50 Great Films To See Before You Die

There are several online lists of 'Top 50 / 100 Films of All Time' and the more I see them, the more I have felt impelled to come up with my own list because all of them are so hopelessly lopsided. Obviously, most of them originate from US and an overwhelming majority of films in the list (70-80%) tend to be from US. The choice of films obviously depends on the criteria of selection, conscious or unconscious. I know it is impossible for any human being to be totally unbiased but we are all capable of being fair and relatively unprejudiced to some degree. Though I will not elaborate on my criteria of selection (leaving it for others to find that out), a list such as this is actually useful for many people who want to know in all sincerity a basic list of film classics that they must see. It was not easy coming up with this list. I actually found it impossible to leave out at least 15 more films. So, very soon, I will publsih a follow-up 'Next 50 Films to See". If this list seems like an authentic reflection of the mind of the person making the list more than anything else, I wouldn't make apologies.

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

1. A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick (US)
   
2. Aguirre, the Wrath of God by Werner Herzog (Germany)
3. Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) by Satyajit Ray (India)
   
4. Belle de Jour by Luis Bunuel (France)
5. Black God White Devil /God and Devil in the Land of the Sun, by Glauber Rocha (Brazil)
   
6. Blow-Up by Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy)
   
7. Charulata by Satyajit Ray (India)
   
8. Children of Heaven by Majid Majidi (Iran)
   
9. Citizen Kane by Orson Welles (US)
   
10. City of God by Fernando Meirelles (Brazil)
    
11. Cries and Whispers by Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)
    
12. Eight and a Half by Federico Fellini (Italy)
13. Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola (US)
    
14. Heimat by Edgar Reitz (Germany)
    
15. Last Year at Marienbad by Alain Resnais (France)
16. Knife in the Water by Roman Polanski (Poland)
    
17. L'Avventura (The Love Affair) by Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy)
    
18. La Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini (Italy)
19. Memories of Underdevelopment by Tomas G Alea (Cuba)
    
20. Mephisto by Istvan Szabo (Hungary)
    
21. Metropolis by Fritz Lang (Germany)
    
22. Mirror by Andrei Tarkovsky (Russia)
    
23. Modern Times by Charles Chaplin (US)
    
24. Osama by Siddiq Barmak (Afghanistan)
    
25. Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders (Germany)
    
26. Persona by Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)
    
27. Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa (Japan)
    
28. Requiem by Zoltan Fabri (Hungary)
    
29. Sur by Fernando Solanas (Argentina)
    
30. Sweet Movie by Dusan Makavejev (Yugoslavia)
    
31. Taxidriver by Martin Scorsese (US)
    
32. Terra em Trance (The Earth Entranced) by Glauber Rocha (Brazil)
    
33. That Obscure Object of Desire by Luis Bunuel (France+Spain)
    
34. The Battle of Algiers by Gilles Pontecorvo (Algeria)
    
35. The Bicycle Thief by Vittorio de Sica (Italy)
    
36. The Decalogue by Kristoff Kieslowski (Poland)
    
37. The General by Buster Keaton (US)
    
38. The Great Dictator by Charles Chaplin (US)
    
39. The Jackal of Nahueltoro by Miguel Littin (Chile)
    
40. The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser by Werner Herzog (Germany)
    
41. The Pianist by Roman Polanski (Poland)
42. The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)
    
43. To Live by Zhang Yimou (China)
    
44. Touch of Evil (restored version) by Orson Welles (US)
    
45. Twelve Angry Men by Sidney Lumet (US)
    
46. Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock (US)
    
47. Vidas Secas by Nelson Pereira dos Santos (Brazil)
48. Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) by Jean Luc Godard (France)
    
49. Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)
    
50. Woman in the Dunes by Hiroshi Teshigahara (Japan)