)
From México, in chronological order, not the most representative, just some favorites.
La Mujer del Puerto (1933, Arcady Boytler)
Los Olvidados (1950, Luis Buñuel)
El Topo (1969, Alejandro Jodorowsky)
Rojo Amanecer (Jorge Fons, 1989)
Danzón (1991, Maria Novaro)
Principio y Fin (1993, Arturo Ripstein)
La Otra Conquista (1998, Salvador Carrasco)
La Ley de Herodes (1999, Luis Estrada)
Amores Perros (2000, Alejándro Gonzalez Iñárritu)
Luz Silenciosa (2007,Carlos Reygadas)
LITHUANIA!
(my favourites):
Paskutinė atostogų diena / The Girl and the Echo (1964) by Arūnas Žebriūnas
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972) by Jonas Mekas
Trys dienos / Three Days (1991) by Sharunas Bartas
Elzė iš Gilijos / Elze’s Life (1993) by Algimantas Puipa
Laisvė / Freedom (2000) by Sharunas Bartas
Prieš parskrendant į Žemę / Before Flying Back to the Earth (2005) by Arūnas Matelis
Septyni nematomi žmonės / Seven Invisible Men (2005) by Sharunas Bartas
Ūkų ūkai / Uku ukai (2006) by Audrius Stonys
Aš esi tu / You am I (2006) by Kristijonas Vildžiūnas
Kolekcionierė / The Collectress (2008) by Kristina Buožytė
1. The Wicker Man
2. Quadrophenia
3. The Long Good Friday
4. Kes
5. If…
6. Get Carter
7. Billy Liar
8. Trainspotting
9. Brief Encounter
10. The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner
Rumplesink- Terry Gilliam is from the U.S., no the U.K, born &raised in Minneapolis, it was only a few years ago that he renounced his U.S. citizenship
Colombia:
Garras de oro (Dawn of Justice, 1926)
La langosta azul (1954)
Pasado el meridiano (1967)
Agarrando pueblo (1977)
Nuestra voz de tierra, memoria y futuro (1981)
Pepos (1983)
James Ivory was also born in the US – I think Rumplesink was listing films that were UK driven. I’ll give him a little slack – the UK hasn’t made very many good movies anyway. ;)
just kidding!
the Lithuanian list is truly original!!!u must love Bartas,pity i can’t find any decent downloads from him on the net :(
USA:
1. Shadows
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Raging Bull
4. Heat
5. Do The Right Thing
6. Before Sunrise
7. Clerks
8. Dog Day Afternoon
9. The Thin Red Line
10. Lolita (Kubrick’s version)
Okay, I feel I need to say this, Stanley Kubrick isn’t from the UK. He was born and raised in New York and didn’t move to the UK in till after Dr. Stranglove (where the movie was filmed) No offense, I just feel it’s off to have Kubrick on the UK list.
Austria (films are in no particular order):
Wanted (Harald Sicheritz)
Die Fälscher (Stefan Ruzowitzky)
Halbe Welt (Florian Flicker)
Die Viertelliterklasse (Roland Düringer & Florian Kehrer)
Fallen (Barbara Albert)
Angst (Gerald Kargl)
Der Fall Jägerstätter (Axel Corti)
Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky)
Müllers Büro (Niki List)
Indien (Paul Harather)
Lots of the best British films have been directed by Americans. Just as lots of the best American films have been directed by Europeans. Also it depends on whether you see films from the viewpoint of director as sole auteur. Or setting, actors, funding etc should also count. I did think of a list taking the Quay bros, Gilliam and Kubrick out, would have replaced with Sleep Furiously, The 39 Steps, The Innocents, The Third Man. But no real need for racial purity. There’s enough trouble in the world with national boundaries anyway.
Very interesting to see the Lithuania list, just the sort of thing i was hoping from this thread. I’ve not seen much by Bartas, would like to see more, and have been trying to find Mekas’ Reminiscences- picked by Jonathan Rosenabum in his Essential Cinema 1000. I’d hoped it might be on youtube but apparently not. Austrian films are also often overlooked. New worlds to discover!.
McBean
Here’s mine (UK):
1. Get Carter (Mike Hodges) 1971
2. Naked (Mike Leigh) 1993
3. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean) 1962
4. Peeping Tom (Michael Powell) 1960
5. The Third Man (Carol Reed) 1949
6. Kind Hearts & Coronets (Robert Hamer) 1949
7. The Italian Job (Peter Collinson) 1969
8. Brazil (Terry Gilliam) 1985
9. The Remains of The Day (James Ivory) 1993
10. Touching The Void (Kevin MacDonald) 2003