Dan Sallitt's Favorite Films, by
International
Release Date
If you want to be notified when new films appear
here, send email
to sallitt at post dot harvard
edu.
I made these
lists at the request
of Theo
Panayides
for a project
of his. The authority
for year of release
is the Internet Movie
Database, which seems
to go by the film's first public
screening. Color
coding is used to give
an idea of how much I like each film,
and allows comparison
between films in different years.
Unranked, uncolored
films at the end of some
years are simply a reminder to myself
of areas to explore, and
do not belong on the lists.
Recent changes
(31 May 08 to 10 Aug 08):
2005 - THE CHILD moved up on ten-best
list
2004 - CAMPFIRE added to runners-up
2002 - THE SON changes color
2001 - LATE MARRIAGE changes color
1999 - IDLE RUNNING moved from runners-up to ten-best list
1992 - EMBRACING added to runners-up
1982 - NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS moved from runners-up to ten-best
list
1969 - BOY moved up on ten-best list
1966 - EL GRECO moved from 1963 and added to ten-best list; VIOLENCE AT
NOON dropped from ten-best list
1963 - EL GRECO moved to 1966
1962 - HATARI! moved from runners-up to ten-best list
1961 - THE EXILES added to ten-best list
1957 - SAIT-ON JAMAIS... and UNTAMED added to runners-up
1953 - ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO moved up among runners-up
1949 - KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS moved from ten-best list to runners-up
1916 - THE PILGRIM added to ten-best list
Click for a
history of changes.
2008
BALLAST (Lance Hammer, USA)
LEATHERHEADS (George Clooney, USA)
THE NEW YORKIST (Dana O'Keefe, USA)
2007
1. MICHAEL CLAYTON (Tony Gilroy, USA)
2. THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS
(Bruce McDonald, Canada)
3. UNE VIEILLE MAÎTRESSE (Catherine Breillat, France)
4. CRASHING (Gary Walkow, USA)
5. TOUT EST PARDONNE (Mia Hansen-Løve, France)
6. DARLING (Johan Kling, Sweden)
7. HAPPINESS (Hur Jin-ho, South Korea)
8. AVANT QUE
J'OUBLIE (Jacques Nolot, France)
9. THE DARJEELING LIMITED (Wes Anderson, USA)
10. WOLFSBERGEN
(Nanouk Leopold, Netherlands)
11. THE BANISHMENT (Andrei
Zyvagintsev, Russia)
12. LA SOLEDAD (SOLITARY
FRAGMENTS) (Jaime Rosales, Spain)
13. MUTUM (Sandra Kogut, Brazil)
14. CHARLY (Isild Le Besco, France)
15. CHARLIE WILSON'S
WAR (Mike Nichols, USA)
16.
MADONNAS (Maria Speth, Germany)
17. SILENT
LIGHT (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico)
18. HANNAH
TAKES THE STAIRS (Joe Swanberg, USA)
19. CORROBOREE (Ben Hackworth, Australia)
20. DEATH PROOF (Quentin Tarantino,
USA)
21. POOR BOY'S GAME (Clement Virgo, Canada)
22. BEAUFORT (Joseph Cedar, Israel)
23. IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (José Luis
Guerín, Spain)
24. FOUR SHEETS
TO THE WIND (Sterlin Harjo, USA)
25. WE OWN THE NIGHT
(James Gray, USA)
2006
1. BLED NUMBER ONE (Rabah
Ameur-Zaïmeche, Algeria/France)
2. STILL LIFE (Jia Zhang-Ke, China)
3. RAIN DOGS (Ho Yuhang, Malaysia)
4. LADY CHATTERLEY (Pascale
Ferran, France/Belgium)
5.
WOMAN ON THE BEACH (Hong Sang-Soo, South
Korea)
6. THE PAPER WILL
BE BLUE (Radu Muntean, Romania)
7. VANAJA (Rajnesh Domalpalli, India/USA)
8. SLUMMING (Michael
Glawogger, Austria)
9. FLANDRES (Bruno
Dumont, France)
10. EL CUSTODIO (Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina)
11. CHILDREN OF MEN (Alfonso Cuaron,
UK/USA)
12. FAMILY TIES
(Kim Tae-Yong, South Korea)
13. STEPHANIE DALEY (Hilary Brougher,
USA)
14. YOU CALLED ME (Sky Hirschkron,
USA)
15. FIREWORKS WEDNESDAY (Asghar Farhadi, Iran)
16. AS THE SHADOW
(Marina Spada, Italy)
17. DAY NIGHT DAY
NIGHT (Julia Loktev, USA)
18. SUMMER '04 (Stefan Krohmer, Germany)
19. QUINCEANERA (Wash Westmoreland
and Richard Glatzer, USA)
20. TRACES OF LOVE
(Kim Dae-Seung, South Korea)
21.
DON'T WORRY, I'M FINE (Philippe Lioret, France)
22. FLANNEL PAJAMAS (Jeff Lipsky,
USA)
23. LE DERNIER DES
FOUS (Laurent Achard, France)
24. OPERA JAWA (Garin Negroho, Indonesia)
25. DRAMA/MEX
(Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico)
26. SUELY IN THE
SKY (Karim Ainouz, Brazil)
27. ONE IN A MILLION (Nadine
Khan, Egypt)
28. BUG (William Friedkin, USA)
29. HAMACA PARAGUAYA
(Paz Encina, Paraguay)
30. OFFSIDE (Jafar Panahi, Iran)
2005
1. THE DEATH OF MR.
LAZARESCU (Cristi Puiu,
Romania)
2. THE FORSAKEN
LAND (Vimukthi Jayasundara,
Sri Lanka/France)
3.
THE CHILD (Dardennes Bros., Belgium/France)
4. SANGRE (Amat
Escalante, Mexico)
5. THE WAYWARD CLOUD
(Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan)
6. GRAIN IN EAR (Zhang Lu, China/South Korea)
7. FORTY SHADES
OF BLUE (Ira Sachs, USA)
8. C.R.A.Z.Y.
(Jean-Marc Vallee, Canada)
9. JOHANNA (Kornel Mundruczo,
Hungary)
10. A
TALE OF CINEMA (Hong Sang-Soo,
South Korea)
11. CINEMA, ASPIRIN AND
VULTURES (Marcelo Gomes, Brazil)
12. BRICK (Rian Johnson, USA)
13.
IT'S ONLY TALK (Ryuichi Hiroki, Japan)
14. SA-KWA (Yi-kwan Kang, South Korea)
15. YOU BET YOUR LIFE (Antonin
Svoboda, Austria)
16. TURKEY GIRL (Cristian
Mungiu, Romania)
17. POLICE BEAT (Robinson
Devor, USA)
18. BACKSTAGE (Emmanuelle Bercot,
France)
19. FRATRICIDE (Yilmaz
Arslan, Germany)
20. TIME OFF
(PARENTHESIS) (Francisca
Schweitzer and Pablo Solis,
Chile)
21. A TRAVERS LA FORET (Jean-Paul
Civeyrac, France)
22. CAPOTE (Bennett
Miller, USA)
23. LES MATINES
(Annick Raoul, France)
24. GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog,
USA)
25. WHOLE NEW THING (Amnon
Buchbinder, Canada)
26. GUERNSEY
(Nanouk Leopold, Belgium/Netherlands)
27. WHAT IVA RECORDED ON OCTOBER 21st, 2003
(Tomislav Radic, Croatia)
28. WASSUP ROCKERS (Larry Clark,
USA)
29.
LA NEUVAINE (Bernard Emond, Canada)
JUNEBUG (Phil Morrison, USA)
OLIVER
TWIST (Roman Polanski, UK)
GOOD NIGHT, AND
GOOD LUCK (George Clooney, USA)
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
(Joe Wright, UK)
2004
1. VERA DRAKE (Mike Leigh, UK)
2. PRIMER (Shane Carruth,
USA)
3, TRIPLE AGENT
(Eric Rohmer, France)
4. THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS
(Lech Majewski, UK/Italy/Poland)
5.
OR (MON TRESOR) (Keren Yedaya,
Israel)
6. THE WORLD (Jia Zhang Ke, China)
7. HEAD-ON
(Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey)
8.
THE TUNER (Kira Muratova,
Russia)
9. PALINDROMES
(Todd Solondz, USA)
10. WOMAN IS THE
FUTURE OF MAN (Hong Sang-Soo,
South Korea)
11.
WAITING (Sky Hirschkron, USA)
12. TONY TAKITANI
(Jun Ichikawa,
Japan)
13. KEANE (Lodge Kerrigan,
USA)
14. ENLIGHTENMENT
(Tanon Sattarujawong,
USA/Thailand)
15. SIDEWAYS (Alexander
Payne, USA)
16. CAMPFIRE (Joseph Cedar, Israel)
17. BEAR
CUB (Luis Miguel Albaladejo,
Spain)
17. BEFORE SUNSET
(Richard Linklater, USA)
18.
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE
ZISSOU (Wes Anderson, USA)
20. THE NIGHT OF
TRUTH (Fanta Regina Nacro, Burkina
Faso/France)
21. HEAD
IN THE CLOUDS (John Duigan,
USA/UK/Spain/Canada)
22. A HOLE IN ONE (Richard
Ledes, USA)
23. KINGS AND QUEEN
(Arnaud Desplechin, France)
2003
1. RAJA (Jacques Doillon,
France/Morocco)
2. LA FACE CACHEE
DE LA LUNE (Robert
Lepage, Canada)
3.
ANA AND THE OTHERS
(Celina Murga,
Argentina)
4. VIBRATOR
(Ryuichi Hiroki, Japan)
5. ZERO DAY
(Ben Coccio, USA)
6.
TOUTES CES BELLES PROMESSES
(Jean-Paul
Civeyrac, France)
7. SHARA (Naomi
Kawase, Japan)
8. JESUS, YOU KNOW
(Ulrich Seidl, Austria)
9. CRIMSON GOLD
(Jafar Panahi, Iran)
10.
NO REST FOR THE BRAVE
(Alain Guiraudie, France)
11. THE RETURN (Andrei
Zvyagintsev, Russia)
12. QUI A TUE BAMBI?
(Gilles Marchand,
France)
13. THE LAST
TRAIN (Alexei German
Jr., Russia)
14. THE HOURS
OF
THE DAY (Jaime Rosales,
Spain)
15. STORMY WEATHER (Solveig
Anspach, Belgium/France/Iceland)
16. CHOKHER
BALI: A PASSION
PLAY (Rituparno Ghosh,
India)
17. DOWN
WITH LOVE (Peyton Reed, USA)
18. STRUGGLE
(Ruth Mader, Austria)
19. PAS
SUR LA BOUCHE (Alain
Resnais, France)
20. THE HUNTED
(William Friedkin,
USA)
21. AT FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON
(Samira Makhmalbaf,
Iran)
22.
MEMORIES OF MURDER
(Bong Joon-Ho, South
Korea)
23. THE COMPANY
(Robert Altman, USA)
24.
20h17 RUE DARLING
(Bernard Emond, Canada)
25. THE MAGIC
GLOVES (Martin Rejtman,
Argentina)
26. TWENTYNINE
PALMS (Bruno Dumont,
France)
27. LES TRIPLETTES DE
BELLEVILLE (Sylvain Chomet,
France/Belgium/Canada/UK)
28. GUEST ROOM (Skander
Halim, Canada)
29.
SOLDIER'S GIRL (Frank
Pierson, USA)
2002
1. THE SON (Dardenne Bros.,
Belgium)
2. FAR
FROM HEAVEN (Todd Haynes,
USA)
3. JAPON (Carlos
Reygadas, Mexico)
4. KEN
PARK (Larry Clark and
Ed Lachman, USA)
5.
TEN (Abbas Kiarostami,
Iran)
6.
JEALOUSY IS MY MIDDLE
NAME (Park Chan-Ok,
South Korea)
7. TURNING
GATE (Hong Sang-Soo,
South Korea)
8.
THE EMBALMER (Matteo
Garrone, Italy)
9. RUSSIAN
ARK (Alexander
Sokorov, Russia)
10.
17 TIMES CECILE CASSARD
(Christophe
Honore, France)
11.
HUKKLE (Gyorgi Palfi,
Hungary)
12. OASIS (Lee Chang-Dong,
South Korea)
13. ABOUT SCHMIDT
(Alexander Payne,
USA)
14. FIVE YEARS
(Brett Wagner,
USA)
15. SLAVES
OF THE LORD (Hadar
Friedlich, Israel)
16. ALL OR NOTHING
(Mike Leigh, UK)
17. TALK TO HER
(Pedro Almodovar,
Spain)
18. PAPER
ROUTE (Robert Frank, Canada/Switzerland)
19. TERRA INCOGNITA (Ghassan Salhab, Lebanon/France)
20. L'AUBERGE
ESPAGNOLE (Cedric
Klapisch, France/Spain)
21.
DES PLUMES DANS LA TETE
(Thomas de Thier,
Belgium/France)
22.
FACING THE TRUTH
(Nils Malmros, Denmark)
23.
IGBY GOES DOWN
(Burr Steers, USA)
24. C'EST LE BOUQUET
(Jeanne Labrune,
France)
25. ONE-HOUR PHOTO
(Mark Romanek,
USA)
26. ANGEL
ON THE RIGHT (Jamshed
Usmonov, Tajikistan)
27. ZHOU
YU'S TRAIN
(Sun Zhou, China)
28. DOWN THE LABRADOR
(Brian Sullivan,
USA)
29.
TEENAGE CAVEMAN (Larry
Clark, USA)
2001
1. FAT
GIRL (Catherine
Breillat, France)
2. LATE
MARRIAGE (Dover Kosashvili,
Israel/France)
3. WAKING LIFE
(Richard Linklater,
USA)
4. BULLY (Larry
Clark, USA)
5. ROBERTO SUCCO
(Cedric Kahn,
France)
6. BE MY STAR
(Valeska Grisebach,
Germany)
7. PARIS: XY (Zeka
Laplaine, France)
8. THE BELIEVER
(Henry Bean, USA)
9. THE ROYAL
TENENBAUMS (Wes
Anderson, USA)
10. THE FLUFFER
(Richard Glatzer
and Wash West, USA)
11. DOG DAYS
(Ulrich Seidl,
Austria)
12. HARMFUL
INSECT (Akihiko
Shiota, Japan)
13. THE DAYS
BETWEEN (Maria
Speth, Germany)
14.
BREVE TRAVERSEE (Catherine
Breillat, France)
15. NO SUCH THING (Hal
Hartley, Iceland/USA)
16. CE VIEUX
REVE QUI BOUGE
(Alain Guiraudie,
France)
17. MILLENNIUM
MAMBO (Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
Taiwan)
18. HUSH! (Ryosuke
Hashiguchi,
Japan)
19. GOSFORD
PARK (Robert
Altman, USA)
20. MANIC (Jordan
Melamed, USA)
21. MARGARITA
HAPPY HOUR (Ilya Chaiken,
USA)
22. DONNIE
DARKO (Richard Kelly, USA)
23.
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
(Alfonso Cuaron,
Mexico)
24. STUFF AND DOUGH (Cristi Puiu, Romania)
25. WESH WESH, QU'EST-CE QUI SE PASSE? (Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, France)
26. COMMENT
J'AI TUE MON PERE (Anne
Fontaine,
France)
27. LA FEMME
QUI BOIT (Bernard
Emond, Canada)
28. RESURRECTION
(Taviani Bros.,
Italy)
29. SECRET
BALLOT (Babek Payami,
Iran)
THE SEAGULL'S LAUGHTER
(Agust Gudmundsson,
Iceland)
2000
1. ESTHER
KAHN (Arnaud Desplechin,
France)
2. THE HOUSE
OF MIRTH (Terence
Davies, UK/USA)
3. CHOPPER (Andrew
Dominic, Australia)
4. CATASTROPHE
(David Mamet,
Ireland)
5. THE VIRGIN
STRIPPED BARE BY
HER BACHELORS (Hong
Sang-Soo, South
Korea)
6. BEAT (Gary
Walkow, USA)
7. PLATFORM (Jia
Zhang Ke, China)
8. DU POIL SOUS
LES ROSES (Jean-Julien
Chervier and
Agnès Obadia,
France)
9. AMERICAN PSYCHO
(Mary Harron,
USA)
10. PEPPERMINT
CANDY (Lee Chang-Dong,
South Korea)
11. UNE VRAIE
JEUNE FILLE (shot
in 1976) (Catherine
Breillat, France)
12. SCARLET DIVA
(Asia Argento, Italy)
13. THE GOLDEN
BOWL (James Ivory,
UK)
14. ivansxtc.
(Bernard Rose, USA)
15. ALMOST FAMOUS
(Cameron Crowe,
USA)
16. HAMLET (Michael
Almereyda,
USA)
17. SLIDING OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
(Mark Street, USA)
18. ESTATE
ROMANA (Matteo Garrone,
Italy)
19. LA CAPTIVE
(Chantal Akerman,
France)
20. WITH A
FRIEND LIKE HARRY
(Dominic Moll,
France)
21. WAYDOWNTOWN
(Gary Burns,
Canada)
22. CAST AWAY
(Robert Zemeckis,
USA)
23. RULES
OF ENGAGEMENT
(William Friedkin,
USA)
24. CAMERA
(David Cronenberg,
Canada)
25. KAZA-HANA (Shinji Somai,
Japan)
26. DJOMEH
(Hassan Yektapanah,
Iran)
27. YI YI (Edward
Yang, Taiwan)
28. UNDER
THE SKIN OF THE
CITY (Rakhshan Bani Eternad,
Iran)
29. EUREKA
(Shinji Aoyama,
Japan)