The various film critics on The Daily Telegraph have all been busy listing their favourite films of all time:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/9995693/20-greatest-films-of-all-time-selected-by-Robbie-Collin.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/10000742/20-best-films-of-all-time-chosen-by-Tim-Robey.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/10025946/20-best-films-of-all-time-chosen-by-Jenny-McCartney.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/10004264/20-best-films-of-all-time-chosen-by-David-Gritten.html
I thought it was time I joined the party and produce my own list: it may not be definitive, but these are all films that I have seen and enjoyed:
Part 1 - Foreign Language
Day for Night (1973) - Francois Truffaut
When I was in school the local amateur theatre doubled as a film theatre. I used to help on the bar and one quiet night I wandered into the auditorium to see what was being screened and got hooked. This was the beginning of my life long fascination with film:
Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman
This is another memory of my schooldays. I was absolutely stunned when I saw this as a callow 17 year old and it reinforced my desire to see more by Bergman:
The Leopard - Visconti
Believe it or not, we were taken to see this as part of our A Level History course - which included the reunification of Italy. It was also the first time I'd ever seen a major Hollywood star in a non English language film.
Downfall - Hirschbiegel
We screened this at our film club several years ago. The film was brilliant but utterly relentless and totally exhausting. More recently it has become the source of thousands of parodies - of varying levels of sophistication and amusement.
Throne of Blood - Kurosawa
I finally saw this about thirty years ago in my mid film society phase. I've seen some excellent productions of Macbeth and thought this captured the essence of the play totally. I was initially tempted to include Ran, but finally opted for Throne of Blood.
