The 27 Best Films I Have Ever Seen

A yearly tradition in which I, on the day of (or a few weeks after) my birthday, compile and publish a list of the best films I have ever seen. I have little to add as an introduction; only that, like every year, I wish I had taken the time to watch more classics and treasures of the art-form. I wish I had taken more trips to the theatre, and made better use of my Criterion subscription. But then, there's always next year.

(bold text indicates a new addition to the list)

All That Heaven Allows (1955) dir. Douglas Sirk

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

The Ascent (1977) dir. Larisa Shepitko

Badlands (1973) dir. Terrence Malick

Battleship Potemkin (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein

Beau Travail (1999) dir. Claire Denis

Black Orpheus (1959) dir. Marcel Camus

Brief Encounter (1945) dir. David Lean

The Cranes are Flying (1957) dir. Mikhail Kalatozov

The Fall (2006) dir. Tarsem

Hunger (2008) dir. Steve McQueen

In the Mood for Love (2000) dir. Wong Kar-Wai

Mulholland Drive (2001) dir. David Lynch

Paris, Texas (1984) dir. Werner Herzog

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) dir. Carl Theodor Dryer

Paths of Glory (1957) dir. Stanley Kubrick

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma

Ran (1985) dir. Akira Kurosawa

The Red Balloon (1956) dir. Albert Lamorisse

The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

The Rules of the Game (1939) dir. Jean Renoir

Seven Samurai (1954) dir. Akira Kurosawa

Stop Making Sense (1984) dir. Jonathan Demme

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) dir. F.W. Murnau

Tokyo Story (1953) dir. Yasujirō Ozu

The Virgin Spring (1960) dir. Ingmar Bergman

The Wizard of Oz (1939) dir. Victor Fleming