The idea initially was to comprise a list of 100 Masterpieces. I began chronologically and worked early early early, deciding to begin at 1916 with "Intolerance" and the list would end with the latest masterpiece I have seen in theaters, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life."
Moving on, I discovered soon that 100 would be far too short of a list. I wasn't even into talking pictures by the time my number reached 20, and there was no way I could see omitting ANY of the chosen. I would HAVE to include at least ONE work from directors such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and F.W. Murnau, probably my three favorite directors of the silent era. But debating over which is the worthier title between "City Lights" or "The Gold Rush" or "Modern Times" (even if the latter is technically not a silent), between "The General" or "Sherlock Jr." or "Seven Chances" or "Steamboat Bill, Jr.", between "Nosferatu" or "Faust" or "Sunrise", the task became impossible.
Let's aim for 200.
And then came the second dilemma. Only two-hundred. Well, only American films or World Cinema included? If I only include American films, I will have to go back and exclude my list of Murnau's, since he was a German director. However, he also did works FOR Hollywood, such as "Sunrise," so do I allow that grey area? Nonsense. World Cinema must be included.
Wow then. Masterpieces from the world over. WHAT a list. Just how many have I seen?
Better make it 1000.
Once I had this in mind, I felt like a gushing faucet with the screen removed. I put in all of the great titles from my favorite directors, and the time flew by like an 80s montage. My favorite American directors: Martin Scorcese, David Lynch, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Terrence Malick, John Cassavetes, Robert Altman, Woody Allen, David Cronenberg, and even Steven Spielberg; you'll find many of their films in the list. My favorite of the French new-wave: Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, and Jules Dassin; you'll find them here as well. Italian cinema? Federico Fellini, Michaelangelo Antonioni, Luchino Visconti, even Giuseppe Tornatore and Roberto Benini; I couldn't have a list without them. Japanese masters Akira Kurosawa and Kenjii Mizoguchi, German radical filmmakers Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Spanish filmmakers of the surreal Luis Bunel and Pedro Almodovar...AND of course the Brit masters, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier...
I owe props to the critic and essay writer David Thompson, who has himself written a WONDERFUL book entitled "Have You Seen...? An Introduction to 1,000 Films." I bought the book two years ago, and have made it an ongoing checklist ever since. He is a very intelligent, if not outright pretentious, yet very clever and often quite hilarious, writer, and his insight to the history of film is admirable and inspiring. So inspiring, that is...
To make a long blog short (too late), my list is probably going to be an ongoing work in progress. I added and edited so many times, eventually the list exceeded the capacity the site would allow... One thousand movies is, believe it or not, both a lot of movies AND not as many as you realize. BUT...I had to continue to edit, and the list that remains was a tricky, painstakingly tedious process. Regardless, five hundred are listed whether I'm going to be satisfied with them as "definitive" or not.
Here's to anyone who has seen a film from the list, and agrees with me.
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