Best Films of the 2000s

The clock ticked from 1999 into 2000 and surprise! The World didn’t end! In order to celebrate the planet’s survival, the year 2000 ushered in some incredible films. But wait, there was more to follow. Each subsequent year in this decade resulted in even more stellar films from all corners of the world. New Waves from South Korea and Romania washed up on all corners of the globe, first via Film festival reports and then word of mouth. In addition, South East Asian cinema announced itself on the world stage led by emerging works from Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. This decade saw the arrival of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and even the Cannes Jury led by Quentin Tarantino was lost for words over the poetic brilliance of Apichatpong’s Tropical Malady. The advent of digital camera certainly made filmmaking more accessible to many nations and Philippine cinema took advantage of that: Brillante Mendoza and Lav Diaz took very different approaches to cinema but both made waves at film festivals. Latin American cinema had many new brilliant voices in this decade: the Argentine New Wave started in the 1990s but auteurs such as Lisandro Alonso, Lucretia Martel released their films in this decade; Brazilian cinema was a force to be reckoned with again led by City of God, which shocked audience and became a buzz worthy must-see film.

If the 1960s was a Golden age of cinema, then the 2000s was a New Golden Age of Cinema and featured many more new nations releasing films that topped critics/cinephiles list. The 2000s have way too many good films to narrow down to just 30. This list has changed quite a bit over the years due to my changing perspective with re-watches. I expect this list will change again in the future.

Top 30 Films of 2000s:

1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)

2. Black Friday (2004, India, Anurag Kashyap)

3. L’Intrus (2004, France, Claire Denis)

4. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)

5. Mulholland Drive (2001, USA, David Lynch)

6. Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006, India, Dibakar Banerjee)

7. The Time That Remains (2009, Palestine co-production, Elia Sulieman)

8. Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi)

9. Children of Men (2006, UK/USA/Japan, Alfonso Cuarón)

10. Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

11. Liverpool (2008, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)

12. Police, Adjective (2009, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)

13. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004, Argentina/Brazil co-production, Walter Salles)

14. Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (2005, Brazil, Marcelo Gomes)

15. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002, India, Aparna Sen)

16. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)

17. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)

18. Slingshot (2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)

19. In the City of Sylvia (2007, Spain, José Luis Guerín)

20. Volver (2006, Spain, Pedro Almodóvar)

21. Donnie Darko (2001, USA, Richard Kelly)

22. Extraordinary Stories (2008, Argentina, Mariano Llinás)

23. Bend it Like Beckham (2002, UK/Germany/USA, Gurinder Chadha)

24. Colossal Youth (2006, Portugal, Pedro Costa)

25. Memories of Murder (2003, South Korea, Bong Joon Ho)

26. Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004, Philippines, Lav Diaz)

27. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Romania, Cristi Puiu)

28. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000, Hungary, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)

29. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)

30. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)

Honourable mentions (in no particular order):

West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006, France/Iceland,Douglas Gordon/Philippe Parreno)

Breathless (2008, South Korea, Yang Ik-joon)

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008, India, Dibakar Banerjee)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007, Romania, Cristian Mungiu)

District 9 (2009, South Africa co-production, Neill Blomkamp)

Amélie (2001, France/Germany, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

Bad Education (2004, Spain, Pedro Almodóvar)

Our Beloved Month of August (2008, Portugal, Miguel Gomes)

The Referees (2009, Belgium, Y.Hinant/E.Cardot/L.Delphine)

Kontroll (2003, Hungary, Nimród Antal)

Amores Perros (2000, Mexico, Alejandro G. Iñárritu)

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico/Spain, Guillermo del Toro)

Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)

The Barbarian Invasions (2003, Canada, Denys Arcand)

Nine Queens (2000, Argentina, Fabián Bielinsky)

Salt of This Sea (2007, Palestine co-production, Annemarie Jacir)

City of God (2002, Brazil, Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund)

Moolaade (2004, Senegal co-production, Ousmane Sembene)

Be Calm and Count to Seven (2008, Iran, Ramtin Lavafipour)

Iron Island (2005, Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof)

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002, South Korea, Park Chan-wook)

Best Films of the 1990s

The 1990s started an upward trend in Cinema led by the emergence of New Waves of Independent Cinema throughout the world. USA, India, Argentina and Iran are just a few example nations that had notable surges of quality cinema. Many celebrated directors made their feature debut in this 1990s such as Jafar Panahi, Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Sang-soo, Park Chan-wook, Tsai Ming-liang, Bruno Dumont, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Richard Linklater to name just a few. In addition, the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 meant that cinema from Eastern Europe started to re-emerge. 

The 1990s also saw an increase in usage of special effects in Hollywood films which coupled with the increase of multiplex cinemas changed cinema and theatrical experience forever. As an example, the decade is book-ended by Terminator 2 (1991) and The Matrix (1999), two films whose special effects helped pave the way for current Comic book films. Almost two decades after Jaws, Steven Spielberg raised the stakes for summer blockbusters with Jurassic Park (1993). Interestingly, The Phantom (1996) and Blade (1998) came out in this decade long before the multiplexes regularly showed Comic book movies. Then there were the animated Disney movies Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994) and Pixar’s Toy Story (1995) which opened the floodgates for more animated films to follow. In terms of both commercial and artistic cinema, the 1990s laid the groundwork for even better cinema to emerge in the 2000s. In that sense, the 1990s mirrored the 1950s. The 1950s had some brilliant films leading into a stellar 1960s.

Top 30 Films of the 1990s

1. Taste of Cherry (1997, Iran/France, Abbas Kiarostami)

2. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)

3. The Stranger (1991, India, Satyajit Ray)

4. Beau Travail (1999, Claire Denis)

5. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)

6. Satantango (1994, Hungary, Béla Tarr)

7. Dharavi (1992, India, Sudhir Mishra)

8. Maachis (1996, India, Gulzar)

9. The Big Lebowski (1998, USA/UK, Joel Coen/Ethan Coen)

10. A Summer in La Goulette (1996, Tunisia co-production, Férid Boughedir)

11. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992, India, Mansoor Khan)

12. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Taiwan, Edward Yang)

13. The Wind Will Carry Us (1999, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)

14. The White Balloon (1995, Iran, Jafar Panahi)

15. Underground (1995, Yugoslavia, Emir Kusturica)

16. Central Station (1998, Brazil/France, Walter Salles)

17. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)

18. Dark City (1998, Australia/USA, Alex Proyas)

19. Is Raat ki Subah Nahin (1996, India, Sudhir Mishra)

20. Open Your Eyes (1997, Spain/France/Italy. Alejandro Amenábar)

21. Sarfarosh (1999, India, John Mathew Matthan)

22. Cure (1997, Japan, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

23. Close-Up (1990, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)

24. Hyenas (1992, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty)

25. Bolivia (1999, Argentina/Holland, Israel Adrián Caetano)

26. Rebels of the Neon God (1992, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)

27. Eyes Wide Shut (1999, UK/USA, Stanley Kubrick)

28. The Matrix (1999, USA/Australia, Lana Wachowski/Lilly Wachowski)

29. Fight Club (1999, USA, David Fincher)

30. All About my Mother (1999, Spain, Pedro Almodóvar)

Honourable Mentions:

Casa De Lava (1994, Portugal/France/Germany, Pedro Costa)

Satya (1998, India, Ram Gopal Varma)

Crane World (1999, Argentina, PabloTrapero)

My Cousin Vinny (1992, USA, Jonathan Lynn)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999, USA co-production, Jim Jarmusch)

Delicatessen (1991, France, Marc Caro/Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

Rudaali (1993, India, Kalpana Lajmi)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, USA, Frank Darabont)

Good Will Hunting (1997, USA, Gus Van Sant)

The Game (1997, USA, David Fincher)

12 Monkeys (1995, USA, Terry Gilliam)

Pulp Fiction (1994, USA, Quentin Tarantino)

Best Films of the 1980s

For the longest time, I felt that the 1980s were a transition year for cinema. The stellar quality of World Cinema from the 1960s were absent in the 1980s and only a handful of films from this decade have featured in my all time Best film lists. However, revisiting films from this decade has made me think that I have been harsh on this decade. This decade saw the emergence of many new directors, such as Pedro Costa and many notable names from Asia such as Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wong Kar-wai. Béla Tarr directed his first feature in 1978 but he gained world wide attention in the 1980s. New films from Brazil, Argentina started to emerge in the 1980s as well after those nations were freed of military dictatorships. However, the world was still undergoing massive political changes and that surely played a part in the lack of cinema from this decade: the revolution in Iran and Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan took place in 1979 but their impacts were felt throughout the 1980s; the Iraq-Iran war; the shift in government stance in US, UK and the impact of US interference in Latin America. Of course, one of the bigger events took place in the final months of the decade when the Berlin Wall fell on Nov 9, 1989.

Top 30 films from the 1980s

1. Cinema Paradiso (1988, Italy/France, Giuseppe Tornatore)

2. Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother, 1986, India, John Abraham)

3. Tampopo (1985, Japan, Jûzô Itami)

4. The Shining (1980, UK/USA, Stanley Kubrick)

5. Kalyug (1981, India, Shyam Benegal)

6. L'Argent (1983, France/Switzerland, Robert Bresson)

7. Three Crowns of the Sailor (1982, France, Raúl Ruiz)

8. Where is the Friend's House? (1987, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)

9. The Decalogue (1989, Poland/West Germany, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

10. Boat People (1982, Hong Kong, Ann Hui)

11. Videodrome (1983, Canada, David Cronenberg)

12. Arth (1982, India, Mahesh Bhatt)

13. Come and See (1985, Soviet Union, Elem Klimov)

14. Taipei Story (1985, Taiwan, Edward Yang)

15. Do the Right Thing (1989, USA, Spike Lee)

16. Jaane Bhi do Yaaron (1983, India, Kundan Shah)

17. Wings of Desire (1987, West Germany/France, Wim Wenders)

18. Dead Poets Society (1989, USA, Peter Weir)

19. Masoom (1983, India, Shekhar Kapur)

20.  O Sangue (1989, Portugal, Pedro Costa)

21. Babette’s Feast (1987, Denmark, Gabriel Axel)

22. Mandi (1983, India, Shyam Benegal)

23. Ghare Baire (1984, India, Satyajit Ray)

24. Terrorizers (1986, Taiwan, Edward Yang)

25. Revenge (1989, Soviet Union, Ermek Shinarbaev)

26. Om Dar-B-Dar (1988, India, Kamal Swaroop)

27. Sans Soleil (1983, France, Chris Marker)

28. My Brother's Wedding (1983, USA, Charles Burnett)

29. Damnation (1988, Hungary, Béla Tarr)

30. Raakh (1989, India, Aditya Bhattacharya)

Honourable mentions:

Pixote (1980, Brazil, Hector Babenco)

Mephisto (1981, Hungary/West Germany/Austria, István Szabó)

A Time to Live and A Time to Die (1985, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien)

The Vanishing (1988, Holland, George Sluizer)

Katha (1983, India, Sai Paranjpye)

The Official Story (1985, Argentina, Luis Puenzo)

Blow Out (1981, USA, Brian De Palma)

My Neighbour Totoro (1988, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki)

Best Films of the 1970s

After the rich global cinematic feast dished out by the 1960s, one would have expected that the 1970s would have increased that output. However, the 1970s pushed cinema in different directions. A few political events, some starting from the 1960s, easily played a part. To name a few global events: increasing American involvement in the Vietnam War from the mid 1960s, the May 1968 French protests, the toppling of Salvador Allende in Chile (Sept 11, 1973) violent military dictatorships in Brazil, Argentina and their disappearance of citizens, Emergency in India from 1975-77, Canada’s October crisis in 1970 and the OPEC Oil Embargo. This is not a comprehensive list but shows that cinema couldn’t have been top of people’s minds. Interestingly, this likely also played a part in the escapist summer blockbuster that came out in 1975: Jaws. This was followed 2 years later by Star Wars. Recently, Sight and Sound magazine labeled 1975 as the “year that changed cinema forever”. They picked Jaws in one corner and Jeanne Dielman in the other. One started the summer blockbuster trend, the other a path towards a new variation of artistic cinema. The 1970s also saw a handful of post-Vietnam American films and the war’s impact played a direct and indirect part in many violent and crime films. It wasn’t all doom and gloom violence in 1970s cinema. In India, the continued Parallel Cinema movement ushered in new socially charged films from the 1970s-1980s that examined rural life and also the plight of the growing middle class in urban areas.

It is tough to limit this list down to 30 films especially with the diverse range of cinematic genres and style.

Top 30 films of the 1970s:

1. Sholay (1975, India, Ramesh Sippy)

2. The Godfather (1972, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

3. Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972, West Germany/Mexico/Peru, Werner Herzog)

4. Ankur (1974, India, Shyam Benegal)

5. Stalker (1979, Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky)

6. The Battle of Chile (1975, Venezuela/France/Cuba, Patricio Guzmán)

7. Network (1976, USA, Sidney Lumet)

8. Manila in the Claws of Light (1975, Philippines, Lino Brocka)

9. The Last Picture Show (1971, USA, Peter Bogdanovich)

10. Touki Bouki (1973, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty)

11. Scenes from a Marriage (1973, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)

12. Solaris (1972, Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky)

13. The Conversation (1974, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

14. The Godfather Part II (1974, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

15. Uski Roti (1970, India, Mani Kaul)

16. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974, West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

17. Les Orders (1974, Canada, Michel Brault)

18. Adoption (1975, Hungary, Márta Mészáros)

19. Montreal Main (1972, Canada, Frank Vitale)

20. Chess of the Wind (1976, Iran, Mohammad Reza Aslani)

21. Titas Ekti Nodir Naam (A River Called Titas, 1973, India, Ritwik Ghatak)

22. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Belgium, Chantal Akerman)

23. Insiang (1976, Philippines, Lino Brocka)

24. The Emigrants / The New Land (1971/1972, Sweden, Jan Troell)

25. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Spain, Victor Erice)

26. The Devil, Probably (1977, France, Robert Bresson)

27. Taxi Driver (1976, USA, Martin Scorsese)

28. Days of Heaven (1978, USA, Terrence Malick)

29. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, France/Italy/Spain, Luis Buñuel)

30. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, UK, Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones)

Honourable mentions (in no particular order):

Killer of Sheep (1977, USA, Charles Burnett)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970, France/Italy, Jean-Pierre Melville)

The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972, West Germany/Austria, Wim Wenders)

The Conspirators (1972, Brazil, Joaquim Pedro de Andrade)

Cuadecuc, vampir (1971, Spain, Pere Portebella)

Garm Hava (Hot Winds, 1974, India, M.S. Sathyu)

The Conformist (1970, Italy/France/Germany, Bernardo Bertolucci)

A Clockwork Orange (1971, UK, Stanley Kubrick)

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, USA, Monte Hellman)

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976, USA, John Cassavetes)

A Woman Under the Influence (1974, USA, John Cassavetes)

Ek Din Pratidin (And Quiet Rolls the Dawn, 1979, India, Mrinal Sen)

Chronicles of the Years of Fire (1975, Algeria, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina)

The Mother and the Whore (1973, France, Jean Eustache)

Claire’s Knee (1970, France, Eric Rohmer)

Note: Fassbinder’s World on a Wire is a TV serial but if I considered it as a film, it would be on this list.

Best Films of the 1960s

The 1950s saw the release of many brilliant works of cinema from around the world but the 1960s increased that quality substantially. The 1960s is the decade when the words 'World Cinema' truly came to fruition. Some of my all-time favourite films come from this decade so trying to narrow down a list to just 30 titles was a very difficult task.

When it comes to co-productions, Italy and France rule this list with 53% of all titles (16/30) being either an Italian or French production: 8 co-productions involve both France and Italy; 13 productions involving Italy and 3 productions involving France. Of course, when it comes to those co-productions, many are perceived as belonging to only 1 country such as La Dolce Vita is considered an Italian film while Playtime as being French.

Interestingly, Italy dominates the top 10 with 5 titles including the first 4 spots. Safe to say, Italian films never hit such highs in any of my other decades list. So the 1960s were easily my favourite decade when it came to Italian cinema.

Top 30 films of the 1960s:

1. The Battle of Algiers (1966, Italy/Algeria, Gillo Pontecorvo)

2. Hands over the City (1963, Italy/France, Francesco Rosi)

3. Il Posto (1961, Italy, Ermanno Olmi)

4. La Dolce Vita (1960, Italy/France, Federico Fellini)

5. Mahanagar (The Big City, 1963, Satyajit Ray)

6. Bandits of Orgosolo (1961, Italy, Vittoria De Seta)

7. Playtime (1967, France/Italy, Jacques Tati)

8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, UK/USA, Stanley Kubrick)

9. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, UK/USA, Stanley Kubrick)

10. Soleil Ô (1967, Mauritania/France, Med Hondo)

11. Black God, White Devil (1964, Brazil, Glauber Rocha)

12. Army of Shadows (1969, France/Italy, Jean-Pierre Melville)

13. An Autumn Afternoon (1962, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)

14. L'Avventura (1960, Italy/France, Michelangelo Antonioni)

15. Le samouraï (1967, France/Italy, Jean-Pierre Melville)

16. Le Trou (1960, France/Italy. Jacques Becker)

17. Z (1969, France/Algeria, Costa-Gavras)

18. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962, France/Italy, Agnès Varda)

19. My Life to Live (1962, France, Jean-Luc Godard)

20. Aimless Bullet (1961, South Korea, Yu Hyun-mok)

21. El Verdugo (The Executioner, 1963, Spain, Luis García Berlanga)

22. Change of Life (1966, Portugal, Paulo Rocha)

23. The Sound of Music (1965, USA, Robert Wise)

24. A Married Couple (1969, Canada, Allan King)

25. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960, Japan, Mikio Naruse)

26. Blow-Up (1966, UK/Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni)

27. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966, Italy/Spain, Sergio Leone)

28. Memories of Underdevelopment (1968, Cuba, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)

29. The Exterminating Angel (1962, Mexico, Luis Buñuel)

30. Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-Capped Star, 1960, India, Ritwik Ghatak)

Tough to leave out many films. Here are 11 that shouldn’t have missed out (in no particular order):

Psycho (1960, USA, Alfred Hitchcock)

Last Year at Marienbad (1961, France, Alain Resnais)

The Housemaid (1960, South Korea, Kim Ki-young)

Breathless (1960, France, Jean-Luc Godard)

Ikarie XB1 (1963, Czechoslovakia, Jindrich Polák)

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, Italy/USA, Sergio Leone)

Closely Watched Trains (1966, Czechoslovakia, Jirí Menzel)

Noite Vazia (1964, Brazil, Walter Hugo Khouri)

The Round-Up (1966, Hungary, Miklós Jancsó)

The House is Black (1963, Iran, Forugh Farrokhzad)

La Jetée (1962, France, Chris Marker)

Best Films of the 1940s

Safe to say, the world had more serious matters to consider in the 1940s. Yet, somehow this decade resulted in two films that have dominated the Best Films of All Time list for the longest time – Casablanca and Citizen Kane. In addition, a shining example of Neorealism cinema debuted in this decade with Bicycle Thieves. Plus, quite a few 1940s noir films still top many all time film noir lists.

As WWII was fought mostly in Europe and some parts of Asis and North Africa, it isn’t surprising that majority of this list is made up of American films (6/10 films). The 4 non-American films in the list were released in 1945 or after, which makes sense with the end of WWII and the post-war recovery.

Top 10 Films of the 1940s (roughly in order of preference):

1. Citizen Kane (1941,USA, Orson Welles)

2. Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy, Vittorio De Sica)

3. Rome: Open City (1945, Italy, Roberto Rossellini)

4. Double Indemnity (1944, USA, Billy Wilder)

5. Casablanca (1994, USA, Michael Curtiz)

6. Sullivan’s Travels (1941, USA, Preston Sturges)

7. The Great Dictator (1940, USA, Charles Chaplin)

8. The Third Man (1949, UK, Carol Reed)

9. Late Spring (1949, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)

10. I Walked with a Zombie (1943, USA, Jacques Tourneur)

Honourable mentions:

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949, UK, Robert Hamer)

The Lady Eve (1941, USA, Preston Sturges)

Best Films of the 1930s

While the 1920s produced a wealth of cinematic riches, that decade also marked the final flourish of silent cinema. The 1930s were characterized by the advent of “talkies” or sound films, which changed the cinematic landscape and how people perceived cinema. Hollywood studios began the shift away from silent films but the 1930s still had a good amount of silent cinema to choose from, especially from Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu who released a handful of silent cinema at the start of the decade.

Top 10 Films of the 1930s:

1. Modern Times (1936, USA, Charles Chaplin)

2. M (1931, Germany, Fritz Lang)

3. L'Âge d'or (1930, France, Luis Buñuel)

4. The Rules of the Game (1939, France, Jean Renoir)

5. I Was Born, But… (1932, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)

6. Duck Soup (1933, USA, Leo McCarey)

7. City Lights (1931, USA, Charles Chaplin)

8. Bringing Up Baby (1938, USA, Howard Hawks)

9. The Blood of a Poet (1932, France, Jean Cocteau)

10. Earth (1930, Soviet Union, Aleksandr Dovzhenko)