Films
Adulthood
Noel ClarkeUK 2008
On his first day out of prison, Sam Peel finds himself being hunted by a gang of young thugs.
Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford CoppolaUSA 1979
Hallucinatory epic sees Conrad's Marlowe as a covert operative in horror-filled Vietnam.
L'Atalante
Jean VigoFrance 1934
A barge captain and his bride start their married life aboard a canal boat.
The Band Wagon
Vincente MinnelliUSA 1953
A washed-up movie star tries his luck on a faltering Broadway show.
The Battle of Algiers
Gillo PontecorvoItaly-Algeria 1966
Intense reconstruction of the main political events in Algiers between 1954-57.
Billy Elliot
Stephen DaldryUK 2000
A young boy stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor.
Blade Runner
Ridley ScottUSA 1982
A world-weary detective searches for replicants amidst a Los Angeles of the future.
Bonnie and Clyde
Arthur PennUSA 1967
Then-controversial heist film smash redefined Hollywood for a generation.
Closely Observed Trains
A dispatcher's apprentice embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
A Diary for Timothy
Snapshot of Great Britain near the end of the Second World War.
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
The threat of nuclear holocaust played brilliantly for laughs, featuring acting triple-duty by Peter Sellers.
Elephant Man
Extremely moving account of grotesquely deformed 19th-century Londoner John Merrick, rendered in expressionistic black-and-white.
Empire of the Sun
Steven SpielbergUSA 1988
An English boy is caught up in the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during WWII.
The Fog of War
A searing excavation of 20th-century US foreign policy with Robert S. McNamara
Friday Night Lights
Gritty drama about the world of high school football.
The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola's epic tale of Mafia life in America.
Great Expectations
David LeanUK 1946
David Lean's handsome adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel
Ivan the Terrible
Eisenstein's dark, claustrophobic opus on the power struggles of the 16th-century Czar.
Kes
Ken LoachUK 1969
A young working-class boy spends his time caring for and training his pet falcon.
The Leopard
A breathtaking adaptation of celebrated novel on aristocratic decline during the unification of Italy.
Local Hero
Big Oil invades a Scottish fishing village in Ealing-like piece of whimsy.
A Matter of Life and Death
Michael Powell & Emeric PressburgerUK 1946
Powell and Pressburger's feverishly imaginative tour-de-force.
Metropolis
Fritz LangGermany 1927
Perhaps the most famous German film of all time, and certainly one of the most influential of all silent films.
Mississippi Burning
Two FBI men take charge of the investigation into the murders of three civil rights workers.
Never Take No for an Answer
Story of a small boy in Italy seeking a cure for his pet donkey.
Night of the Hunter
Charles LaughtonUSA 1955
Eerie meditation on good and evil starring Robert Mitchum.
Once upon a Time in America
Two boyhood friends grow up to become the kingpins of a prohibition-era criminal empire.
Otto e mezzo
Federico Fellini Italy-France 1963
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Pather Panchali
Satyajit RayIndia 1955
Legendary Indian director Satyajit Ray's remarkable debut feature.
Quadrophenia
Film version of The Who's rock opera of well-heeled, working-class Mods in 1960s Britain.
Raging Bull
Martin ScorseseUSA 1980
The high-point in the long fruitful partnership of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro.
Raising Arizona
Joel and Ethan CoenUSA 1987
The Coen brothers' acclaimed screwball romance combines slapstick action, surreal fantasy and homespun family values.
Ratcatcher
Harrowingly beautiful tale of adolescence set amid the 1973 Glasgow dustmen's strike.
The Red Shoes
Powell and Pressburger's celebrated Technicolor fairy-tale.
Ryan's Daughter
Set in early 20th-century Ireland against a backdrop of local hostility to the British, Rosy Ryan's adultery exposes the prejudices and cruelties of a remote community.
The Sacrifice
Stunning rumination on spirituality and the end of days, featuring Ingmar Bergman's regulars.
The Seventh Seal
Bergman's Medieval masterpiece with cinema's most iconic image of Death.
She's Gotta Have It
Lee's groundbreaking professional debut on the sexual entanglements of a young Brooklynite.
Silent Light
Carlos ReygadasMexico-France-Netherlands-Germany 2007
An extraordinary, transcendent meditation on love and religion.
Singin' in the Rain
Stanley Donen, Gene KellyUSA 1952
Probably the most treasured musical in the history of cinema.
Spartacus
Stanley KubrickUSA 1960
A rebellious slave leads a freedom revolt against the decadent Roman Empire.
Stalker
Andrei TarkovskyWest Germany-Soviet Union 1979
Tarkovsky's surreal and disturbing vision of the future.
A Star is Born
Judy Garland's definitive, emotional triumph anchors glorious Cukor musical.
The Third Man
Carol ReedUK 1949
This classic noir mystery is arguably the best British film ever made.
This is England
Meadows's passionate, breakthrough tale of baptism by fire set in the wake of the Falklands War.
The Times of Harvey Milk
Rob EpsteinUSA 1984
Oscar-winning documentary which captured a key moment in gay politics.
Tokyo Story
Yasujiro OzuJapan 1953
Ozu's masterpiece, frequently heralded as one of the greatest films of all time.
Valerie and her Week of Wonders
Jaromil JirešCzechoslovakia 1970
Surreal tale in which love, fear, sex and religion merge into one fantastic world.
Vertigo
Hitchcock's finest hour, a swooning, nightmarish work of obsession and desire.
The Wizard of Oz
Victor FlemingUSA 1939
Timeless tale of a young girl's adventures in an imaginary kingdom..
The Women
Venomous, all-female Hollywood comedy has some of the best dialogue of the silver screen.