Alison Strauss

Comments

PRÄSTÄNKAN

Affecting and beautiful drama - an ostensibly light-hearted romantic story that takes you by surprise, steals up on you and breaks your heart.

Bringing Up Baby

Perfect screenplay, performances and pace (and, of course, Cary Grant in a negligée).

I Know Where I’m Going!

The reason I moved to Scotland (that and my own laird) and a film that I never tire of rewatching. Powerful film fairytale with a mythic visual style that steers well clear of whimsy.

The Night of the Hunter

Dreamy (or nightmarish) and strange – I am still satisfyingly unsettled by this cinematic expression of Southern Gothic, even after multiple viewings.

The Red Balloon

Wordless and timeless.

The Spirit of the Beehive

I love this film in, which the imaginary world encroaches on the real. Ana's secret, whispered exchanges with her sister haunt me.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Cinema that puts you on the edge of your seat and keeps you there is something I very much value in my moviegoing experiences, and this delivers in spades.

Fanny and Alexander

Sumptuous, cinematic storytelling (and I'm a sucker for a magic lantern scene).

The Piano

On my list for its sensuousness, cinematography, eroticism and emotional power.

Mary and Max

An inventive, deliciously and hilariously dark must-see movie, proving that film storytelling need never cease surprising us.

Further remarks

In common, I imagine, with many others, it pains me to assert so few as ten films as 'the greatest' but I felt honoured to be invited to contribute. I have picked titles that yield rewards even after multiple viewings, at many stages of one's life, and that use the tools and language of cinema that the medium uniquely affords. Having compiled and reflected on my list I observe that I am markedly drawn to films which figure a child's eye perspective and elements of myth, folklore and dream. A disproportionate number of my choices are silent (The Parson's Widow), dialogue-free (The Red Balloon) or feature characters who do not speak (The Piano), and in which the visual storytelling must come to the fore… but cracking dialogue can be just as much of a joy (case in point: Bringing up Baby screenplay by Hagar Wilde - aka Beverly Violet Bidwell).