Alejandro González Iñárritu

Comments

Andrei Rublev

There is a luminous duality coexisting in every frame of this film - the beauty and hardships of the physical world and the spiritual meaning in the interior life of Rublev.

L' albero degli zoccoli

This transparent and deep observation of human frailty transpires in each of those faces and those locations. It's the highest manifestation of intelligence, which is empathy.

DU LEVANDE

The train fantasy scene with the newlywed couple on their honeymoon while the rock star plays guitar is for me one of the most beautiful moments made in cinema.

L'avventura

Antonioni is for me a cinematic animal. Every one of his films contains its own pace and language. L'Avventura's beauty and complexity is almost uncomfortable. Its ending always leaves a void within me which can only be filled by watching it again.

Ordet

Ordet is a modern and relevant film as much as it was 65 years ago. Everybody talks about the ending, but Johannes reciting at the top of that hill is as miraculous as the rest of the film. Only Dreyer could dilute such a theatrically blocked composition and turn it into a completely cinematic experience.

Playtime

Tati saw the world 50 years ahead of his time and he commented on it. Sonically and visually, each little detail in every single frame of this massive-scale film is obsessive and elegantly clever. Only Tati's unique timing and blocking could have made something so precise and controlled extremely funny.

Persona

From the opening credits to Bibi Anderson's sexual monologue, to how the eyes of Liv Ullman look at the camera, or how each silent moment is lit and framed, sober and perfect: you know you are witnessing greatness. This is a walk in the mind of Bergman.

Le Mépris

There is something in this movie, so that every time I hear the Georges Delerue theme start playing over and over again, even when I know it will stop abruptly, I feel a deep melancholy and my eyes water.

Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie

Buñuel once said that "...a film is a dream being directed."

The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie is precisely that, a dream inside a dream that is dreamt by the dream of another dreamer.

I could have chosen The Exterminator Angel or The Phantom of Liberty, but this particular film's humour and social commentary are so clever that they make it clear we cannot and should not underestimate the wisdom and power of the subconscious.

La dolce vita

When I saw this film for the first time, I was very young and I will never forget the shock I felt when Marcello finds out about Steiner's tragic end. It's a cinema moment that changed something deep in me and triggered philosophical thoughts, fears and questions. The way Fellini manages to navigate through the surface of the superficial world while illuminating its darkest depths is superb.

Further remarks

So many masterful films and directors have been painfully left out of this list!

I guess the only way to condense it is to be aware of how the greatest films of all time are changing permanently. These changes in perspective are directly related to the personal changes we go through simultaneously.

This selection of films is faithful to the moment I am going through now in my life and the way these films speak to me at this time.