David Parkinson

Accomplished and assured.

Louis Malle, possibly at his best here. The drama is subtle but affecting.

A smart and incisive look at race, identity and dysfunction in modern French society.

It might be lesser known, but certainly not deservingly so. This is a cracking piece of Brit cinema.

If you only ever see one silent film, this is the one it should be. A masterpiece.

Deftly played and beautifully photographed, this may lack depth, but its observations on human transience are deeply moving.

Warm and thought-provoking portrayal of a journey and a man coping with the onset of age and all that might mean.

This looks and sounds superb. Isabelle Huppert and Pascal Gregory are splendid. But the over-archingly smug sophistication of the enterprise robs it of some much-needed human interest.

Director Pablo Trapero seals his enviable reputation with this exceptional study of isolation and grief.

A rich and imaginative evocation of a family in turmoil.

With Pendleton inhabiting three different bodies in the course of 93 minutes, this was quite an intricate storyline for a Hollywood comedy. But Alexander Hall (an unsung journeyman whose credits included Shirley Temple's Little Miss Marker) kept the action briskly accessible, even where Death was involved.

Curious allegorical epic which was supposed to speak to Allied spirits during the second world war but was a trifle obscure in its symbolism even then.

A tight plot that's enriched by wonderfully crafted characters that each have their own key weaknesses.

Alec Guinness shines in this hilarious British comedy.

Not as depressing as the subject matter might suggest, this tackles heavy themes of modern life.

The director left France during the German Occupation and, many critics would argue, his work never reached the same heights again. But, even with its immediate contemporary relevance softened, this film alone is enough to seal his reputation, as its playful love games, satirical bite and technical marvels refuse to diminish.

Woody's neuroses are still gloriously present, and the whole thing is made accessible by Herbert Ross' dynamic direction.

Written with great insight by Kogo Noda and filmed with painterly delicacy by Asakazu Nakai, though Ozu's touch brings the magic to this domestic drama.

Poetic, provocative and unstoppably powerful. But, depressingly, it probably won't change a thing.

Too many generic tropes for this downbeat, detached melodrama to convince as a work of social realism but a strong central performance and convincing depiction of the compartmentalisation of Argentina's women.

Wonderfully complex but warmly human, Bergman's drama is one of his very best.

Meticulously constructed, beautifully played and poignant.

Compelling morality tale that works on multiple layers.

Lemmon and Maclaine fail to reproduce the chemistry from The Apartment but this slight film is not as ignorable as reputation suggests.

A true emotional epic.

Long, but engrossing and frequently enraging drama that not only exposes the flaws in the Romanian health service, but also in modern humanity.

Unstintingly raw and cynical, this disconcerting and deeply affecting State Of The Union treatise regularly comes dangerously close to caricature.

A deeply disconcerting provocation about the future of civilisation: a powerfully performed vision of an insignificant humanity.