40 Favorite Films

40. Last Year At Marienbad
dir. Alain Resnais (France – 1961)

39. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 
dir. Stanley Kramer (USA – 1963)

38. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
dir. Luis Buñuel (Spain – 1972)

37. Paris, Texas
dir. Win Wenders (USA – 1984)

36. Au Hasard Balthazar
dir. Robert Bresson (France – 1966)

35. Journey To Italy
dir. Roberto Rossellini (Italy – 1954)

34. Silent Light
dir. Carlos Reygadas (Mexico – 2007)

33. The Naked City
dir. Jules Dassin (USA – 1948)

32. The Social Network
dir. David Fincher (USA – 2010)

31. La Collectionneuse
dir. Éric Rohmer (France – 1967)

30. The Thin Red Line
dir. Terrence Malick (USA – 1998)

29. The Soft Skin
dir. François Truffaut (France – 1964)

28. The Vanishing
dir. George Sluizer (Netherlands – 1988)

27. The Endless Summer
dir. Bruce Brown (USA – 1966)

26. Nobody Knows
dir. Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan – 2004)

25. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
dir. John Huston (USA – 1948)

24. The Royal Tenenbaums
dir. Wes Anderson (USA – 2001)

23. Le Circle Rouge
dir. Jean-Pierre Melville (France – 1970)

22. Manhattan
dir. Woody Allen (USA – 1979)

21. Toy Story
dir. John Lasseter (USA – 1995)

20. Solaris
dir. Andrei Tarkovsky (Russia – 1972)

19. Opening Night
dir. John Cassavetes (USA – 1977)

18. Some Like It Hot
dir. Billy Wilder (USA – 1959)

17. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
dir. Jean-Luc Godard (France – 1967)

16. A Separation
dir. Asghar Farhadi (Iran – 2011)

15. High and Low
dir. Akira Kurosawa (Japan – 1963)

14. Aguirre, The Wrath of God
dir. Werner Herzog (German – 1972)

13. Winter Light
dir. Ingmar Bergman (Sweden – 1963)

13. Bicycle Thieves
dir. Vittorio De Sica (Italy – 1948)

12. La promesse
dir. The Dardenne Brothers (Belgium – 1996)

11. The Wages of Fear
dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot (France – 1953)

10. Ordet
dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer (Denmark – 1955)

9. Lost In Translation
dir. Sofia Coppola (USA – 2003)

8. The Rules Of The Game
dir. Jean Renoir (France – 1939)

7. The Apartment
dir. Billy Wilder (USA – 1960)

6. La Pointe Courte
dir. Agnès Varda (France – 1955)

5. L’Avventura
dir. Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy – 1960)

5. La Notte
dir. Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy – 1961)

5. L’eclisse
dir. Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy – 1962)

4. Pather Panchali
dir. Satyajit Ray (India – 1955)

3. City Lights
dir. Charlie Chaplin (USA – 1931)

2. Late Spring
dir. Yasujirō Ozu (Japan – 1949)

1. La Dolce Vita
dir. Federico Fellini (Italy – 1960)

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