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
(10 Sep 09 to 11 Oct 09):
2009 - new list
2008 - CHELSEA ON THE ROCKS and AMOROSA SOLEDAD added to runners-up
1995 - INDIAN SUMMER added to ten-best list
1985 - LA VIE DE FAMILLE changes colors
1969 - THE NIGHT OF COUNTING THE YEARS moved up on ten-best list
1968 - BENJAMIN added to ten-best list
1958 - A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE moved from ten-best list to runners-up
Click
for a history of changes.
2009
1. LE PÈRE DE MES ENFANTS (Mia Hansen-Løve, France)
2. BARBE-BLEUE (Catherine Breillat, France)
3, FACE (Tsai Ming-Liang, France/Taiwan)
4, LA DONATION (Bernard Émond, Canada)
5, THE EXPLODING GIRL (Bradley Rust Gray, USA)
6. BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (Vimukthi Jayasundara,
Sri Lanka)
7. SHE, A CHINESE (Guo Xiaolu, UK/France/Germany)
8. ALEXANDER
THE LAST (Joe Swanberg, USA)
9. LIFE DURING WARTIME (Todd Solondz,
USA)
10. HUACHO (Alejandro Fernández Almendras, Chile)
11. THE SEARCH (Pema Tseden, China)
12. PARADISE
(Michael Almereyda, USA)
13. BARKING WATER (Sterlin Harjo, USA)
14. LES DERNIERS JOURS DU MONDE (Arnaud
and Jean-Marie Larrieu, France/Spain)
15. CRACKIE (Sherry White, Canada)
16. BEESWAX (Andrew Bujalski, USA)
17. AT THE END
OF DAYBREAK (Ho Yuhang, Malaysia)
18. BENA (Niv Klainer, Israel)
19. LONDON RIVER (Rachid Bouchareb, UK/France/Algeria)
2008
1. NIGHT AND DAY (Hong Sang-soo,
South Korea)
2. BALLAST (Lance Hammer,
USA)
3. A WEEK ALONE (Celina Murga, Argentina)
4. ALL AROUND US (Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Japan)
5. STELLA (Sylvia
Verheyde, France)
6. NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS (Joe Swanberg and
Greta Gerwig, USA)
7. MID-AUGUST LUNCH (Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy)
8. BOOGIE (Radu Muntean, Romania)
9. FOUR NIGHTS WITH ANNA (Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland)
10. GOMORRA (Matteo Garrone, Italy)
11. JE VEUX VOIR (Joana Hadjithomas and
Khalil Joreige, Lebanon)
12. THE WACKNESS (Jonathan Levine, USA)
13. CHELSEA
ON THE ROCKS (Abel Ferrara, USA)
14. 40 DAYS (Juan Carlos Martín, Mexico)
15. MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
(Barry Jenkins, USA)
16. BUY A SUIT (Jun Ichikawa, Japan)
17. LIVERPOOL (Lisandro Alonso, Argentina)
18. LORNA'S SILENCE (Dardenne Bros., Belgium)
19. AMOROSA SOLEDAD (Martin Carranza and Victoria Galardi, Argentina)
20. LEATHERHEADS (George Clooney,
USA)
21. ENTRE LES MURS (Laurent Cantet, France)
22. I'M GONNA EXPLODE (Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico)
23. TWO LOVERS (James Gray, USA)
24. THE NEW YORKIST (Dana O'Keefe,
USA)
25. ANICETO (Leonardo Favio, Argentina)
26. THE VANISHED EMPIRE (Karen Shakhnazarov, Russia)
2007
1. MICHAEL
CLAYTON (Tony Gilroy, USA)
2. THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS
(Bruce McDonald, Canada)
3. THE SOPRANOS: "MADE IN AMERICA" (David Chase, USA)
4.
SILENT LIGHT (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico)
5.
UNE VIEILLE MAÎTRESSE (Catherine Breillat,
France)
6. CRASHING (Gary Walkow, USA)
7. TOUT
EST PARDONNE (Mia Hansen-Løve, France)
8. DARLING (Johan
Kling, Sweden)
9.
HAPPINESS (Hur Jin-ho, South Korea)
10. AVANT QUE J'OUBLIE
(Jacques Nolot, France)
11. THE DARJEELING LIMITED (Wes Anderson, USA)
12. WOLFSBERGEN
(Nanouk Leopold, Netherlands)
13. THE BANISHMENT (Andrei
Zyvagintsev, Russia)
14. MUTUM (Sandra Kogut, Brazil)
15. DESERT
DREAM (Zhang Lu, China/South Korea)
16. LA SOLEDAD (SOLITARY FRAGMENTS)
(Jaime Rosales, Spain)
17. CHARLY (Isild Le Besco, France)
18. CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (Mike
Nichols, USA)
19. MADONNAS (Maria Speth,
Germany)
20. HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS
(Joe Swanberg, USA)
21. CORROBOREE (Ben Hackworth, Australia)
22. SHADOWS FORMLESS (Ashish
Avikunthak, India)
23. COCHOCHI (Israel Cárdenas
and Laura Amelia Guzmán, Mexico)
24. DEATH PROOF (Quentin Tarantino,
USA)
25. POOR
BOY'S GAME (Clement Virgo, Canada)
26. BEAUFORT
(Joseph Cedar, Israel)
27. IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (José Luis
Guerín, Spain)
28. PLAYING (Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil)
29. HOTEL CHEVALIER (Wes Anderson,
USA)
30. FOUR SHEETS TO THE
WIND (Sterlin Harjo, USA)
31. 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. TARACHIME (Naomi Kawase, Japan)
18. DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT (Julia
Loktev, USA)
19. SUMMER
'04 (Stefan Krohmer, Germany)
20. QUINCEANERA
(Wash Westmoreland and
Richard Glatzer, USA)
21. TRACES OF LOVE (Kim Dae-Seung,
South Korea)
22. DON'T WORRY,
I'M FINE (Philippe Lioret, France)
23. FLANNEL PAJAMAS (Jeff Lipsky,
USA)
24. LE DERNIER DES FOUS (Laurent
Achard, France)
25. OPERA JAWA (Garin Negroho, Indonesia)
26. DRAMA/MEX (Gerardo
Naranjo, Mexico)
27. SUELY IN THE SKY
(Karim Ainouz, Brazil)
28. ONE IN A MILLION (Nadine Khan,
Egypt)
29. BUG (William
Friedkin, USA)
30. HAMACA PARAGUAYA
(Paz Encina, Paraguay)
31. SORRELE (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)
32. OFFSIDE
(Jafar Panahi, Iran)
2005
1. THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU (Cristi
Puiu, Romania)
2. THE CHILD (Dardennes
Bros., Belgium/France)
3. THE FORSAKEN
LAND (Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sri
Lanka/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. BRICK (Rian
Johnson, USA)
12.
CINEMA, ASPIRIN AND VULTURES
(Marcelo Gomes, Brazil)
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. LE GRAND VOYAGE (Ismaël Ferroukhi, France/Morocco)
18. BEAR CUB
(Luis Miguel Albaladejo,
Spain)
19.
BEFORE SUNSET (Richard
Linklater, USA)
20. THE LIFE
AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
(Wes Anderson, USA)
21. THE NIGHT OF TRUTH
(Fanta Regina Nacro, Burkina
Faso/France)
22. HEAD IN THE
CLOUDS (John Duigan,
USA/UK/Spain/Canada)
23.
A HOLE IN ONE (Richard
Ledes, USA)
24. 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. ALL OR NOTHING
(Mike Leigh,
UK)
9.
THE EMBALMER (Matteo
Garrone, Italy)
10. RUSSIAN
ARK (Alexander
Sokorov, Russia)
11. 17
TIMES CECILE CASSARD
(Christophe Honore,
France)
12. HUKKLE
(Gyorgi Palfi,
Hungary)
13.
OASIS (Lee Chang-Dong,
South
Korea)
14. ABOUT SCHMIDT
(Alexander Payne,
USA)
15. FIVE YEARS
(Brett Wagner,
USA)
16. SLAVES
OF THE LORD (Hadar
Friedlich, Israel)
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)