Religion
1. Passion of Joan of Arc, The [Dreyer, Carl Theodor, 1928] #51 - France (silent)2. Gospel According to St. Matthew, The [Pasolini, Pier Paolo, 1964] #103 - France-Italy [photo rt]
3. Ben-Hur [Wyler, William, 1959] #137 - US
4. Gandhi [Attenborough, Richard, 1982] #286 - UK
5. Black Narcissus [Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger, 1946] #412 - UK
6. Nostalghia [Tarkovsky, Andrei, 1983] #623 - Italy
7. Winter Light [Bergman, Ingmar, 1962] #673 - Sweden
8. Flowers of St. Francis, The [Rossellini, Roberto, 1950] #867 - Italy
9. Last Temptation of Christ, The [Scorsese, Martin, 1988] #912 - US
10. Burmese Harp [Ichikawa, Kon, 1956] #1044 - Japan
11. Nazarín [Buñuel, Luis, 1959] #1082 - Mexico
12. Bells of St. Mary's, The [McCarey, Leo, 1945] #1256 - US
[It could also be argued that religion is an important theme in the science fiction films 2001 and Solaris]
Passion is a bit melodramatic, being a silent film. Pasolini's Gospel manages to avoid that and tried to present one gospel as written. Black Narcissus is simply beautiful, a work of art. Where is Zefferelli's appealing story of St. Francis, Brother Sun and Sister Moon?
Sports
1. Raging Bull [Scorsese, Martin, 1980] #24 - US
2. Rocky [Avildsen, John G., 1976] #225 - US
3. Million Dollar Baby [Eastwood, Clint, 2004] #265 - US [photo rt]4. Olympia [Riefenstahl, Leni, 1938] #532 - Germany
5. Chariots of Fire [Hudson, Hugh, 1981] #928 - UK
6. Offside [Panahi, Jafar, 2006] #974 - Iran
7. Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, The [Richardson, Tony, 1962] #1033 - UK
8. Breaking Away [Yates, Peter, 1979] #1219 - US
9. Hoop Dreams [James, Steve, 1994] #1263 - US
The surprise here is the omission of Pride of the Yankees, the Lou Gehrig story starring Gary Cooper. Also Field of Dreams - and the romantic comedy Bull Durham - so do critics just hate baseball movies?
Art or experimental films (no, not films about artists)
1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles [Akerman, Chantal, 1975] #146 – Belgium-France (3:20 long)
2. La Jetee [Marker, Chris, 1961] #185 - France (short)
3. Un Chien Andalou [Buñuel, Luis, 1928] #256 - France (short)
4. Wavelength [Snow, Michael, 1967] #263 - Canada
5. Sans soleil [Marker, Chris, 1983] #465 - France
6. Werckmeister Harmonies [Tarr, Bela & Hranitzky, Agnes, 2000] #613 – Hungary-Ity-Gy-France
7. Tom, Tom the Piper's Son [Jacobs, Ken, 1969] #832 - US
8. Zorn's Lemma [Frampton, Hollis, 1970] #1093 - US
9. Too Early, Too Late [Straub, Jean-Marie & Danièle Huillet, 1982] #1146 - France-Egypt
These are an acquired taste, be warned. Un Chien Andalou is famous due to the collabaration of surrealist Salvador Dali, and some unforgettable images. La Jetee was paid homage in a David Bowie video; it is a short SciFi film made up of still images with a narrator reciting the story of a time traveler. Jeanne Dielman is 3 hrs, 20 minutes of a woman peeling potatoes, making meat loaf, taking a bath - a student could make better decisions when editing; they could use this one to make prisoners talk.
