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

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