Films

I am not a film critic or scholar, but simply a consumer and enjoyer of cinema. And a "student", in the sense of learning from, or being formed by the film, not so much things about cinematic art, but the story / subject and treatment.

I was thinking about films I have seen from my childhood onwards, which made a strong impact on me, or where the experience of watching the film is a personally memorable and resonant experience, or simply enjoyed the film. Names started coming thick and fast. I'm sure if I thought some more, other names would come, some of the earlier names might even be deleted. But here's a first list anyway - which has already crossed 100! The films are listed below, together with the year they were made, but in the order in which I saw them (as far as I could recall). It is an eclectic list. The list is, of course, subject to my own limited exposure, with some major film-makers' work entirely missing merely because I have not seen their films.

The first film in the list was seen in 1965, and the last one recently. Perhaps the most fecund period of film watching was in the early 80s, when I was a student in London. During much of the 1990s, I hardly saw any films. Since the late 80s, most films would have been seen on video or television. Over the last two years or so, I watch films on my laptop. I am collecting and watching films avidly over the last 8 months.

My Fair Lady, 1964
2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968
Do Ankhen Barah Haath, 1957
Do Bigha Zameen, 1953
Pyasa, 1957
Mrigaya, 1976
West Side Story, 1961
Nosferatu, 1922
Rahgir, 1969
Operation Daybreak, 1975
Ankur, 1974
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1975
Manthan, 1976
Manhattan, 1979
Marathon Man, 1976
Soldier Blue, 1970
Julia, 1977
Coming Home, 1978
The Front Page, 1974
Z, 1969
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai, 1980
Aaakrosh, 1980
Aparajito, 1956
Aranyer Din Ratri, 1970
Chashme Buddoor, 1981
Charulata, 1964
Bhuvan Shome, 1969
All That Jazz, 1979
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, 1958
Bicycle Thieves, 1948
Chariots of Fire, 1981
The Caine Mutiny, 1954
The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner, 1962
The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1981
Gallipoli, 1981
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, 1982
Battle of Algiers, 1966
Yol, 1982
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, 1983
Brideshead Revisited, 1981
The Jewel in the Crown, 1984
Pixote, 1981
Double Indemnity, 1944
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966
The Lavender Hill Mob, 1951
Amok, 1983
Question of Silence, 1982
Sophie's Choice, 1982
An Englishman Abroad, 1983
Zelig, 1983
My Dinner with Andre, 1981
Attica, 1980
Alsino and the Condor, 1983
Bhavni Bhavai, 1980
Twelve Angry Men, 1957
Adharshila, 1982
Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975
Samskara, 1970
Excalibur, 1981
Amadeus, 1984
Maya Mriga, 1984
The Competition , 1980
Jean de Florette, 1986
Forest of Bliss, 1986
The Tin Drum, 1979
The Sacrifice, 1986
Oridath, 1986
Fitzcarraldo, 1982
Znachor / The Charlatan, 1937
Dharamtalla Ka Mela, 1983
Kathy Come Home, 1966
Famine '87, 1987
The Murder of Mary Phagan, 1987
Brief Encounter, 1945
Dead Poets Society, 1989
Teesri Kasam, 1966
Rosa Luxemburg, 1986
Goopy Gyne, Bagha Byne, 1968
Chinatown, 1974
Sur Asur, ?
Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro, 1989
Antarnaad, 1991
Pather Panchali (restored), 1955
Sleepers, 1996
Devi, 1960
The White Balloon, 1995
Goodbye Mr Chips, 1939
Once Were Warriors, 1994
Carrington, 1995
Three Colours - White, 1994
Life is Beautiful, 1997
Angel Heart, 1987
Thirteen Days, 2000
A Beautiful Mind, 2001
Field of Dreams, 1989
Saving Private Ryan, 1998
Heavenly Creatures, 1994
Boys Don't Cry, 1999
Mr Hollan'd Opus, 1995
Gandhi, My Father, 2007
Bawarchi, 1972
Shine, 1996
Sicko, 2007
Talk to Her, 2002
Lovers of the Arctic Circle, 1998
E la nave va, 1983
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2008
Rabbit-Proof Fence, 2002
The Lives of Others, 2006
Fight Club, 1999
City of God, 2002
Offside, 2006
Downfall, 2004
Down by Law, 1986
Pan's Labrynth, 2006
Zero for Conduct, 1933
The Sweet Hereafter, 1997
Dhobi Ghat, 2010
Ulysses Gaze, 1995
Goodbye Lenin, 2003
Capitalism: A Love Story, 2009
Sthaniyo Sangbad, 2010
Favela Rising, 2005
The Fall, 2006