These aren't movies that are going to make you cry, or make you say "man, that was amazing!" to your friends. No -- here are five movies that will literally change your life, because they will change the way you look at art, at people, at power -- at everything.
Sometimes people make a list of movies that aren't all that watchable. Not these -- you can see these 5 ones thousands of times, and they are really, really powerful films.
#5: Triumph of the Will.
All film is spectacle, it has been said, and there was no larger and more grotesque spectacle than Hitler and his Nazi party. This film celebrates them with movie techniques that were pioneering in its day, and since it is such a celebration of his party, it is so ultimately disturbing that it alters how you see 'tribute' films forever.
#4: De Sica's Genius on Display in Bicycle Thieves.
Ultra-simple -- a man gets a bike, and a job, when Rome is very poor after the second world war. He then loses the bike, and tries to steal another one so he can keep the job. There isn't much else to the plot, but it contains a whole world.
#3: Polanski's Deconstruction of Hollywood in Chinatown.
Polanski, despite the mess he created for himself before leaving America, made what is undoubtedly one of the best American films of all time. This might just be one of those movies that says more about Hollywood than any other, which is important if you ever think about what the movies 'mean' to us.
#2: Vertigo.
A wonderful thriller that also happens to be all about falling in love, idealizing women (or men), wanting other people to conform to our expectations, and an examination of the director's role in shaping how a movie is made. No other film is so good both on its surface and in its multiple layers of meaning at the same time.
#1: America is Summed Up in The Godfather.
The fact that this movie is about the mafia is really just besides the point -- there is no other movie that explains power, family, and the dark side of the American dream so well, while also happening to be a compulsively entertaining piece of cinema.
Sometimes people make a list of movies that aren't all that watchable. Not these -- you can see these 5 ones thousands of times, and they are really, really powerful films.
#5: Triumph of the Will.
All film is spectacle, it has been said, and there was no larger and more grotesque spectacle than Hitler and his Nazi party. This film celebrates them with movie techniques that were pioneering in its day, and since it is such a celebration of his party, it is so ultimately disturbing that it alters how you see 'tribute' films forever.
#4: De Sica's Genius on Display in Bicycle Thieves.
Ultra-simple -- a man gets a bike, and a job, when Rome is very poor after the second world war. He then loses the bike, and tries to steal another one so he can keep the job. There isn't much else to the plot, but it contains a whole world.
#3: Polanski's Deconstruction of Hollywood in Chinatown.
Polanski, despite the mess he created for himself before leaving America, made what is undoubtedly one of the best American films of all time. This might just be one of those movies that says more about Hollywood than any other, which is important if you ever think about what the movies 'mean' to us.
#2: Vertigo.
A wonderful thriller that also happens to be all about falling in love, idealizing women (or men), wanting other people to conform to our expectations, and an examination of the director's role in shaping how a movie is made. No other film is so good both on its surface and in its multiple layers of meaning at the same time.
#1: America is Summed Up in The Godfather.
The fact that this movie is about the mafia is really just besides the point -- there is no other movie that explains power, family, and the dark side of the American dream so well, while also happening to be a compulsively entertaining piece of cinema.
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