5. Ran

I will admit that, while I like him a lot, Akira Kurosawa‘s work does not always quite resonate with me on an initial viewing. There are exceptions, but none greater than Ran. Another Shakespeare adaptation from Kurosawa, Ran finds Kurosawa extending his mastery of filmmaking to a mastery of the use of color as he re-tells King Lear in Feudal Japan. Poetic, thrilling, and absolutely gorgeous to look at, Ran is far-and-away my favorite Kurosawa film due to the use of color. When coupled with his typically excellent drama, an innovative take on the classic Shakespeare play, intricately designed and staged action set-pieces, the color just adds another layer to Kurosawa’s typically terrific work. Among the array of great films from the legendary Japanese director, Ran easily stands as my absolute favorite.

4. The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is undoubtedly imperfect, yet in its imperfection is the pinnacle of beauty. Terrence Malick has always been a bit hit-and-miss to me, as I either find his work unfulfilling or requiring multiple watches to truly appreciate with some exceptions. The Tree of Life is one such exception, becoming an instant favorite due to its balance of raw human emotion and Malick’s unchecked ambition. No one truly knows the meaning of life yet Malick is able to take that impossible existential question and turn it into a gorgeous, intimate, and grandiose look at the world.

3. The Third Man

Just visually phenomenal, whether the German expressionist lighting or the dutch angles. Practically all Carol Reed directed films pack a visual punch due to his heavy expressionist influence, but The Third Man takes it to another level thanks to DP Robert Krasker. Add in a terrific film noir story, a screenplay/story from Graham Greene, and a terrific cast with Joseph Cotten, Villi, and Orson Welles, and it is hard to want more. For me, film noir was never better than it was in The Third Man, possessing an atmosphere and a style not uncommon for the genre but ones that it executes to absolute perfection.

2. Pan’s Labyrinth

One of the first foreign-language films I ever saw and also my gateway into foreign cinema, as well as the work of Guillermo del Toro. As Pan’s Labyrinth explores the fairy tale imagination of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and juxtaposes it with the brutal reality of Francoist Spain in the early days of the Spanish Civil War, Del Toro is able to create a film that is as harrowing as it is beautiful. Del Toro’s love of old-school fairy tales shines through in every frame, turning the film into one that is truly transcendent. From my first viewing to my most recent, it is a world so rich with beauty and imagination that it is impossible to not get swept up in it and taken to this other world, seeing it all through Ofelia’s young and innocent eyes.

1. The Silence of the Lambs

I first saw Jonathan Demme‘s masterpiece in a high school film class and it, along with a few other films, was my gateway into enjoying cinema both as entertainment and as art. Right away, I knew it was a masterpiece. Featuring a pair of the best performances of all-time with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in the lead role, it is impossible to not get swept up in the “quid pro pro” between the pair. Beyond the obvious brilliant bits of the film though, it is the mise en scene that often really shines through. On repeat viewings, the claustrophobic encirclement of Clarice Starling (Foster) or the blocking of Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) as he either looms large or shrinks in the background of his cell prove to be the one most rewarding piece of the film, both visually and thematically. Yet, even then, everything that I love about this film is too numerous to list as Demme never seems to put a foot wrong.