May Miles Thomas
Writer/Director
UK
Voted for
| Film | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Ordet | 1955 | Carl Th. Dreyer |
| Beau travail | 1998 | Claire Denis |
| A Matter of Life and Death | 1946 | Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger |
| Mirror | 1975 | Andrei Tarkovsky |
| ANSATSU | 1964 | Masahiro Shinoda |
| Frankenstein | 1931 | James Whale |
| The Battle of Algiers | 1966 | Gillo Pontecorvo |
| Rosetta | 1999 | Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne |
| Sullivan's Travels | 1941 | Preston Sturges |
| All Quiet on the Western Front | 1930 | Lewis Milestone |
Comments
In choosing these films, my motherlode is a quote from Michael Powell – "Theatre thinks. Cinema feels." My choice is also informed by another quote, from Robert Bresson, "Those who can work with the minimum can work with the most."
This list of films is not about the epic or spectacular. In their own way, these films, which may be construed as small, even domestic and quotidian, express a deep humanity and an ineffable quality. As representative of the best of cinema, they transcend the written and spoken word in the service of craft and technique to conjure an elevating aura.