Best Film (cinematic) Aesthetically and by plot

[PMCC]

Aesthetics: Ugetsu Monogatari by Kenji Mizoguchi. The greatest black and white film ever.

Plot: The Godfather, 1 & 2 (but not 3). Narrative genius. How could I have overlooked those? Thanks, Ezzie for reminding me.

 

[Ezzie]

Surprising that I agree with almost every suggestion. My favourites from a cinematic point of view (meaning expressing itself by stimulating the viewers' imagery sensors):

Hero (with Jet Li): the use of colours is not just beautiful, but symbolic
Ran (by Kurosawa): Shakespeare in Japanese. Akira was a detail fanatic. The hunting scene through the corn fields, he had each and every straw painted gold, then decided against it.
Blade Runner (Ridley's best, nuff said)
The English Patient (just plain beautiful, if a bit soppy)
The Searchers (Ford does colour, oh yes)
Barry Lyndon (and I don't particularly like Kubrick)
Lawrence of Arabia (letting Omar Sharif take his time meeting Lawrence is an all time great)
Once upon a time in the west (the opening sequence would have people leave the theatres these days, but is a classic. Also the best Leone western ever)


Plot and direction favourites
Fargo (Coen and Coen on form)
No country for old men (Coen, Coen, Bardem and Jones on form)
Shawshank redemption (I just can't quite figure out what makes it so good, but it is)
Se7en (Fincher never did better this one)
Down by Law (Jarmusch never did regain his form after this one)
I hired a contract killer (Finnish director Aki Karusmäki does independent British flick, with French lead, great fun)
Subway (French original version. Luc Besson on form, not often the case)
The usual supects (Kaizer Soze!)
The Godfather (could have been in the other category too)
LA confidential ( a hair's bredth better than Chinatown)

 

[Harry S.]

I love "No Country For Old Men" and "Paris, Texas". I also really like the cinematography in Spaghetti Westerns.

 

[shimokita]

The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931)
The Third Man (1949)
Rashomon (1950)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

since many are listing multiple movies... ;-). If forced to choose two, then 1949 and 1975... but only if forced.

Casey

 

[Keith]

One film that sticks in my my mind is 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.'

The opening sequence of that film had a few people heading for the door in the cinema I watched it in when it came out! 😛

Clever film and Michael Gambon is a superb actor!

 

[nickdando]

"A Matter of Life and Death" by the Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger).

Nick

 

[Pherdinand]

Perfume: The story of a murderer (tom tykwer) 2006
-this qualifies for both (and not only for that particular scene)

I loved space odyssey the book series, but the movie freaks me out. Too... abstract for me.
But i also don't like david lynch's movies in general... and can't see why would citizen kane be the best movie ever.

There are a few more that i love but the question was about the only one 🙂

 

[paulfish4570]

Ezzie, you and i have very similar tastes.
fonda played the meanest man in the world in once upon a time in the west, and i think his best role ever.

 

[sanmich]

I'd have to go with Dr. Strangelove.... or Pulp Fiction.... or Casablanca.... or Citizen Kane.... or ....

This list could go on for quite a while.

Wow Larry, same list here, 😱
I would just replace Citizen Kane by the third man in terms of photography

 

[sanmich]

Forgot:

Being John Malkovitch as a summit of creativity

 

[sanmich]

Plot: Lock, stock, and two smoking barrels

 

[shadowfox]

This is a great thread.
I don't consider myself a movie buff, but when I see a *deep* movie, I enjoyed it immensely. This thread has given me quite a few to check out. Thanks.

There are no Anime movies mentioned so far, so I'll just toss a couple that I think are up there in terms of plot and aesthetics:

- Tokyo Godfather (very funny and very touching plot)
- Patlabor: The Movie (I and II), yes, this is about robot and mecha, but the plot twists and the philosophical musing in it are definitely not aimed for youngsters. And the music, ambient, and cinematics are superb.

Back to real-people films:
- Central Station - set in Brazil, beautiful plot, story, and even some stunning shots
- Red Cliff - adaptation of one of the famous battles in the Three Kingdom saga. Grand battles, beautiful movie, I think it's better than Hero (Jet Lee).
- In Custody (by Ismail Merchant) - this movie set in Northern Indian culture is raw, deep, and very touching.
- The Legend of 1900 - strange film, but one of my favorites. Excellent music.

As for the classics, The Last Emperor, Dr. Zhivago (don't quite like the plot, but that's a beautiful movie).

 

[rockman525]

My new Sony 850-357 Plasmatic allows me to watch any color film in B & W. I still like "Uncle Buck" with John Candy.

 

[robklurfield]

I hate having to pick one or two of anything. Having got that nitpick out of the way, I could compile an enormous list, but that would break the rules of this thread, so let me just throw Last Year at Marienbad out there for its gorgeous cinematographic aesthetic. Plot? Um, yeah, it has one but I'd be sort of hard-pressed to attempt explaining it, so let's not make that a pick for plot (boy met girl last year or he didn't... they agreed to run off together or they didn't... she remembers him or she doesn't ... she's leaving her husband or she's not....). Alain Resnais=genius. Sacha Vierney=genius. Alain Robbe-Grillet=genius.

 

[robklurfield]

filmfan has some good taste. The Conversation is one of the most carefully constructed movies ever.

There Will be Blood
Das Boot
Blade Runner
Chinatown
...anything by Kubrick
Miller's Crossing
Dead Man
The Conversation
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Aguirre: The Wrath of God

 

[robklurfield]

Harry Dean Stanton was terrific in Paris, Texas, but my favorite film with him is Repo Man, which doesn't belong in this thread for aesthetics or plot.

Plus one on what Paul & Keith said about Ry Cooder.

I've never been able to get past those stunning desert scenes caressed by Ry Cooder's amazing soundtrack ... and 'Travis' was Harry Dean Stanton's finest moment for me. (though he's never been less than brilliant IMO)


... total Ry Cooder geek here I confess! 😱

 

[robklurfield]

William Faulkner was one of the three screenwriters on The Big Sleepand he said he never quite figured out the plot entirely so little wonder that one murder never was unraveled as the writers were probably continually unraveling.

M, one of the absolute best examples of brilliant sound editing in addition to brilliant cinematography.

Ah, the "Big Sleep" the epitome of Film Noir. There were three writers on the film and each day while drinking they wrote the script for the next day. As I remember it (I do have 2 copies in my library) there are 8 murders and only 7 are solved. Ah, Fritz Lang"s "M" a movie about child molesting starring Peter Lorre.
During the late 1920's and early thirties Hollywood imported most of the major directors, actors, writers, etc. this continued until WWII. Is anyone aware that the actor who played the German in Casablanca was on Hitler's "Death List".
Two more movies: Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion" and "Rules of the Game"

 

[Keith]

Some mentioned 'Das Boot' before and it reminded me of what a fantastic film it is.

Speaking of foreign films I think my all time favourite has to be a Russian movie ... 'Burnt By The Sun.' The story and the cinematography are just amazing!

 

[emraphoto]

stalker - tarkovsky

 

[stewmander]

For plot, I really liked:

Memento
Fight Club
6th Sense

The thing thats great about these movies is that after you watch it, you can watch them a second time and it changes the meaning of some of the things that happens...

For aesthetics, I really liked the use of light in K-PAX.