The Essential 100
This “Essential 100” represents the merging of the Essential 100 as determined by an expert panel of tiff curators and the Essential 100 as determined by our stakeholders. See details below for how each list was created.
1 THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)
3 L'AVVENTURA (Michaelangelo Antonioni)
4 THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola)
5 PICKPOCKET (Robert Bresson)
6 SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa)
7 PATHER PANCHALI (Satyajit Ray)
8 CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)
9 MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Dziga Vertov)
10 BICYCLE THIEVES (Vittorio De Sica)
11 ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
12 8 ½ (Federico Fellini)
13 BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei Eisenstein)
14 RASHOMON (Akira Kurosawa – 2)
15 TOKYO STORY (Yasujiro Ozu)
16 THE 400 BLOWS (François Truffaut)
17 UGETSU (Kenji Mizoguchi)
18 BREATHLESS (Jean-Luc Godard)
19 L'ATALANTE (Jean Vigo)
20 CINEMA PARADISO (Giuseppe Tornatore)
21 LA GRANDE ILLUSION (Jean Renoir)
22 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (David Lean)
23 PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman)
24 GONE WITH THE WIND (Victor Fleming)
25 SUNRISE (F.W. Murnau)
26 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Stanley Kubrick)
27 VOYAGE IN ITALY (Roberto Rossellini)
28 AMÉLIE (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
29 CITY LIGHTS (Charlie Chaplin)
30 STAR WARS (George Lucas)
31 SHERLOCK JR. (Buster Keaton)
32 RULES OF THE GAME (Jean Renoir – 2)
33 THE LEOPARD (Luchino Visconti)
34 LA DOLCE VITA (Federico Fellini - 2) L’ARRIVÉE D’UN TRAIN À LA CIOTAT (Frères Lumiere:
35 Louis Lumière and Auguste Lumière)
36 THE WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming – 2)
37 LA JETÉE (Chris Marker)
38 VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock)
39 NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais)
40 PULP FICTION (Quentin Tarantino)
41 THE SEARCHERS (John Ford)
42 SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Danny Boyle)
43 THE CONFORMIST (Bernardo Bertolucci)
44 CITY OF GOD (Fernando Meirelles)
45 TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese)
46 APOCALYPSE NOW (Francis Ford Coppola – 2)
47 SALÓ, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (Pier Paolo Pasolini)
48 THE SEVENTH SEAL (Ingmar Bergman - 2)
49 LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE (Georges Méliès)
50 METROPOLIS (Fritz Lang)
51 THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (Gillo Pontecorvo)
52 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Wong Kar Wai)
53 VIRIDIANA (Luis Buñuel)
54 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (Roberto Benigni)
55 THE SORROW AND THE PITY (Marcel Ophüls)
56 PAN'S LABYRINTH (Guillermo del Toro)
57 THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE… (Max Ophüls)
58 BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott)
59 THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES (Abbas Kiarostami)
60 LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (Marcel Carné)
61 BRINGING UP BABY (Howard Hawks)
62 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Stanley Donen)
63 JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray)
64 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Stanley Kubrick – 2)
65 MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
66 M (Fritz Lang – 2)
67 SCORPIO RISING (Kenneth Anger)
68 PSYCHO (Alfred Hitchcock – 2)
69 DUST IN THE WIND (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
70 SCHINDLER’S LIST (Steven Spielberg)
71 NASHVILLE (Robert Altman)
72 CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (Ang Lee)
73 WAVELENGTH (Michael Snow)
74 JULES ET JIM (François Truffaut – 2)
75 CHRONIQUE D’UN ÉTÉ (Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch)
76 THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)
77 GREED (Erich von Stroheim)
78 SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)
79 JAWS (Steven Spielberg - 2)
80 ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen)
81 THE BIRTH OF A NATION (D.W. Griffith)
82 CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar Wai - 2)
83 LA NOIRE DE… (Ousmane Sembene)
84 RAGING BULL (Martin Scorsese - 2)
85 THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston)
86 CHINATOWN (Roman Polanski)
87 ANDREI RUBLEV (Andrei Tarkovsky)
88 WINGS OF DESIRE (Wim Wenders)
89 VIDEODROME (David Cronenberg)
90 WRITTEN ON THE WIND (Douglas Sirk)
91 THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)
92 BLUE VELVET (David Lynch)
93 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Sergio Leone)
94 BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars von Trier)
95 A NOS AMOURS (Maurice Pialat)
96 CLEO DE 5 A 7 (Agnès Varda)
97 ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodóvar)
98 EARTH (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
99 OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook)
100 PLAYTIME (Jacques Tati)
THE ESSENTIAL 100
EXPERT PANEL
Five tiff curators debated more than a century’s worth of cinema over three months. They were bound by one rule and one definition. The rule: they could only select one film from each director. The definition: “essential cinema”, a phrase that balanced “best” and “most influential”.
Participants: Piers Handling, Noah Cowan, Cameron Bailey, Andréa Picard and Steve Gravestock.
1 THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2 L’AVVENTURA (Michaelangelo Antonioni)
3 PICKPOCKET (Robert Bresson)
4 PATHER PANCHALI (Satyajit Ray)
5 MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Dziga Vertov)
6 ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
7 BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei Eisenstein)
8 TOKYO STORY (Yasujiro Ozu)
9 UGETSU (Kenji Mizoguchi)
10 BREATHLESS (Jean-Luc Godard)
11 L’ATALANTE (Jean Vigo)
12 LA GRANDE ILLUSION (Jean Renoir)
13 PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman)
14 SUNRISE (F.W. Murnau)
15 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)
16 VOYAGE IN ITALY (Roberto Rossellini)
17 CITY LIGHTS (Charlie Chaplin)
18 SHERLOCK JR. (Buster Keaton)
19 THE LEOPARD (Luchino Visconti) L’ARRIVÉE DU TRAIN À LA CIOTAT (Frères Lumiere:
20 Louis Lumière and Auguste Lumière)
21 LA JETÉE (Chris Marker)
22 VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock)
23 NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais)
24 THE SEARCHERS (John Ford)
25 THE CONFORMIST (Bernardo Bertolucci)
26 TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese)
27 SALÓ, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (Pier Paolo Pasolini)
28 LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE (Georges Méliès)
29 THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (Gillo Pontecorvo)
30 VIRIDIANA (Luis Buñuel)
31 METROPOLIS (Fritz Lang)
32 BICYCLE THIEVES (Vittorio De Sica)
33 THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola)
34 THE SORROW AND THE PITY (Marcel Ophüls)
35 THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE… (Max Ophüls)
36 THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES (Abbas Kiarostami)
37 BRINGING UP BABY (Howard Hawks)
38 JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray)
39 MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
40 SCORPIO RISING (Kenneth Anger)
41 DUST IN THE WIND (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
42 NASHVILLE (Robert Altman)
43 WAVELENGTH (Michael Snow)
44 CHRONIQUE D’UN ETE (Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch)
45 THE WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming)
46 GREED (Erich von Stroheim)
47 JAWS (Steven Spielberg)
48 THE BIRTH OF A NATION (D.W. Griffith)
49 LA NOIRE DE… (Ousmane Sembene)
50 THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston)
51 ANDREI RUBLEV (Andrei Tarkovsky)
52 CHINATOWN (Roman Polanski)
53 LA DOLCE VITA (Federico Fellini)
54 SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (Stanley Donen)
55 VIDEODROME (David Cronenberg)
56 WRITTEN ON THE WIND (Douglas Sirk)
57 BLUE VELVET (David Lynch)
58 BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars von Trier)
59 CLEO DE 5 A 7 (Agnès Varda)
60 EARTH (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
61 DR. STRANGELOVE (Stanley Kubrick)
62 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (David Lean)
63 PLAYTIME (Jacques Tati)
64 POUR LA SUITE DU MONDE (Michel Brault and Marcel Carrière)
65 TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (Leni Riefenstahl)
66 TROUBLE IN PARADISE (Ernst Lubitsch)
67 CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar Wai)
68 LAW OF DESIRE (Pedro Almodóvar)
69 NAPOLÉON (Abel Gance)
70 THE INSECT WOMAN (Shohei Imamura)
71 LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN (Jean Eustache)
72 A TOUCH OF ZEN (King Hu)
73 WHAT'S OPERA, DOC? (Chuck Jones)
74 BAMBI (David Hand)
75 DOG STAR MAN (Stan Brakhage)
76 THE HOUR OF THE FURNACES (Fernando E. Solanas and Octavio Getino)
77 MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (Maya Deren)
78 ALL ABOUT EVE (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
79 THE PALM BEACH STORY (Preston Sturges)
80 ANDY WARHOL’S SCREEN TESTS (Andy Warhol)
81 SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)
82 THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Charles Laughton)
83 THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (Jacques Demy)
84 WHEN A WOMEN ASCENDS THE STAIRS (Mikio Naruse)
85 JEANNE DIELMAN, 33 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (Chantal Akerman)
86 MOTHER INDIA (Mehboob Khan)
87 PLATFORM (Jia Zhangke)
88 RED SORGHUM (Zhang Yimou)
89 SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
90 THE 400 BLOWS (François Truffaut)
91 GONE WITH THE WIND (Victor Fleming)
92 LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST (Theo Angelopoulos)
93 MOTHER AND SON (Alexander Sokurov)
94 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (Elia Kazan)
95 AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (Werner Herzog)
96 CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS (Jirí Menzel)
97 FAMILY VIEWING (Atom Egoyan)
98 SWEETIE (Jane Campion)
99 CHRONICLE OF ANNA MAGDALENA BACH (Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet)
100 ATANARJUAT: THE FAST RUNNER (Zacharias Kunuk)
THE ESSENTIAL 100
PUBLIC SURVEY
In spring 2009, we sent out the following request to over 10,000 of our stakeholders – including passholders, Cinemathèque Ontario members, journalists, industry passholders, filmmakers and donors:
“You are invited to participate in our Essentials of World Cinema survey. Your contribution will be part of a unique list of movies that matter; the list will not only form the core of our first film screenings but inspire adventurous extension programming as well.
We define “essential” as something between “best” and “most important,” between your guilty pleasures and the films you respect the most. We encourage you to be playful, honest and thoughtful in your voting. Please try to limit your selections to one film per director. We feel this will allow for a more inclusive picture of world cinema.”
The following list is the result of the enthusiastic and numerous replies that came back to us.
1 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)
2 THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola)
3 SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa)
4 CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)
5 BICYCLE THIEVES (Vittorio De Sica)
6 8 ½ (Federico Fellini)
7 RASHOMON (Akira Kurosawa)
8 THE 400 BLOWS (François Truffaut)
9 BREATHLESS (Jean-Luc Godard)
10 CINEMA PARADISO (Giuseppe Tornatore)
11 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (David Lean)
12 GONE WITH THE WIND (Victor Fleming)
13 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Stanley Kubrick)
14 AMÉLIE (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
15 STAR WARS (George Lucas)
16 RULES OF THE GAME (Jean Renoir)
17 LA DOLCE VITA (Federico Fellini)
18 BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei Eisenstein)
19 THE WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming)
20 VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock)
21 PULP FICTION (Quentin Tarantino)
22 SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Danny Boyle)
23 TOKYO STORY (Yasujiro Ozu)
24 CITY OF GOD (Fernando Meirelles)
25 APOCALYPSE NOW (Francis Ford Coppola)
25 THE SEVENTH SEAL (Ingmar Bergman)
27 METROPOLIS (Fritz Lang)
28 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Wong Kar Wai)
29 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (Roberto Benigni)
30 PATHER PANCHALI (Satyajit Ray)
31 PAN'S LABYRINTH (Guillermo Del Toro)
32 BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott)
33 LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (Marcel Carné)
34 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Stanley Donen)
35 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Stanley Kubrick)
36 M (Fritz Lang)
37 PSYCHO (Alfred Hitchcock)
38 SCHINDLER’S LIST (Steven Spielberg)
39 TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese)
40 CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (Ang Lee)
41 DR. STRANGELOVE (Stanley Kubrick)
42 JULES ET JIM (François Truffaut)
43 THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck)
44 SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)
45 PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman)
46 ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen)
47 CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar Wai)
48 THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
49 RAGING BULL (Martin Scorsese)
50 REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchcock)
51 CHINATOWN (Roman Polanski)
52 WINGS OF DESIRE (Wim Wenders)
53 THE SEARCHERS (John Ford)
54 THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)
55 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Sergio Leone)
56 WILD STRAWBERRIES (Ingmar Bergman)
57 La Grande illusion (Jean Renoir)
58 LA STRADA (Federico Fellini)
59 A NOS AMOURS (Maurice Pialat)
60 THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (Gillo Pontecorvo)
61 CITY LIGHTS (Charlie Chaplin)
62 SUNRISE (F.W. Murnau)
63 THE CONFORMIST (Bernardo Bertolucci)
64 ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodóvar)
65 OLDBOY (Park Chan-Wook)
66 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Robert Mulligan)
67 RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer)
68 RAN (Akira Kurosawa)
69 L'AVVENTURA (Michaelangelo Antonioni)
70 A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (Robert Redford)
71 MODERN TIMES (Charlie Chaplin)
72 THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Frank Darabont)
73 DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (David Lean)
74 TALK TO HER (Pedro Almodóvar)
75 TRAINSPOTTING (Danny Boyle)
76 AMORES PERROS (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
77 THE MATRIX (The Wachowski Brothers)
78 IL POSTINO (Michael Radford)
79 WATER (Deepa Mehta)
80 THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Peter Jackson)
81 NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Alfred Hitchcock)
82 Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (Alfonso Cuarón)
83 THE GENERAL (Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman)
84 GOODFELLAS (Martin Scorsese)
85 AMARCORD (Federico Fellini)
86 BLUE (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
87 BLUE VELVET (David Lynch)
89 THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Robert Wise)
90 ALL ABOUT EVE (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
91 THE GRADUATE (Mike Nichols)
92 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (Milos Forman)
93 AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (Werner Herzog)
94 ANDREI RUBLEV (Andrei Tarkovsky)
95 INDIANA JONES (Steven Spielberg)
96 WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (Pedro Almodóvar)
97 THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (Jacques Demy)
98 ATANARJUAT: THE FAST RUNNER (Zacharias Kunuk)
99 BLOW-UP (Michaelangelo Antonioni)
100 DAS BOOT (Wolfgang Petersen)
100 FANNY & ALEXANDER (Ingmar Bergman)
100 SUNSET BOULEVARD (Billy Wilder)