Ssplendid silent film starsa failed boxer and a legendary ship. They are three subjects of the 10 films to absolutely see once in your life. An obviously partial list, since limiting the films that require viewing to ten is a transgressive operation. It stands out for its beauty and intensity Once upon a time in America: Sergio Leone transformed the western epic into a twilight tale of friendship, memory and betrayal. A monumental work where time expands and nostalgia becomes poetic narration like its ending, one of the most cryptic and evocative of all time.
Of a different nature but it is just as powerful The Elephant Mandirected by cinema shaman David Lynch. The true story of a freak with a noble soul is both a lesson in dignity and a merciless look at the way humanity treats those different from itself. The crown of the most romantic film among the 10 films to absolutely see once in a lifetime goes without a doubt Titanic by James Cameron. The myth of Jack and Rose remains unchanged even when the ship and their love sink into the depths.
“In the mood of love”. (Lucky Red)
From a spectacular catastrophe to the dream of The Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini. The image of Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain, a universal symbol of seduction, contains all the beauty and contradictions of Rome, the Eternal City. A dive into the streets of Hong Kong with In the mood for love: the description of a love never experienced by a couple capable of describing their feelings through their gaze and absence. Antoine Doinel’s long journey towards the sea and freedom describes in The 400 shots all the poetics of the gaze of François Truffaut and the Nouvelle Vague.
Billy Wilder tells the dark side of Hollywood through the tragic figure of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), former silent film actress. A nightmare that begins with Joe (William Holden), young penniless screenwriter than to escape creditors he mistakenly enters a mansion on Sunset Boulevard. He finds out that the owner is in fact an important former star. Norma lives on memories, in a feverish state in which she confuses reality and fantasy, despising sound cinema and surrounded by elderly former colleagues, and by Max, a handyman butler (Erich von Stroheim). The woman first invites him to stay for a few days to have him revise a script. Then she falls in love with him. By a sad misunderstanding, she thinks Cecil B. DeMille called her to return to the set. Disappointment will have profound and tragic consequences.
In the mood for love, 2000
Wong Kar-wai creates one of the most romantic love stories ever told in cinemaimmersed in a unique aesthetic and style. Hong Kong 1962: On the same day two complete strangers, Shu (Tony Leung) and Su (Maggie Cheung) move into the same floor of a building. Both married but often left alone by their spouses for work. When they discover that their loved ones have started a clandestine relationship, the two begin to talk and get to know each other. Despite the platonic relationship, conservative society does not tolerate friendship between men and women. Love, however, is inevitable, as is the most melancholy of endings.
The 400 Blows, 1959
François Truffaut chooses autobiographical fragments to create the portrait of a child betrayed by the adult world. Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is 12 years old and lives with his mother and stepfather in a modest Parisian apartment. Antoine is a smart little boy but very neglected by his mothermore attentive to other men than to her own well-being. Longing to see the sea, steals a typewriter to pay for the trip but he is caught and reported. His parents no longer want to take care of him and he ends up in reform school. The very young Jean-Pierre Léaud he will become Truffaut’s alter ego throughout his cinematic life. The final still image of Antoine/Jean-Pierre’s face, faced with the discovery of the sea, literally made cinema history.
Once Upon a Time in America, 1984
Sergio Leone signs his masterpiece in which drama and epicreality and dream they meet to become an unforgettable story of friendship and betrayal. In 1918, young Noodles lives in the poor Jewish neighborhood of New Yorkhis new friend Max and his little gang of peers. Together, they do some odd jobs for the local underworld. Noodles has always been in love with Deborah (Jennifer Connelly), who dreams of becoming a dancer and rejects him because he is poor. 1933: the boys became dangerous gangsters, at war with other rival gangs.
During an ambush Noodles (Robert De Niro) manages to escape while Max (James Woods) and his friends are killed. Distraught by the loss, he takes refuge in the Chinese theater whose rear is an opium den. In 1968, Noodles, now elderly, returns to New York in search of answers. The director never wanted to reveal whether the splendid, enigmatic final be it an event that happened to the protagonist or the fruit of his dream fantasy.
La Dolce Vita, 1960
In 1960, Federico Fellini leaves the path of Neorealism for the unforgettable and scandalous portrait amoral of the Eternal City (and all of Italy), between splendors and human miseries. His alter ego is Marcello Mastroianni, the women of his dreams are Anita Ekberg and Anouk Aimée. A journalist of manners, with ambitions as a writer, finds himself following people and events of the Dolce Vita Roman. Among vicious nobility, orgiastic parties and movie stars, over time he will end his hellish circle on a beach, now indifferent to the authenticity of life. The film is a worldwide success thanks to the Palme D’Or at Cannes and the fierce criticism of the Catholic press.
Blade Runner, 1982
A disturbing sci-fi noir signed by Ridley Scott, taken from But do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Los Angeles, 2019. In a post apocalyptic world former bounty hunter Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), he is forced to return to service to kill rebel replicants led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer). They broke into the Tyrell Corporation, the company that creates them, to avoid their 4-year planned obsolescence.
On the trail of the fugitives Rick meets Rachel, secretary to Tyrell, who discovers to her dismay that she is not human but a real replicant with false memories. Love is born between the two. Fate, however, is much more painful and disconcerting than expected. A dark and nocturnal work like Edward Hopper’s paintings, in which ethical and moral questions about the possible feelings and desires of artificial intelligences appear quite current.
Manhattan, 1979
Together with Crimes and Misdemeanors, the cult in black and white it’s really there cinematic and iconological summa of Woody Allen. New York, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, lightning irony, neurotic loves and the list of things worth living for. Everything speaks and reflects his poetics and even a large part of his private life. Ike (Allen) he is a television screenwriter who would like to be a writer. His ex-wife (Meryl Streep) he is writing a book about their marriage. He is in a relationship with sweet Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) who is only 17 years old. A bond with no future for him, so much so that he falls in love with Mary (Diane Keaton), intelligent and restless and lover of his best friend Yale. A situation that will make many people unhappy.
The Elephant Man, 1980
A sad tale, wrapped in a sublime black and white, told by the late David Lynch, the most magical film auteur of his generation. The Elephant Man tells the true story of John Merrick (John Hurt) a seemingly inept man and suffering from deformity who, in late nineteenth-century London, is forced to perform as monstrous attraction in a circus. Dr. Treves (Anthony Hopkins) ibegins to study his case, discovering that behind his horrid appearance hides an intelligent man with the manners of a true gentleman. Lynch explores society’s hypocrisy towards those who are different and the freedom to be oneself.
Raging Bull, 1980
For Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese wanted to put all his dark self-destructive impulses at the service of his work. The result is not only lives saved from strong addictions to alcohol and substances but one of the best films of all time. The true story of 1950s boxer Jake LaMottaa magnificent loser of the American dream, a paradigm of a man incapable of truly loving himself. The unfulfilled hopes of a promising talent but with a difficult character, with a psychology twisted to the point of bordering on paranoia. Robert De Niro performs a miracle of physical and emotional transformation for the most important role of his career, which it won him the Oscar in 1981. Also in the cast is Jo Pesci in the role of the brother.
Titanic, 1997
Written and directed by James Cameron, Titanic broke every film record (or almost). It was one of the best grossers of all time, ha launched Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into the Hollywood firmament and still continues to make entire generations of romantics fall in love, ready to do anything to experience the emotions of Jack and Rose.
In 1912, from the port of Southampton the beautiful Roseaged 17, she boards first class with her mother and her wealthy boyfriend Cal (Billy Zane). At the same time, the young artist Jack wins a card at cards in third class. The two meet and fall in love hopelessly until the tragic and historic ending: the ship sinks after having rammed an iceberg. Even today, fans of the film continue to ask themselves: why didn’t Jack climb onto the driftwood panel with Rose?