This is my 101st post. Obviously I’ve just realised this recently, as I would have been celebrating a 100th post as opposed to the 101st, but hey a post is a post is a post, as Gertrude Stein would never have said if she had been a blogger.
I can probably mark my first truly earnest year of cinema-passion as 1991, because that was the first year I recall heading off to the local international film festival by myself, poring through the festival booklet and trying to see as much as I could. So, seeing how the years 1991 to 2011 present a tidyish twenty year stretch, I've decided to celebrate my 101st post by presenting a list of 101 films that represent a journey of little epiphanies – moments that mark some kind of development in my understanding and appreciation of cinema.
Let's get this clear. It's not a 'best of' list. And these are not necessarily my favourite films of each director represented in the list (only one film per director, by the way - no reason why, we just need rules sometimes).
It's simply a journey, charting little boundary-pushing explosions of surprise.
It maps first encounters with directors I grew to love. It reflects films that allowed me to finally obtain a clearer understanding of a director’s work, made me think "ahh, now I get it", giving me the werewithal to re-appraise previous work. It charts films that lit me up, that had my head buzzing after leaving the cinema. It highlights films that sparked a whole new line of enquiry, a new understanding of the language of cinema, a new path of cinematic discovery.
Right, enough preamble. Here’s the list.
1. LA BELLE NOISEUSE (Jacques Rivette; France; 1991)
2. RAISE THE RED LANTERN (Zhang Yimou; Hong Kong; 1991)
3. VAN GOGH (Maurice Pialat; France; 1991)
4. THE QUINCE TREE SUN (Victor Erice; Spain; 1991)
5. NIGHT ON EARTH (Jim Jarmusch; USA; 1991)
6. NAKED LUNCH (David Cronenberg; USA; 1991)
7. THE LEADER, HIS DRIVER, AND HIS DRIVER’S WIFE (Nick Broomfield; UK; 1991)
8. CAREFUL (Guy Maddin; Canada; 1992)
9. THE PLAYER (Robert Altman; USA; 1992)
10. GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (James Foley; USA; 1992)
11. RESERVOIR DOGS (Quentin Tarantino; USA; 1992)
12. TIME INDEFINITE (Ross McElwee; USA; 1993)
13. CALENDAR (Atom Egoyan; Canada/ Germany/ Armenia; 1993)
14. SONATINE (Takeshi Kitano; Japan; 1993)
15. NAKED (Mike Leigh; UK; 1993)
16. THREE COLOURS; BLUE, WHITE, RED (France/ Poland/ Switzerland; 1993-1994)
17. SATANTANGO (Bela Tarr; Hungary-Germany-Switzerland; 1994)
18. THE KINGDOM (Lars von Trier; Denmark; 1994)
19. CARO DIARIO (Nanni Moretti; Italy/ France; 1994)
20. LONDON (Patrick Keiller; UK; 1994)
21. HOOP DREAMS (Steve James; USA; 1994)
22. BEFORE THE RAIN (Milcho Manchevski; UK/ France/ Macedonia; 1994)
23. LA HAINE (Mathieu Kassovitz; France; 1995)
24. FARGO (Joel and Ethan Coen; USA; 1995)
25. HEAT (Michael Mann; USA; 1995)
26. A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (Mohsen Makhmalbaf; Iran/ France/ Switzerland; 1995)
27. UNDERGROUND (Emir Kusturica; France/ Germany/ Hungary; 1995)
28. LONE STAR (John Sayles; USA; 1995)
29. CRUMB (Terry Zwigoff; USA; 1995)
30. IRMA VEP (Olivier Assayas; France; 1996)
31. DRIFTING CLOUDS (Aki Kaurismaki; Finland; 1996)
32. WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (William Gazecki; USA; 1997)
33. FAST, CHEAP, AND OUT OF CONTROL (Errol Morris; USA; 1997)
34. PUBLIC HOUSING (Frederick Wiseman; USA; 1997)
35. BOOGIE NIGHTS (Paul Thomas Anderson; USA; 1997)
36. FUNNY GAMES (Michael Haneke; Austria; 1997)
37. A TASTE OF CHERRY (Abbas Kiarostami; Iran; 1997)
38. MOTHER AND SON (Aleksandr Sokurov; Russia/ Germany; 1997)
39. THE INTERVIEW (Harun Farocki; Germany; 1997)
40. HAPPINESS (Todd Solondz; USA; 1998)
41. 42 UP (Michael Apted; UK; 1998)
42. THE THIN RED LINE (Terrence Malick; USA; 1998)
43. FESTEN (Thomas Vinterberg; Denmark; 1998)
44. BEAU TRAVAIL (Claire Denis; France; 1998)
45. I STAND ALONE (Gaspar Noe; France; 1998)
46. RING (Hideo Nakata; Japan; 1998)
47. AFTER LIFE (Hirokazu Kore-eda; Japan; 1998)
48. HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA (Jean-Luc Godard; France; 1998)
49. ETERNITY AND A DAY (Theo Angelopoulos; Greece/ France/ Italy/ Germany; 1998)
50. ALONE, LIFE WASTES ANDY HARDY (Martin Arnold; Austria; 1998)
51. PONY GLASS (Lewis Klahr; USA; 1998)
52. FILM IST. (1-12) (Gustav Deutsch; Austria; 1998/2002)
53. ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodovar; Spain; 1999)
54. ROSETTA (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne; Belgium/ France; 1999)
55. RATCATCHER (Lynne Ramsay; UK/ France; 1999)
56. L’HUMANITE (Bruno Dumont; France; 1999)
57. OUTER SPACE (Peter Tscherkassky; Austria; 1999)
58. SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR (Roy Andersson; Sweden/ France/ Denmark/ Norway/ Germany; 2000)
59. EUREKA (Shinji Aoyama; Japan; 2000)
60. THE CIRCLE (Jafar Panahi; Iran; 2000)
61. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Wong Kar-Wai; Hong Kong/ France; 2000)
62. YI YI (Edward Yang; Taiwan/ Japan; 2000)
63. THE GLEANERS AND I (Agnes Varda; France; 2000)
64. NINE QUEENS (Fabian Bielinsky; Argentina; 2000)
65. PLATFORM (Jia Zhangke; Hong Kong/ Japan/ France/ Netherlands/ Switzerland; 2000)
66. MULHOLLAND DRIVE (David Lynch; USA; 2001)
67. BLOODY SUNDAY (Paul Greengrass; UK/ Ireland; 2001)
68. TIME OUT (Laurent Cantet; France; 2001)
69. PULSE (Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Japan; 2001)
70. A MA SOEUR! (Catherine Breillat; France/ Italy; 2001)
71. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (Wes Anderson; USA; 2001)
72. FEMME FATALE (Brian De Palma; France; 2002)
73. THE CENTURY OF THE SELF (Adam Curtis; UK; 2002)
74. DISTANT (Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Turkey/ Netherlands; 2002)
75. TO BE AND TO HAVE (Nicolas Philibert; France; 2002)
76. DECASIA (Bill Morrison; USA; 2002)
77. BUS 174 (Felipe Larceda & Jose Padilha; Brazil; 2002)
78. GOODBYE, DRAGON INN (Tsai Ming-liang; Taiwan; 2003)
79. ELEPHANT (Gus van Sant; USA; 2003)
80. THE BEST OF YOUTH (Marco Tullio Giordana; Italy; 2003)
81. MEMORIES OF MURDER (Bong Joon-ho; South Korea; 2003)
82. KINGS AND QUEEN (Arnaud Desplechin; France; 2004)
83. OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook; South Korea; 2004)
84. LOS MUERTOS (Lisandro Alonso; Argentina/ France/ Netherlands/ Switzerland; 2004)
85. THE HOLY GIRL (Lucrecia Martel; Argentina/ Spain/ Netherlands/ Italy/ Switzerland; 2004)
86. GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog; USA; 2005)
87. WORKINGMAN’S DEATH (Michael Glawogger; Austria/ Germany; 2005)
88. SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul; Thailand/ France/ Netherlands/ Austria; 2006)
89. 12.08 EAST OF BUCHAREST (Corneliu Porumboiu; Romania/ France; 2006)
90. COLOSSAL YOUTH (Pedro Costa; Portugal/ France/ Switzerland; 2006)
91. SILENT LIGHT (Carlos Reygadas; Mexico/ France/ Netherlands; 2007)
92. AT SEA (Peter Hutton; USA; 2007)
93. IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (Jose Luis Guerin; Spain/ France; 2007)
94. MODERN LIFE (Raymond Depardon; France; 2008)
95. MAN ON WIRE (James Marsh; UK; 2008)
96. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Tomas Alfredson; Sweden/ Norway; 2008)
97. DOGTOOTH (Giorgos Lanthimos; Greece; 2009)
98. DISORDER (Weikai Huang; China; 2009)
99. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (Banksy; UK; 2010)
100. NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT (Patricio Guzman; Chile/ France/ Germany; 2010)
101. LE QUATTRO VOLTE (Michelangelo Frammartino; Italy/ France/ Switzerland; 2010)
2. RAISE THE RED LANTERN (Zhang Yimou; Hong Kong; 1991)
3. VAN GOGH (Maurice Pialat; France; 1991)
4. THE QUINCE TREE SUN (Victor Erice; Spain; 1991)
5. NIGHT ON EARTH (Jim Jarmusch; USA; 1991)
6. NAKED LUNCH (David Cronenberg; USA; 1991)
7. THE LEADER, HIS DRIVER, AND HIS DRIVER’S WIFE (Nick Broomfield; UK; 1991)
8. CAREFUL (Guy Maddin; Canada; 1992)
9. THE PLAYER (Robert Altman; USA; 1992)
10. GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (James Foley; USA; 1992)
11. RESERVOIR DOGS (Quentin Tarantino; USA; 1992)
12. TIME INDEFINITE (Ross McElwee; USA; 1993)
13. CALENDAR (Atom Egoyan; Canada/ Germany/ Armenia; 1993)
14. SONATINE (Takeshi Kitano; Japan; 1993)
15. NAKED (Mike Leigh; UK; 1993)
16. THREE COLOURS; BLUE, WHITE, RED (France/ Poland/ Switzerland; 1993-1994)
17. SATANTANGO (Bela Tarr; Hungary-Germany-Switzerland; 1994)
18. THE KINGDOM (Lars von Trier; Denmark; 1994)
19. CARO DIARIO (Nanni Moretti; Italy/ France; 1994)
20. LONDON (Patrick Keiller; UK; 1994)
21. HOOP DREAMS (Steve James; USA; 1994)
22. BEFORE THE RAIN (Milcho Manchevski; UK/ France/ Macedonia; 1994)
23. LA HAINE (Mathieu Kassovitz; France; 1995)
24. FARGO (Joel and Ethan Coen; USA; 1995)
25. HEAT (Michael Mann; USA; 1995)
26. A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (Mohsen Makhmalbaf; Iran/ France/ Switzerland; 1995)
27. UNDERGROUND (Emir Kusturica; France/ Germany/ Hungary; 1995)
28. LONE STAR (John Sayles; USA; 1995)
29. CRUMB (Terry Zwigoff; USA; 1995)
30. IRMA VEP (Olivier Assayas; France; 1996)
31. DRIFTING CLOUDS (Aki Kaurismaki; Finland; 1996)
32. WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (William Gazecki; USA; 1997)
33. FAST, CHEAP, AND OUT OF CONTROL (Errol Morris; USA; 1997)
34. PUBLIC HOUSING (Frederick Wiseman; USA; 1997)
35. BOOGIE NIGHTS (Paul Thomas Anderson; USA; 1997)
36. FUNNY GAMES (Michael Haneke; Austria; 1997)
37. A TASTE OF CHERRY (Abbas Kiarostami; Iran; 1997)
38. MOTHER AND SON (Aleksandr Sokurov; Russia/ Germany; 1997)
39. THE INTERVIEW (Harun Farocki; Germany; 1997)
40. HAPPINESS (Todd Solondz; USA; 1998)
41. 42 UP (Michael Apted; UK; 1998)
42. THE THIN RED LINE (Terrence Malick; USA; 1998)
43. FESTEN (Thomas Vinterberg; Denmark; 1998)
44. BEAU TRAVAIL (Claire Denis; France; 1998)
45. I STAND ALONE (Gaspar Noe; France; 1998)
46. RING (Hideo Nakata; Japan; 1998)
47. AFTER LIFE (Hirokazu Kore-eda; Japan; 1998)
48. HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA (Jean-Luc Godard; France; 1998)
49. ETERNITY AND A DAY (Theo Angelopoulos; Greece/ France/ Italy/ Germany; 1998)
50. ALONE, LIFE WASTES ANDY HARDY (Martin Arnold; Austria; 1998)
51. PONY GLASS (Lewis Klahr; USA; 1998)
52. FILM IST. (1-12) (Gustav Deutsch; Austria; 1998/2002)
53. ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodovar; Spain; 1999)
54. ROSETTA (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne; Belgium/ France; 1999)
55. RATCATCHER (Lynne Ramsay; UK/ France; 1999)
56. L’HUMANITE (Bruno Dumont; France; 1999)
57. OUTER SPACE (Peter Tscherkassky; Austria; 1999)
58. SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR (Roy Andersson; Sweden/ France/ Denmark/ Norway/ Germany; 2000)
59. EUREKA (Shinji Aoyama; Japan; 2000)
60. THE CIRCLE (Jafar Panahi; Iran; 2000)
61. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Wong Kar-Wai; Hong Kong/ France; 2000)
62. YI YI (Edward Yang; Taiwan/ Japan; 2000)
63. THE GLEANERS AND I (Agnes Varda; France; 2000)
64. NINE QUEENS (Fabian Bielinsky; Argentina; 2000)
65. PLATFORM (Jia Zhangke; Hong Kong/ Japan/ France/ Netherlands/ Switzerland; 2000)
66. MULHOLLAND DRIVE (David Lynch; USA; 2001)
67. BLOODY SUNDAY (Paul Greengrass; UK/ Ireland; 2001)
68. TIME OUT (Laurent Cantet; France; 2001)
69. PULSE (Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Japan; 2001)
70. A MA SOEUR! (Catherine Breillat; France/ Italy; 2001)
71. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (Wes Anderson; USA; 2001)
72. FEMME FATALE (Brian De Palma; France; 2002)
73. THE CENTURY OF THE SELF (Adam Curtis; UK; 2002)
74. DISTANT (Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Turkey/ Netherlands; 2002)
75. TO BE AND TO HAVE (Nicolas Philibert; France; 2002)
76. DECASIA (Bill Morrison; USA; 2002)
77. BUS 174 (Felipe Larceda & Jose Padilha; Brazil; 2002)
78. GOODBYE, DRAGON INN (Tsai Ming-liang; Taiwan; 2003)
79. ELEPHANT (Gus van Sant; USA; 2003)
80. THE BEST OF YOUTH (Marco Tullio Giordana; Italy; 2003)
81. MEMORIES OF MURDER (Bong Joon-ho; South Korea; 2003)
82. KINGS AND QUEEN (Arnaud Desplechin; France; 2004)
83. OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook; South Korea; 2004)
84. LOS MUERTOS (Lisandro Alonso; Argentina/ France/ Netherlands/ Switzerland; 2004)
85. THE HOLY GIRL (Lucrecia Martel; Argentina/ Spain/ Netherlands/ Italy/ Switzerland; 2004)
86. GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog; USA; 2005)
87. WORKINGMAN’S DEATH (Michael Glawogger; Austria/ Germany; 2005)
88. SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul; Thailand/ France/ Netherlands/ Austria; 2006)
89. 12.08 EAST OF BUCHAREST (Corneliu Porumboiu; Romania/ France; 2006)
90. COLOSSAL YOUTH (Pedro Costa; Portugal/ France/ Switzerland; 2006)
91. SILENT LIGHT (Carlos Reygadas; Mexico/ France/ Netherlands; 2007)
92. AT SEA (Peter Hutton; USA; 2007)
93. IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (Jose Luis Guerin; Spain/ France; 2007)
94. MODERN LIFE (Raymond Depardon; France; 2008)
95. MAN ON WIRE (James Marsh; UK; 2008)
96. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Tomas Alfredson; Sweden/ Norway; 2008)
97. DOGTOOTH (Giorgos Lanthimos; Greece; 2009)
98. DISORDER (Weikai Huang; China; 2009)
99. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (Banksy; UK; 2010)
100. NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT (Patricio Guzman; Chile/ France/ Germany; 2010)
101. LE QUATTRO VOLTE (Michelangelo Frammartino; Italy/ France/ Switzerland; 2010)
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