Howard Schumann

Vancouver, BC
CineScene

Here is my list of the 50 greatest films. While it is basically a list of my favorites, I have modified it somewhat from my Top 160 list to include films that I think merit inclusion simply on the basis of quality.

Naturally, it was excruciatingly difficult to exclude some films but there has to be a cut-off point and having a list of honorable mentions somewhat defeats the point.

1. Pather Panchali (1955)_Satyajit Ray
   Aparajito (1956)_Satyajit Ray
   The World of Apu (1959)_Satyajit Ray
2. Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)_Robert Bresson
3. Diary of a Country Priest (1950)_Robert Bresson
4. Ordet (1955)_Carl Theodor Dreyer
5. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)_Pier Paolo Pasolini
6. My Dinner with Andre (1981)_Louis Malle
7. Léolo (1992)_Jean-Claude Lauzon
8. Ikiru (1952)_Akira Kurosawa
9. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)_Alain Resnais
10. The Quince Tree Sun (1992)_Vèctor Erice
11. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)_Philip Kaufman
12. The Great Adventure (1953)_Arne Sucksdorff
13. Ordinary People (1980)_Robert Redford
14. Running on Empty (1988)_Sidney Lumet
15. O Lucky Man! (1973)_Lindsay Anderson
16. Lamerica (1994)_Gianni Amelio
17. Stolen Children (1992)_Gianni Amelio
18. Therese (1986)_Alain Cavalier
19. Les Roseaux Sauvages (1994)_Andre Techine
20. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)_Steven Zaillian
21. Promises (2001)_B.Z. Goldberg
22. All About Lily Chou Chou (2001)_Shunji Iwai
23. The Promise (1996)_The Dardenne Brothers
24. A Place in the World (1992)_Adolfo Aristarain
25. Broken Wings (2002)_Nir Bergman
26. Forbidden Games (1952)_Rene Clement
27. The Lives of Others (2006)_Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
28. Smoke (1995)_Wayne Wang
29. Pixote (1981)_Hector Babenco
30. The Search (1948)_Fred Zinnemann
31. Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000)_Tran Anh Hung
32. Black Orpheus (1959)_Marcel Camus
33. Tokyo Story (1953)_Yasujiro Ozu
34. The Red Balloon (1956)_Albert LaMorisse
35. The Dream Life of Angels (1998)_Eric Zorca
36. Z (1969)_Costa-Gavras
37. Kes (1969)_Ken Loach
38. Medium Cool (1969)_Haskell Wexler
39. A Taste of Cherry (1997)_Abbas Kiarostami
40. Devi (1960)_Satyajit Ray
41. The Wild Child (1970)_Francois Truffaut
42. Wings of Desire (1987)_Wim Wenders
43. Woman of the Dunes (1964)_Hiroshi Teshigahara
44. Cyclo (1995)_Tran Anh Hung
45. Sundays and Cybele (1962)_Serge Bourgignon
46. The Green Ray (1986)_Eric Rohmer
47. La Vie de Jesus (1997)_Bruno Dumont
48. How Green Was My Valley (1941)_John Ford
49. Casablanca (1942)_Michael Curtiz
50. The Passenger (1975)_Michelangelo Antonioni