This is my own personal selection of my 20 favourite films that have meant a lot to me over the years. Of course, it’s all subjective. These are MY favourite films and I’ve chosen them because they all made me FEEL in one way or another. It may well be that they don’t do anything for you. But here they are anyway. All very different and listed in no particular order.
My 20 Favourite Films of All Time
Lawrence of Arabia
David Lean 1962
Perhaps I love this film so much because it was the first film I saw on the big screen after Bambi. Maybe a bit too young at the age of seven, but I’ve been in love with Peter O’Toole ever since. Could anyone play such a tortured soul so well and still look like a Greek god? It’s a BIG film with wide spaces and the most wonderful music score which magnifies its emotional resonance tenfold.
I still don’t know enough about the political history of this time and luckily any sexual innuendoes went totally over my young head. But there’s much more to it than meets the eye and every time I see it (which is many) I notice something new.
It won seven Oscars and has been deemed to be one of the greatest and influential films ever made.
My all-time favourite film.
Zorba the Greek
Michael Cacoyannis 1964
Anthony Quinn plays Zorba, a loveable Greek rogue who teams up with the rather straight-laced Greek-British character played by Alan Bates, who has come to Crete to claim his inherited land.
Although it’s filmed in black and white, we still get a sense of the island’s beauty, and this medium is also used cleverly to portray the stark bleakness of the local village life.
It’s a tale of passion, human imperfections, jealousies, dashed hopes and desires. You may wonder why you should watch it if it’s all so bleak, but there’s a constant vein of humour and enthusiasm running through it, and above all there’s the wonderful music score by Mikis Theodorakis.
The film was a smash hit and the final scene of Quinn and Bates dancing the sirtaki on the beach is emotive and life-affirming.
Four Weddings and A Funeral
Mike Newell – 1994
This film made an amazing worldwide box office total of £245 million. Not bad when it was filmed in six weeks at a cost of £3 million. The screenplay was written by Richard Curtis who went on to write and direct a run of really successful films starring the talented Hugh Grant.
It’s all very English and cosy, with friends reuniting at various weddings, people falling in and out of love and, invariably cases of unrequited love.
Andie MacDowell plays the main romantic interest who strings Charles (Hugh Grant) along. Personally, I think he could have done better with Kristin Scott Thomas, but the path of true love is never smooth.
Despite being a comedy, there are some raw, emotional parts, especially when John Hannah recites ‘Stop All the Clocks’ by W H Auden at his lover’s funeral. Very moving.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Frank Capra – 1949
A Christmas classic with a fantasy element and some very poignant life lessons woven into sheer entertainment.
Beautifully directed and acted, the film covers the raw desperation that we can feel during hard times when our lives seem pointless. It helps to show us that the worth of our lives is not weighed up by success but comes down to our relationships, love, and kindness. And there’s humour in it too.
If you’re feeling down at Christmas, this is the film to watch. And if you’re feeling happy too, watch it.
North by Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock – 1959
The style is beyond compare. From the beautifully designed interiors to the exquisite Eva Marie Saint in her immaculate outfits. And who could fail to be bowled over by Cary Grant who still holds onto his suave charm, no matter what a crop sprayer throws at him?
The plot isn’t bad either – so it should be, considering it’s directed by the legendary Hitchcock. Not his usual edge-of-the-seat grit, but it keeps us guessing in a gentle maze of suspense and an element of will they, won’t they.
Sheer entertainment and a wonderful journey through beautiful design.
Doctor Zhivago
David Lean – 1965
This is another iconic, panoramic film directed by the great David Lean, starring Omar Sherriff and Julie Christie among a long cast of talented actors.
Set in Russia during World War I and the Russian revolution it portrays the tangled relationships between the poetic doctor Yuri Zhivago, his wife (Geraldine Chaplin) and the young Lara, played by Julie Christie.
This is all set against the backdrop of war and the warped ideologies of the communists during the revolution, where honest, good people are caught up in the hardship. There is also the battle that Zhivago has with himself as he tries to stay loyal to his wife. But love is too strong.
The film is hugely romantic with passion and tragedy and was one of the highest box office hits of the decade it came out.
Cabaret
Bob Fosse – 1972
Set in Berlin in 1931 the film revolves around the Kit Kat Klub where American Sally Bowles, played by the magnetic Liza Minnelli performs. Michael York, a studious young Englishman moves into her boarding house, and they strike up a strong bond.
The music is wonderful and it’s the Master of Ceremonies, played brilliantly by Joel Gray, who steals a large chunk of the show as we become perfectly immersed in the atmosphere of 30s Germany. The slightly debauched frivolity of the nightclub plays against the dark rise of the Nazi party and the complexities of the main characters’ struggles with their individual sexuality.
The unforgettable scene in a beer garden of a beautiful German boy wearing Hitler Youth uniform singing ‘Tomorrow belons to me’ is enough to send shivers down your spine.
The Shawshank Redemption
Frank Darabont – 1994
There’s something that rises up in all of us when we learn of an injustice and this film starts with two of them when banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover.
Life in prison is bleak but it’s the acting of Robbins and Morgan Freeman, and all the human interactions along the way that make this film priceless.
And in the end – spoiler alert – our man gets his revenge, cleverly and without violence. In the end it’s a very uplifting film.
Love Actually
Richard Curtis – 2003
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without watching Love Actually. Some people could call it trite, but it has humour, love (of course!) and resolution all wrapped up into neat little parcels.
The film is more of a woven tapestry of various tales illustrating love in its many extraordinary forms. There are disappointments, heartbreak and romance, all played out by a brilliant cast of actors – Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Keira Nightly, to name a few.
If you don’t enjoy all the threads, there’s bound to be at least one storyline that will captivate you. It’s certainly ticked the boxes for a good number of people as it’s grossed £246 million. Try it.
The Devil Wears Prada
David Frankel – 2006
How can you not be bowled over by Meryl Streep’s performance in this film! The tilt of an eyebrow, a slightly extended pause, and a twitch of her lips speaks volumes. Somehow, Streep manages to combine style with menace, yet at the same time giving us moments we feel we could actually like the woman.
The plot isn’t hugely complex but the whole setting, and the clothes are amazing. Emily Blunt is brilliant as the catty English assistant above Anne Hathaway who also acts superbly.
An easy film to enjoy. Uncomplicated with the feel-good resolution at the end.
Julie and Julia
Nora Ephron – 2009
If you’re into food and just want some easy viewing, then this film is for you. It’s about food, France, relationships and resolutions.
Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams the story is semi-biographical and straddles two lives and two timelines. Firstly, that of a young aspiring writer in New York (Julie/Adams) who decides to cook all the recipes from chef Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking all within one year and writes about it daily in her popular blog.
The other parallel story line covers Julia Child’s (Streep) early culinary career – her training at Le Cordon Blue in Paris, her life in France married to her diplomat husband (played by Stanley Tucci) and her battle to get her book published.
It’s a gentle film that may well re-inspire you with cooking.
Ghost
Jerry Zucker – 1990
I still enjoy this film, despite the comical takes that have been made of a certain scene at the pottery wheel.
Although it features Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, it’s Whoopi Goldberg who steals the show. There’s a mixture of romance, comedy and thriller and no particular element undercuts another. Also, a spiritual angle as well although that should go without saying, given its title.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to divulge that Swayze, a banker with access to important financial information, is murdered early on in the film. His ghost tries desperately to warn his girlfriend of the danger she faces so he manages to enlist the help of a charlatan psychic played by Goldberg, who is surprised to discover that she’s not such a fraud after all.
It’s a bit dated but wears well and it’s easy watching, despite a couple of moments when you’ll feel like shouting warnings at the screen. Well worth watching.
Don’t Look Now
Nicolas Roeg – 1973
This haunting film is set mainly in Venice and was inspired by a short story written by Daphne du Maurier.
The tale portrays a couple, John and Laura Baxter, who have lost their young daughter in a tragic accident. John (Donald Sutherland) takes on a restoration project of a church in Venice and Laura, played by Julie Christie, accompanies him. The beautiful city looks bleak in the mid-winter and the grief that still hangs over the couple is palpable.
Laura meets two elderly sisters, one of whom is a blind clairvoyant. She tries to warn Laura that her daughter is trying to get in touch with her and we see a mother’s desperation to communicate with her daughter, while all the time there is a sense of doom. It’s better not to know any more from this point if you want to watch the film, just in case it spoils it for you.
This film is still one of my favourites – not horror exactly, but if you like happy endings, it’s probably not for you.
Good Will Hunting
Gus Van Sant – 1997
It’s particularly remarkable that this film was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and certainly helped as a launchpad in Damon’s career when he played the main character opposite Robin Williams.
The story covers a naturally gifted young man, Will Hunting, working as a mere janitor in a university. When a series of complicated combinatorial mathematical problems are left written on a blackboard Will solves them easily and fills in the equations. His genius is soon discovered by the maths professor, Lambeau, but Will shuns any form of formal education.
However, Will is also battling with his demons and gets into trouble with the police and Lambeau comes to the rescue. The terms of his release are further education and sessions with psychotherapist Dr Sean Maguire played by Robin Williams.
It’s not a big plot. It’s mainly about inter-relationships, healing from life’s injustices, and finding a purpose. But it’s uplifting and has a wonderful resolution.
Rebecca
Alfred Hitchcock – 1940
Although there have been several versions of this film, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, I believe this is the finest, with Laurence Olivier playing Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the slightly gauche main character.
We never know the name of the protagonist – a young woman who marries a dashing widower after the death of his beautiful wife, Rebecca, whose oppressive presence is felt throughout the film. It starts in the south of France but mainly takes place in Cornwall, in the beautiful Manderley, where the new bride never feels she belongs.
If you haven’t seen the film or read the book then I don’t want to spoil it for you, but just rest assured that all is not as it seems. It’s not Hitchcock at his most nerve-racking, but there’s an underlying sense of menace and tension that finally comes to a crescendo.
About Time
Richard Curtis – 2013
I’m sorry if I’ve overloaded this list with films written or directed by Richard Curtis, but where he’s involved you can always be sure of good old entertainment, without overworking the brain cells.
It’s very English, set in London and Cornwall (shot, in fact, only a few miles from where I live, hence my bias) and stars Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson and Bill Nighy. A rather silly tale of a young man who learns he has inherited the ability to turn back time (within limitations) to right certain wrongs and divert the course of his life.
It’s a wonderful portrayal of the awkwardness of youthful infatuation, then our hero is bowled over by McAdams and has to use his powers to find her again and win her over. The family is eccentric, and the relationships are warm and enduring. It’s the sort of film to watch with a hot chocolate and roaring fire. Sheer comfort.
Jean de Florette (and Manon des Sources)
Claude Berri – 1986
It’s a bit cheeky of me to list two titles here but these beautiful French films (with subtitles) really need to be seen in sequence to complete the tale.
Starring the inimitable Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil and young Emmanuelle Béart, you could say that the real star of the show is the beautiful region of Provence. The cinematography is sublime, capturing the ethereal Provençal light, and we can almost feel the heat and smell the wild herbs.
It’s a tragic tale of the cruelty of neighbours within a hot, dry, rural community. Where water is literally the giver of life and how, through the devious actions of our anti-hero and his uncle, that life is squeezed from a man with a deformed body and a good soul. But, once the tears have dried, the second tale is of retribution, a beautiful young woman dishing out gentle revenge, and wicked people getting their just deserts. Isn’t that what we all seek in such a film?
If you have a romantic disposition this film will move your soul.
Whistle Down the Wind
Bryan Forbes – 1961
This heart-warming film stars 14-year-old Hayley Mills and was adapted from a novel written by her mother. The other main part is played by the talented Alan Bates, but most of the actors are children.
Based in the Lancashire countryside and filmed in black and white, the story starts with three children finding a runaway convict in their barn and, through a misunderstanding, believe he’s Jesus Christ.
The story unfolds from the children’s perspective – their innocent faith and ultimate disappointment. But throughout the film there’s a spiritual element that’s both heart breaking and life affirming at the same time. The children act so naturally it’s hard to think they ever had a script and it’s wonderful to witness the candid logic of children, so cute with their Lancashire accents.
Originally, it was a film for children, but I don’t think it would appeal to most kids these days. As an adult I still love it.
Babette’s Feast
Gabriel Axel – 1987
Based on a short story by Karen Blixen (Out of Africa) this Danish film is set in a strict Lutheran community in remote Jutland in the 19th Century.
Two spinster sisters, who, throughout their lives have renounced earthly pleasures, take in Babette, a widowed refugee from the French civil war who has lost everything. They’re unable to pay her a salary but she gratefully works as their housekeeper for her keep.
The only thing Babette still owns from her time in Paris, is an annual lottery ticket. After fourteen years of living with the sisters she wins the grand sum of ten thousand francs and decides to spend it on a celebratory feast – the most sumptuous French feast – as a gift to the sisters and the community. No expense is spared, despite it going against the sisters’ pious beliefs.
I won’t spoil the film by giving away too much, but suffice it to say that Babette’s act of cooking is almost like a religious act and during the feast there are humorous and revealing scenes that portray much of the life-long suppressed emotions and pleasures of the tight-laced community.
Quite slow and with subtitles but it’s wonderful thought-provoking cinema at its best.
The Lord of the Rings (Film Series)
Peter Jackson – 2001-2003
Finally, I’m doing the ultimate cheat here by including three films in this one nomination, but it’s one consecutive story so I think it’s fair.
I read The Lord of the Rings three times before I was twenty and it would have been a dream to have seen it portrayed then, with all the incredible special effects that are now available. Luckily, I’m still young at heart and it wasn’t too late when this series came out. I can still believe in fairy tales.
No summary here. You either know the story or you don’t. You either like fantasy or you don’t. If you like fantasy and a bit of mystic and magic in your life then you’re bound to enjoy this series. All three films include the essential elements of conflict, love, kindness and the ultimate battle of good against evil.
We all need to believe that good will always overcome evil, even these days.
Why not check out my post on some amazing actors who are still active and working over the age of 70.
