Saige Walton
Senior Lecturer in Screen Studies, UniSA Creative, University of South Austalia
Australia
Voted for
| Film | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Beau travail | 1998 | Claire Denis |
| Vertigo | 1958 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Alien | 1979 | Ridley Scott |
| Mulholland Dr. | 2001 | David Lynch |
| Bicycle Thieves | 1948 | Vittorio De Sica |
| Holy Motors | 2012 | Léos Carax |
| Unforgiven | 1992 | Clint Eastwood |
| A Woman under the Influence | 1974 | John Cassavetes |
| Daisies | 1966 | Věra Chytilová |
| Paris, Texas | 1984 | Wim Wenders |
Comments
Beau travail
The beginning, the ending and everything in between - the most beautifully choreographed film about jealousy that I think has ever been made.
Vertigo
I fall into this film, every time. The ultimate tale of perversion and perverse love, beautifully accompanied by Bernard Herrmann's sublime score.
Alien
Perfectly paced. I love its sleek minimalism... Monstrous, corporate capitalism in space have never been more relevant. The opening credits still give me chills.
Mulholland Dr.
For all its atmospheric twists, turns and enigmas, the film is very precise and precisely structured around doubling and disillusion. Two neatly corresponding halves are held together by one of the most amazingly 'Lynchian' scenes ever ("Club Silencio") wherein affect and artifice combine.
Bicycle Thieves
A film that never fails to make me (or my students) cry.
Holy Motors
A sinuous film that is about all films and the 'holy motor' of cinema itself. Denis Lavant is superb (again and again and again and again...).
Unforgiven
A beautifully melancholic western. Eastwood sincerely pays homage to the history of the genre (and to his own history) while adeptly deconstructing the mythology of the gunslinger... Great dialogue ("Deserve's got nothing to do with it") and a fantastic cast, also.
A Woman under the Influence
So many moments of tenderness and quiet devastation! Rowlands' performance is still electrifying.
Daisies
Wildly experimental and joyously anarchic. Marie 1 and Marie 2 forever!
Paris, Texas
For me, this is Wenders' most beautiful film - Americana by way of Europe. Complete with stunning cinematography (Robby Müller) and an amazing score (Ry Cooder). The booth sequence between Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) and Jane (Nastassja Kinski) is something that will stay with me forever.
Further remarks
Like other critics, I had an 'almost Top 10' list that was considerably longer! In the end, I based my 10 choices on the following selection criteria: it had to be a film that left a lasting impression on me the first time I saw it; only one film per director could be included. It also had to be a film that I could watch over and over again... without ever wanting to change a single thing.