Top ten World Cinema films from the top 1000 films of all time

 Since I started working through the top 1000 films of all time, I have seen the best that World Cinema has to offer. Here are my top ten best World Cinema films.

City of God

There is a reason that this film is number 21 on the top 1000 films of all time. And there is a reason that it is on my list for the ten best films of all time. It is a breath-taking piece of cinema.

Detailing the lives of two boys growing up in the slums of Rio De Janeiro, it is an absolute roller-coaster. I have seen this film multiple times and each time it has been more thrilling than the last.

Oldboy

This Korean film comes in on number 82 on the top 1000 films of all time. Plus it also features on my top ten films of all time and for good reason. It is a powerful tale of revenge based on a Japanese manga.

This thriller follows Oh Dae-Su - a man who has been mysteriously imprisoned for fifteen years. After his sudden release, he goes on a self-destructive journey to find his kidnappers. It is brimming with gorgeous Korean proverbs, stunning fight sequences and one of the biggest plot twists in film history.

Rang De Basanti (Paint it Saffron)

Yes, you've guessed it. Rang De Basanti also features on the top 1000 films of all time at 34th. It is an Indian film. Critics of Indian cinema dismiss them as overly-dramatic with shoe-horned musical numbers. Yes, that is partly true, but Rang De Basanti is far more than that.

It tells the story of Sue - an English film-maker making a documentary about some of the early leaders of the Indian independence movement. However, the lines between reality and fiction soon begin to blur. It is a magnificent story about finding your place in the world. An absolute must-see for lovers of Indian cinema.

The Hunt

Director Thomas Vinterberg creates a gripping psychological drama that shows the witch-hunt following teacher Lucas (Mads Mikklesen) after he is falsely accused of molesting one of his pupils. This Danish film show-cased Mikklesen at his best. There is a reason that he won the Best Actor award at Cannes. But the entire film is a triumph. The tension never lets up for a minute. It is Danish cinema at its best. I much preferred it to Vinterberg's earlier effort of the Celebration, which is probably why The Hunt places 124 on the top 1000 films of all time. Fifty-five places higher than Vinterberg's earlier film.

My Neighbour Totoro

I had to include Japanese cinema on this list. And while it might have made sense to include Akira Kurosawa, I instead wanted to pay respect to the genre of anime. And there is no greater producer of anime than Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

I was so tempted to put Grave of the Fireflies on this list, but that heart-breaking affair has featured on other lists of mine, so I want to pay homage to another Studio Ghibli great: My Neighbour Totoro, which features at 137 on the top 1000 films of all time.

It would be all too easy to dismiss as a kids' film, but it is great for all the family to watch. Sisters Sasuki and Mai have just moved into a country home with their father while their mother is sick in the hospital. The young Mai then befriends the adorable Totoro who helps her through the process. This coming-of-age story is surprisingly poignant. Plus, I just love Totoro. He is the cutest thing ever. There's a reason he has become the mascot for Studio Ghibli.

Les Intouchables (The Untouchables)

This French film is the last time I'm going to mention my list of the top ten films of all time.

Les Intouchables features at 31 on the top 1000 films of all time. It tells the story of Philippe (Francois Cluzet) a billionaire quadriplegic and his unqualified, unprofessional carer Driss (Omar Sy.) Their unlikely friendship contributes to one of the feel-good films of the century.

Les Intouchables will make you laugh. It will probably make you cry too. Plus it's what launched Omar Sy to international stardom. If you've seen him in Lupin, do yourself a favour and go back and watch. You won't regret it.

Y tu Mama Tambien

We've come to Alfonso Cuaron and Mexico. This film really surprised me. Some of its critics have dismissed it as a Mexican American Pie, due to its frank depiction of sex, but this touching coming-of-age drama is far deeper than that. It places at 641 on the top 1000 films of all time.

It follows three characters: best friends Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna) and older Spanish woman Luisa (Maribel Verdu) as they try to find a mythical beach.

It's a story about growing up. It's a story about change. It is under-stated, but also really sexy. You just might not want to watch it with your parents.

IP Man

Although I'm generally not a fan of wuxia/kung-fu films, I would make an exception for IP man. It tells the true-life story of IP Man (Donnie Yen) a Kung-fu master who navigates the dangers of living in Hong Kong during the occupation of Japan. IP Man places at 215 on the top 1000 films of all time.

Unlike other Wuxia films, IP Man stays grounded in the real-life. Plus the kung-fu sequences are brilliantly choregraphed. Donnie Yen also gave a charismatic performance. I wasn't as keen on the sequel, but I still think IP man is the best that the Wuxia genre has to offer.

Zwartboek (Black Book)

We're returning to Europe with this excellent Dutch film that centres on the Dutch resistance movement during World War Two. Black Book is 435th on the top 1000 films of all time.

Where director Paul Verhoeven succeeded is by highlighting the different shades of grey that comes with warfare. No matter what Hollywood says, things are never black and white. This is a fast-paced affair with twist after twist. Its film-making at its best.

Das Boot 

We remain in World-War-Two for this excellent West German film that focusses on a German submarine crew who are under attack. And that film is Das Boot. It places 70th on the top 1000 films of all time.

Tight camera angles result in a claustrophobic, suffocating affair that highlights what it would be like to be on a submarine during battle. It also does great character work especially in how it explores how war can affect men. It certainly isn't perfect, but it is still an intense affair that doesn't let up for a minute.

It was difficult to nail this list down to just ten film. And there were many films and directors that did not make the cut: Fellini, Kurosawa, Bergman, Lang etc. Have I missed any other films? Let me know in the comments below. 

Babel review

 Number 833 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu's psychological drama Babel.

Babel spans four separate yet inter-locking narratives across the US, Mexico, Morocco and Japan. Chieko Wataya (Rinko Kikuchi) is a deaf-and-dumb Japanese teenage girl who has a strained relationship with her father Yasujiro (Koji Yakusho.) Yasujiro, while hunting in Morocco bequeaths his rifle to his guide who in turn sells it to goatherder Abdullah, whose goats are being attacked by jackals. He sends his two sons Yusuf (Boubker Ait El Caid) and Ahemd (Said Tarchani) to tend to the herd with the new rifle.

Tragedy strikes when the two boys fire at a tour bus containing married couple Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett.) Having marital problems, they travel to Morocco leaving their children in the care of their Mexican nanny Amelia (Adriana Barraza.) When the two are unable to return in time for Amelia to attend her nephew's wedding in Mexico, she goes anyway, taking the children with her.

This is definitely one of the more depressing films I've seen on this list. It was a downbeat, bittersweet, yet powerful tale about the consequences of us not communicating with each other. The title 'Babel' is an obvious reference to the Tower of Babel. Angry at humans for trying to construct a tower to reach heaven, God made it that so none of them could no longer speak the same language.

But poor Chieko could not speak at all. Rendered deaf and dumb from the trauma of discovering her mother's dead body, she struggles in relating to the outside world. Rinko Kikachi was very good at portraying a young lady trying and failing to find any type of connection. She was a relatable character. At one point or another, I'm sure we've all felt like we haven't fit in somewhere. Although her narrative is the least-connected to the rest of the plot it was one of the most powerful.

From here, we go to Morocco. The young and immature boys Ahmed and Yussuf being eager to try the range of the rifle, nonchalantly fire at a tour bus. When they realise they may have killed somebody, the two orchestrate a web of lies, which only leads to more tragedy.

Enter Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Blanchett plays Susan who was subsequently shot by Yussuf. She was good in what little she had to do, but she was largely under-used. Brad Pitt impressed me though. Instead of being the suave action hero, he was a grieving husband trying to fix his marriage. It was the most mature I have ever seen him.

Finally, we've come to poor Amelia who makes one innocent mistake with disastrous consequences. Adriana Barraza was great in the role rightly earning an Oscar nod. It clear that Amelia is a loving, empathetic woman who never wanted any harm to come to her words, yet that's exactly what happened. I do find it strange that neither Adriana Barraza or Rinko Kikachi didn't receive star billing yet their male co-stars did. These two were just as integral to the plot as Brad Pitt or Koji Yashuko.

Multi-narratives with ensemble casts can often be difficult to follow, but Inarritu did a good job in navigating the various complexities. It was a good idea to pick four different countries with four different cultures and languages. That certainly gave each section a distinctive look.

Along with Amores Perros and 21 Grams, Babel is part of Initarru's death trilogy. Although all three films make use of the hyperlink narrative structure, I do think Babel does it the best. I would also argue it's the best of the three. With the film's central theme being communication, I will end on a pertinent quotation by Stephen Hawking:

"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals, but then something happened that unleashed the power of our imaginations: we learned to talk....It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking."

Traffic review

 Number 630 on the top 1000 films of all time is Steven Soderbergh's 2000 crime-drama 'Traffic.'

Traffic follows the drug-trafficking trade from four different perspectives in an inter-connected narrative. Ray Castro (Luis Guzman) and Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) are two DEA agents aiming to take down drug kingpin Carlos Ayala (Stephen Bauer) through getting their witness Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer.) Meanwhile, Bauer's wife Helena (Catherine Zeta Jones) tries to continue the business he left behind. In Ohio, Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) is appointed the new Drug Czar only to discover his own daughter is a cocaine addict. Finally, in Mexico, corrupt cop Javier Rodriguez (Benicio del Toro) has a change of heart when he witnesses the true horrors of the drug trade.

I'm going to start this review with my usual disclaimer of not wanting to compare films with each other, before immediately comparing Traffic with Crash. Crash is also a multi-narrative, interconnected film that engages with crime and race relations, but it woefully fails where Traffic succeeds. Whereas Crash felt rushed, contrived and half-arsed, Steven Soderbergh's took the time to really explore each character and narrative. The two and a half-hour runtime was an added bonus. It was an ambitious project and anything shorter wouldn't have done it justice.

Soderbergh also made the key decision of adopting distinctive looks for each narrative: Wakefield's story is shot with a blue tungsten filter, Helena's story has an over-exposed diffusion filter and Javier's story has is harsh and yellow. Although that seems to be the case whenever American films depict Mexico. Regardless, it was a good decision that helped to distinguish each narrative. It stopped things from becoming too confusing.

And the drug-trafficking world is one of confusion and chaos. There are a lot of moving parts yet through this multi-narrative, Soderbergh is able to bring all of these parts together in one cohesive narrative. By telling the story through different perspectives, he is able to add a lot of nuance to what could have been a straight, boring black-and-white story. There is a lot more morally grey than people would like to think.

Of course it helped that Soderbergh had a star-studded, ensemble cast. Nine of the cast members have either been nominated or won an Oscar - Benicio Del toro won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role and, deservingly so.

I thoroughly enjoyed Traffic. it is a marker of what all good multi-story narratives should be.

Apocalypto review

 Number 497 on the top 1000 films of all time is Mel Gibson's epic action-adventure Apocalypto.

Set during the Mayan empire with the dialogue being entirely in Yucatan, Apocalypto focusses on Jaguar Paw (Rudy Yungblood.) Jaguar Paw is the son of a tribal chieftain and is married to his wife Seven (Dalia Hernandez) and they have their own son Turtles Run. All is looking well until they are attacked by a rival tribe who capture Jaguar Paw and the other males who kidnap them to become human sacrifices.

Firstly, let me say the cinematography was beautiful. Every shot was gorgeous and conveyed the true splendour of Veracruz where the film was shot. We sat the vibrant green of the forest and the rich colours of the sunset. The Eyipantla waterfalls looked spectacular.

Part of that was down to Gibson's choice to write the dialogue in Yucatan. He thought it would create a more immersive world for the viewer, emphasise the visuals, as well as adding more historical accuracy. Although Gibson has received plenty of criticism for his historical accuracy or lack thereof. But at the end of the day this is Mel Gibson we're talking about. He made Braveheart - a brilliant film that is definitely more fiction than fact. You should know you're looking for if you're watching a Mel Gibson film.

I also loved the music. Rather than using a contemporary soundtrack, all the music was period specific with traditional singing and instrumentation - or what sounded authentic to me, at least. This added another layer of realism and ramped up the dramatic tension.

Having said that, the film is far from perfect. Of the two halves, I much preferred the first half, because it felt like we were going somewhere. The stakes were high and so was the dramatic tension. We get our scene-setting showing the close-knit community of Jaguar Paw's tribe. This peace is shattered by a group of marauders who sell the women into sex slavery and take the men to be sacrificed. This was tense as I was wondering how Jaguar Paw would get out of this. Fortunately, an eclipse disturbs proceedings and instead Jaguar Paw and the others are allowed to run to freedom.

I say allow as the marauders are playing a cruel game by using the escaping captives as target practice. Jaguar Paw is the only one who escapes alive and he is pursued by his captors. The second half of the film descends into a chase sequence. We see Jaguar Paw use his skill and strength to outwit the hunters, as well as a jaguar and a snake who appear at just the right moment. This would have been fun to watch if it had only gone for ten or fifteen minutes rather than a whole hour. I kept wondering where this was heading and what the next obstacle would be. But instead it was an extended chase sequence. And that did kill some of the dramatic tension.

However, this was all part of Gibson's vision. He wanted to take the traditional chase sequence, strip out all the glitz and glamour and reduce it to its most primal core. I get that, but he over did it. The excess slow-motion did nothing to help things either.

Although this was a technically beautiful film, the storyline does fall apart in the second half. But if you can get past that, it's well worth a watch. 

Amores Perros Review

 Number 193 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Mexican psychological drama 'Amores Perros.'

Roughly translating to "Love's a bitch," this movie tells three separate but interconnecting stories that all revolve around the theme of dogs. The first follows Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Susanna (Vanessa Bauche.) Octavio is in love with Susanna who happens to be his brother's, Ramiro (Marco Perez) girlfriend. Ramiro is abusive and unfaithful and Susanna slowly starts to return Octavio's feelings. However, they need money to run away, so Octavio starts entering his rottweiler Cofi into dog fighting contests.

However, after a fight goes awry, and Octavio needs to make a quick getaway, he crashes his car into Valeria's car (Goya Toledo,) kickstarting the second story. Valeria is a supermodel whose boyfriend Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero) has left his family to be with her. The car crash leaves her wheelchair bound with a broken leg. While Daniel is at work, Valeria's only companion is her dog Richie. But he becomes trapped after falling through a hole in the floorboards.

The final story revolves around El Chivo, an ex-convict and guerilla fighter, who is now homeless and takes care of Mexico's stray dogs. One of these dogs is Cofi who he rescues from the car crash. El Chivo is also a part-time hitman whom a man hires to kill his half brother.

Hyperlink structures like this always have the potential to be complicated and convoluted. Even other great hyperlink films like Pulp Fiction can be confusing for the unsuspecting view. However, Amores Perros was surprisingly simple in its execution. Rather than having the stories intercept at various points and viewers having to constantly track of who's who, the storyline is far more linear. Octavio crashing his car is the cause and effect that leads to Valeria injuring her leg, as well as El Chivo nursing Cofi back to health. That's all there was. Although I do wonder whether this is a film that worked better as a whole rather than in its individual parts.

And I am referring to the film's most traumatic scenes - the dog fighting. I've written a short story about dog fighting and I had to research into the brutal sport, if you can call it that. To watch these scenes was triggering to say the least. And as such it was difficult to root for a character like Octavio who voluntarily offered Cofi to the dog fight. If it was a last resort to make money, it would be more understandable, but not entirely. Beyond that, the guy is borderline creepy. In a different film, his persistence to win over Susanna would result in a restraining order.

Having said that, Susanna's Stockholm syndrome was played well. Like most domestic abuse victims, she doesn't even realise that she is being abused at first. And her abuser slowly alienates her from her family and friends. It takes her a while to snap out of her denial. And while Ramiro was a scumbag, it was nice to his motivations. He works a dead-end supermarket job for little money. Powerless in his working life, he takes control of his family life. This depth helped him to not be just another generic villain.

Valeria's storyline was far more interesting. It was one of loneliness and isolation. Due to Octavio's actions, she becomes housebound and can no longer work. Her relationship with Daniel becomes strained especially when her only companion, her dog, Richie, becomes trapped underneath the floorboards. Out of the three main characters, she is the most innocent and also the most tragic. It was sad to see her despair at the removal of her billboards around the city. Modelling is an unstable profession. It's all too easy to be replaced by a younger, prettier model.

Finally we come to El Chivo (Emilio Echevarria) - the homeless, hit-man hired to kill a businessman. However, he is sick of being used and exploited and instead manipulates the situation, so that his employer and intended victim come face to face. He loosely ties them up, leaves them a loaded gun and allows them to fight it out. And when he isn't being a hitman, he is taking care of the city's strays. This isn't the first time that I've seen an otherwise morally unredeemable character be redeemed by his love of animals, but it's a trope I never tire of seeing. And it leads to the film's saddest scene.

El Chivo comes home one day to see that Cofi has killed the rest of the dogs. Due to the horrible trauma he's experienced, he has become a killing machine. In El Chivo's rage, he holds a gun to Cofi's head, but is unable to pull the trigger. After all, this wasn't Cofi's fault, but the scumbag people who trained him to be a killer.

I would definitely recommend this film. It's a hell of a ride, but a powerful one. Just a warning about the dogfighting. Obviously it isn't real - it's just playfighting that's been skillfully edited, but that doesn't make it any less traumatic to watch. And that's just watching. Can you imagine what it would be like for the poor dogs who actually have to fight?