"Masterpiece" is a term that's thrown around pretty often when discussing
cinema, but that's not stopped anyone before.... I
think that not every film that I rate as **** would classify as a masterpiece,
so I'm listing the films that I think do. I've added a chronological listing of
my personal masterpieces, including those that I haven't reviewed yet. In no way
is this a definitive list and in even fewer ways is it a finalized one.
1910s
The Camerman's
Revenge [Miest kinooperatora] (Ladislaw Starewicz, 1912)
Daydreams [Gryozy]
(Eugeni Bauer, 1915)
Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915)
1920s
Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler [Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler -
Ein Bild der Zeit] (Fritz Lang, 1922)
Nosferatu, the Vampire [Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens] (F.W. Murnau,
1922)
Greed (Erich von
Stroheim, 1924)
The Adventures of Prince Achmed [Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed] (Lotte
Reiniger, 1926)
M�nilmontant (Dimitri
Kirsanoff, 1926)
The General (Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton,
1927)
Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
The Passion of Joan of Arc [La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc] (Carl Theodor Dreyer,
1928)
The Wind (Victor
Seastrom, 1928)
Un chien andalou (Luis Bu�uel, 1929)
1930s
The Blood of a Poet [Le Sang d'un po�te] (Jean
Cocteau, 1930)
The Blue Angel [Der
Blaue Engel] (Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
Bimbo's Initiation (Dave Fleischer, 1931)
M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
Le Million (Ren� Clair, 1931)
�Que viva Mexico! (Grigory Alexandrov & Sergei Eisenstein, 1932)
Scarface (Howard
Hawks, 1932)
Vampyr [Vampyr -
Der Traum des Allan Grey] (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1932)
The Bitter Tea of
General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933)
Land Without Bread
(Luis Bu�uel, 1933)
The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg,
1934)
Twentieth Century
(Howard Hawks, 1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)
The Devil is a
Woman (Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
Fury (Fritz Lang,
1936)
Modern Times
(Charles Chaplin, 1936)
Rose Hobart
(Joseph Cornell, 1936)
You Only Live Once
(Fritz Lang, 1937)
Bringing Up Baby
(Howard Hawks, 1938)
Porky in Wackyland (Robert Clampett, 1938)
Destry Rides Again
(George Stevens, 1939)
The Rules of the Game [La R�gle du jeu] (Jean Renoir, 1939)
1940s
His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)
The Maltese Falcon
(John Huston, 1941)
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
The Seventh Victim
(Mark Robson, 1943)
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
Ivan the Terrible,
Part I [Ivan Groznyy I] (Sergei Eisenstein, 1944)
The Woman in the
Window (Fritz Lang, 1945)
Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
The Big Sleep
(Howard Hawks, 1946)
Gun Crazy (Joseph
H. Lewis, 1949)
Late Spring
[Banshun] (Yasujiro Ozu, 1949)
1950s
All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
Un Chant D'amour
(Jean Genet, 1950)
Diary of a Country Priest [Journal d'un cur� de campagne]
(Robert Bresson, 1951)
Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones, 1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
The Tell-Tale
Heart (Ted Parmelee, 1953)
Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
A Star Is Born (George Cukor, 1954)
La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954)
Track of the Cat
(William A. Wellman, 1954)
Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
Rabbit Rampage (Chuck Jones, 1955)
Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray, 1956)
Flowing [Nagareru]
(Mikio Naruse, 1956)
A Man Escaped
(Robert Bresson, 1956)
The Searchers
(John Ford, 1956)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957)
Forty Guns (Samuel
Fuller, 1957)
Throne of Blood [Kumonosu jo] (Akira
Kurosawa, 1957)
Love in the Afternoon (Billy Wilder, 1957)
The Seventh Seal [Det Sjunde inseglet] (Ingmar
Bergman, 1957)
Smultronst�llet [Wild Strawberries] (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)
Ivan the Terrible,
Part II [Ivan Groznyy II: Boyarsky zagovor] (Sergei Eisenstein, 1958)
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
Anatomy of a
Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959)
The Human Condition I [Ningen no joken I] (Masaki Kobayashi, 1959)
The Human Condition II [Ningen no joken II] (Masaki Kobayashi, 1959)
Rio Bravo (Howard
Hawks, 1959)
Sleeping Beauty (Clark, Larson, Geronimi & Reithermann, 1959)
1960s
Breathless [� bout de souffle] (Jean-Luc
Godard, 1960)
Last Year at Marienbad [L'Ann�e derni�re � Marienbad] (Alain Resnais, 1961)
The Human Condition III [Ningen no joken III] (Masaki Kobayashi, 1961)
Viridiana (Luis Bu�uel, 1961)
The Eclipse [L'Eclisse]
(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
The Exterminating Angel [El �ngel exterminador] (Luis Bu�uel, 1962)
La Jet�e (Chris Marker, 1962)
Hatari! (Howard
Hawks, 1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)
Muriel (Alain
Resnais, 1963)
Winter Light
(Ingmar Bergman, 1963)
Band of Outsiders [Bande � part] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1964)
Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1964)
Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964)
Loves of a Blonde [L�sky jedn� plavovl�sky]
(Milos Forman, 1965)
Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
Balthazar [Au
hasard Balthazar] (Robert Bresson, 1966)
Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
Belle de jour (Luis Bu�uel, 1967)
Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
The Young Girls of Rochefort [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort] (Jacques Demy, 1967)
Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968)
Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Shame [Skammen] (Ingmar Bergman, 1968)
L'Amour fou (Jacques Rivette, 1969)
Army of Shadows
(Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969)
Kes (Ken Loach,
1969)
1970s
The Conformist [Il Conformista] (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)
Trash (Paul
Morrissey, 1970)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
Traffic (Jacques
Tati, 1971)
Cries & Whispers [Viskningar och rop] (Ingmar Bergman, 1972)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God [Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes] (Werner Herzog, 1973)
Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
Ali, Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
California Split (Robert Altman, 1974)
Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
Night Moves
(Arthur Penn, 1975)
Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
Desperate Living (John Waters, 1977)
Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
In a Year of 13 Moons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978)
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
Tess (Roman Polanski, 1979)
1980s
Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
Pixote [Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco] (Hector Babenco, 1981)
The Ballad of Narayama [Narayama bushiko]
(Shohei Imamura, 1982)
Moonlighting (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1982)
L'Argent (Robert
Bresson, 1983)
Never Cry Wolf
(Carroll Ballard, 1983)
Paris, Texas (Wim
Wenders, 1984)
Contact (Alan
Clarke, 1985)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (Tim Burton, 1985)
Prizzi's Honor
(John Huston, 1985)
Vagabond [Sans toit ni loi] (Agnes Varda, 1985)
Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 1986)
Henry: Portrait of
a Serial Killer (John McNaughton, 1986)
Laputa: Castle in
the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki, 1986)
Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987)
Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)
My Neighbor Totoro [Tonari no Totoro] (Hayao
Miyazaki, 1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis, 1988)
My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 1989)
1990s
Life Is Sweet (Mike Leigh, 1990)
Trust (Hal Hartley, 1990)
La Belle noiseuse (Jacques Rivette, 1991)
A Brighter Summers Day [Guling jie shaonian sha ren shijian]
(Edward Yang, 1991)
JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
Life and Nothing More... [Zendegi edame darad]
(Abbas Kiarostami, 1991)
Terminator II (James Cameron, 1991)
Husbands and Wives (Woody Allen, 1992)
Lessons of Darkness [Lektionen in Finsternis] (Werner Herzog, 1992)
The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 1993)
Three Colors: Blue [Trois couleurs: Bleu] (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993)
Joan the Maid: The Battles [Jeanne la Pucelle I - Les batailles]
(Jacques Rivette, 1994)
Joan the Maid: The Prisons [Jeanne la Pucelle II - Les
prisons] (Jacques Rivette, 1994)
Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
S�t�ntang� (Bela Tarr, 1994)
The Bridges of
Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995)
La Ceremonie
(Claude Chabrol, 1995)
Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)
Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)
Salaam Cinema (Mohsen
Makhmalbaf, 1995)
Strange Days
(Kathryn Bigelow, 1995)
Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
Irma Vep (Oliver Assayas, 1996)
Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton, 1996)
Henry Fool (Hal
Hartley, 1997)
The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, 1997)
Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997)
Princess Mononoke [Mononoke Hime] (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
Train of Shadows
(Jos� Luis Guer�n, 1997)
The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)
The Idiots [Idioterne] (Lars von Trier, 1998)
Out of Sight
(Steven Soderbergh, 1998)
The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)
2000s
Code Unknown [Code inconnu: R�cit incomplet de divers voyages]
(Michael Haneke, 2000)
Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
Werckmeister Harmonies [Werckmeister harm�ni�k]
(Bela Tarr, 2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [Wo hu cang long]
(Ang Lee, 2000)
Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)
Cremaster 3 (Mathew Barney, 2002)
Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
Spider (David Cronenberg, 2002)
Dogville (Lars von
Trier, 2003)
Elephant (Gus Van
Sant, 2003)
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
(Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
Shara [Sharasojyu]
(Naomi Kawase, 2003)
2046 (Wong Kar-Wai,
2004)
Before Sunset
(Richard Linklater, 2004)
I ♥ Huckabees
(David O. Russell, 2004)
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
(Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
Tropical
Malady [Sud pralad] (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
A History of
Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
The New World
(Terrence Malick, 2005)
Song and Solitude
(Nathaniel Dorsky, 2006)
Death Proof
(Quentin Tarantino, 2007)
I'm Not There
(Todd Haynes, 2007)
There Will Be
Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
2010s
The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)
A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, 2011)
The Return (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2011)
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
The Turin Horse (Bela Tarr, 2011)
The breakdown is:
10s x 3 20s x 10 30s x 20 40s x 11 50s x 29 60s x 30 70s x 21 80s x 21 90s x 38
00s x 26
10s x 5
