Best films of the 1960s
The first nine or so are in order and rank among the best films of all time. I awarded the first 36 (!) films a perfect rating as I consider them essential viewing.
I consider titles that I rated at least 9/10 the best films of any given decade. As such, there is no arbitrary restriction on the number of films included in this list, nor is there a need to add films that don't merit inclusion.
This list is by no means comprehensive or final, even insofar as it represents my taste in film. I will have to revisit a number of films from this decade, some of which are already included in this list, others not. Nonetheless, the 1960s were doubtless a golden decade for cinema, perhaps the best thus far, and I look forward to unearthing more gems from this period.
I will continue to add titles as I see them, provided that they make the cut. Your recommendations would be appreciated!
I consider titles that I rated at least 9/10 the best films of any given decade. As such, there is no arbitrary restriction on the number of films included in this list, nor is there a need to add films that don't merit inclusion.
This list is by no means comprehensive or final, even insofar as it represents my taste in film. I will have to revisit a number of films from this decade, some of which are already included in this list, others not. Nonetheless, the 1960s were doubtless a golden decade for cinema, perhaps the best thus far, and I look forward to unearthing more gems from this period.
I will continue to add titles as I see them, provided that they make the cut. Your recommendations would be appreciated!
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- DirectorRobert BressonStarsAnne WiazemskyWalter GreenFrançois LafargeThe story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsJohn MarleyGena RowlandsLynn CarlinA middle-aged man leaves his wife for another woman. Shortly after, his ex-wife also begins a relationship with a younger partner. The film follows their struggles to find love amongst each other.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsGabriele FerzettiMonica VittiLea MassariA woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsJosef KemrMagda VásáryováNada HejnaA grim portrayal of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in medieval central Europe - as a young virgin promised to God is kidnapped and raped by a marauder who her religious father seeks to kill in return.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsNina Pens RodeBendt RotheEbbe RodeIn the elegant world of artists and musicians, Gertrud ends her marriage to Gustav and takes a lover, the composer Erland Jansson.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsCatherine DemongeotPhilippe NoiretHubert DeschampsWith her mother away for the weekend, a brash and precocious ten-year-old country girl sets out to explore Paris during a Métro strike under her uncle's not-so-watchful eye. But can a little girl cause so much chaos in the city centre?A recent discovery. Unabashedly weird and thoroughly delightful. Exquisite use of colour.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaThe family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAnatoliy SolonitsynIvan LapikovNikolay GrinkoThe life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsCorinne MarchandAntoine BourseillerDominique DavrayCleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaMariko OkadaA widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsMaurice RonetLéna SkerlaYvonne ClechDepressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living. Will this help him?
- DirectorErmanno OlmiStarsSandro PanseriLoredana DettoCorrado AprileBursting with big dreams and plans, an Italian teen goes to Milan to work in a big impersonal corporate office, where he becomes disillusioned and drained of all his individualism.In Ermanno Olmi's masterpiece Il Posto, work is portrayed as a prison, an obstacle to romantic love or a disruption of the natural rhythm of life. Its themes still resonate, inasmuch as capitalism and alienated labour, along with their attendant harms, remain as prevalent as ever.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Through its elevation of the horror genre and its inspiration of subsequent generations of filmmakers and film enthusiasts, Psycho is surely deserving of its place in the canon of American cinema. One of the best horror films of all time.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid ThulinGunnar BjörnstrandGunnel LindblomA small-town priest struggles with his faith.
- DirectorMarco BellocchioStarsLou CastelPaola PitagoraMarino MaséA young man takes drastic measures to rid his dysfunctional family of its various afflictions.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaJean-Claude BrialyJean-Paul BelmondoAn exotic dancer is desperate to become a mother and accepts her reluctant boyfriend's suggestion that she be impregnated by his best friend.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBibi AnderssonLiv UllmannMargaretha KrookA nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Pierre LéaudChantal GoyaMarlène JobertA romance between young Parisians, shown through a series of vignettes.
- DirectorMaurice PialatStarsMichel TerrazonLinda GutenbergRaoul BillereyAn anguished foster child takes to mischief and lies as his foster parents do their best to love and care for him. But it might be too little, too late in this emotionally devastating portrayal of the orphaned child.
- DirectorAllan KingStarsMartin FischerChronicles 7-weeks in the lives of 12 emotionally disturbed children and their therapist's experimental method of treatment at the Toronto-area Warrendale facility.