The Best English Films Of All Time

Disclaimer- This is a simple, informal and unofficial list of the best English-language films right from the beginning of the time. I would like to make it clear that these are the films that I have seen so far and there are so many films that I could have added. But my problem is that at time I simply don’t feel like watching films, thus shrugging at all the recommendations that people make to me.

So, here I am, trying to compile a list of the finest English-language films I have seen and I suppose that the list could be, in real terms, larger than what it is below. There are possibly many more films that need to be watched and there are so many fantastic directors coming to our attention. But while I am being insular, in settling for only the films I have seen yet, I think that this list is also endowed with some truly stunning gems and some others that I have simply chosen out of blind love and adoration.

Here we go then…..and your suggestions are always welcome…..

The Kid

                                                                           Circus

City Lights

                                                                          Modern Times

Citizen Kane

                                                       Casablanca

King Solomon’s Mines

                                                                   The Ten
                                                             Commandments

12 Angry Men

                                                                       Paths Of Glory

The Killing

                                                                       The Bridge On
                                                                 The River Kwai

                                                                             North By Northwest



Psycho

Lawrence of Arabia

                                                                          From Russia
                                                                             With Love

The Great Escape

                                                                      Dr. Strangelove

The Good, The Bad
and The Ugly                                                   The Wild Bunch

                                                                   Butch Cassidy and
                                                                    The Sundance Kid

Dirty Harry

                                                                             The Godfather

Mean Streets                                                        Chinatown

                                                                             The Godfather
                                                                                   Part 2

One Flew Over
The Cuckoo’s Nest                    Jaws                     Dog Day Afternoon

                                                                             Network

Taxi Driver

                                                                           All The
                                                                    President’s Men

Annie Hall

                                                                     The Deer Hunter

Apocalypse Now

                                                                         Raging Bull

Raiders Of
The Lost Ark

                                     The Thing                                      E.T
                                                                              The Extra-Terrestrial

The King Of Comedy

                                                                               Brazil

Back To The Future                                             Platoon

Lethal Weapon

                                                             Full Metal Jacket

Born On
The Fourth Of July                              Robocop

                                                   Goodfellas

JFK

                                                         Reservoir Dogs

Unforgiven

                                                     Schindler’s List

Pulp Fiction                                 Ed Wood

                                                     Fargo                           Toy Story

Twelve Monkeys

                                                    Trainspotting

Kundun

                                                   Saving Private Ryan

Fight Club                                                                      Toy Story 2

                                                          Memento

Black Hawk Down                                     The Fellowship Of The Ring

                                                                   Master and Commander-
The Two Towers                                       The Far Side Of The World

Mystic River                  

                                           28 Days Later

Minority Report

Kill Bill                                                                 The Aviator

Munich                                  Good Night and Good Luck             King Kong

  United 93                                  
                                                   The Departed

Casino Royale                                                             Children Of Men

                                   The Prestige

There Will Be Blood                                  

                                                    Zodiac

The Bourne Ultimatum

                                                     No Country
                                                     For Old Men

The Dark Knight

                                          WALL-E

Inglourious Basterds

                                         Up

District 9

                                      The King’s Speech

The Social Network                                                            Toy Story 3

                                         Hugo

Tinker Tailor
Soldier Spy

                                      Midnight In Paris

Post Script- There are so many movies I have missed out and I mention some of them here- ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘Hatari!’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘The French Connection’, ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’, ‘Road Warrior’, ‘The Color Of Money’, ‘Cape Fear’, ‘Terminator 2’ ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and so many more….

                                        

Django Unchained- The Mad Masterpiece!

You know you are in love with a film when you come out of the theaters with its signature music playing in your mind and you are already imagining yourself to be the dashing hero, walking in slow-motion after beating the bad guys.

Yet, it is only rarely when a film comes like that- most of our current films are either about holding a mirror to our realities or repeating everything that was fantastic two or three decades ago. Rarely there comes a film that knocks you out with its sheer bravado and makes you pose with cocked guns and a cowboy hat in front of the mirror.

And, ‘Django Unchained’, the latest firecracker manufactured by the wild and wacky Quentin Tarantino, is just that film.

Loosely named after the pulpy classic Western classic, ‘Django Unchained’ kicks off in trademark Tarantino style- the blood-red titles reminiscent of the Spaghetti classics of the 60s, the entire trashy, absurd and cartoonish essence recaptured by the writer-director in fantastically masterful style.

And mastery this is. Tarantino and cinematographer Robert Richardson take us deep into the story- by the means of quiet, leisurely long-takes and cuts, it draws us deep to marvel each little nuance and detail. Fred Raskin’s sharp editing makes sure to the make the film a genuinely sprightly adventure, effortlessly shifting the scene from one location to another.

But it would not be worth talking about a Tarantino movie if you have not applauded its biggest strength-possibly the biggest and most lethal stick of dynamite in the bunch- the writing.

Sticking to its basic plot of an African slave- named Django (Jamie Foxx) being freed and then accompanied by a charismatic dentist-cum-bounty hunter named Schultz (Christoph Waltz) on a bloody path of revenge in the pre-Civil War era, Tarantino is never afraid to hand us more than just a basic template- with his wry, acerbic writing and his pitch-perfect direction, he fleshes each character fully so that they become merely more than just guys with guns and guts- each little or seemingly insignificant detail ticks away like a time-bomb and each piece of dialogue, conversation or every single filch is important, very, very important.

So, as we begin with Django and Schultz beginning to wage a relentless war against the former’s tormentors, Tarantino hands us surprise after surprise, one bombshell after another to make for a truly incendiary experience. The killings are truly captured with horrific detail but the tension that precedes it is more deathly and painful- just marvel a fantastic piece of editing and narrative device- when a vengeful Django, decked up in an elaborate costume as a valet, sights one of his tormentors through a looking glass, Tarantino, with a menacingly incisive style, switches the template- a short, harrowing flashback showcases the brutal actions of the persons concerned and it immediately sets the tone for the violence to follow. Whoa!

Violence has always been a crucial ingredient in Tarantino’s film- and here the director experiments with it freely, recklessly yet morally- ‘Django Unchained’ alternates between hard-boiled bloody shootouts and duels and the more slow killings- a Mandingo fight is a nerve-wracking experience of sheer torture and yet Tarantino, cleverly and crucially, sometimes steers away from the main violence. In such cases, he lets us to imagine the horror of it all and boy, it shocks, scares and shatters us to smithereens.

But what makes Tarantino’s direction and writing a real piece of mastery is the unpredictability. The writer-director, who came across his inspirations from working in a video store, frequently doffs his hat at not only filmmakers but rather whole genres- but his films are more than just homages. ‘Django Unchained’ is not just a celebration of the thrilling element of the genre itself. It is more importantly an individual piece, an individual triumph. And its originality lies in how Tarantino, with a sense of both hilarity and horror, can twist and alter the ground rules of each genre.

 

                         

It plays smoothly here as well- Tarantino glosses over each little detail, over each coincidence- Schultz’s carriage has a large faux tooth attached to it, which later matters a lot when a pile of dynamite is shoved inside it. Tarantino makes even standard elements of the Western genre twisted and hilarious- when an army of masked raiders are about to mount a horseback attack, they argue over whether to wear those masks or not as many of them are unable to see through it.

Even the relationships are perfectly etched out. Schultz’s friendship with Django touches almost close to a kinship- the two complement each other in crackling chemistry. The vicious plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) shares a twisted relationship with his trusted slave Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), who obeys his every command, yet warns his master of possible danger and threat. The result is that even the dramatic proceedings are rendered with both warmth and tension.

This brings us to Tarantino’s most unique strength as a writer- the dialogue. The film has its own language and there is not a single one of them. And while Tarantino is also best known for those flourishes of pop-cultural dialogue and monologues, here, as in any other film, every little bit of dialogue feels relevant and nuanced, even as it may seem as casual conversation.

From a bounty hunter comparing his trade to that of slavery, saying that he deals in corpses instead of living people, to the afore-mentioned argument with the masks- with the gang leader insisting that it is important that only horses should be able to see- to the little touches- ‘This nigger here?’ mouths Stephen, incredulously to which Calvin replies ‘That nigger there’.- everything is marvelously written and it all further adds to the plot as well. Schultz’s language is sophisticated and suave, Django’s own words are spare and pointed. Calvin loves to lay down rules and maxims while Stephen often showcases his ugly side with words spoken in midst of laughs or in a fit of outrage.

And we all know how Tarantino rocks us by deriving fantastic performances from his cast. And mind you, everyone in this film- from the main players to the side cameos- comes across superbly to make for a spellbinding histrionic experience.

Jamie Foxx is perhaps sidelined by the outstanding supporting cast of stellar actors but he does well, quite well in fact. His way of getting into character is particularly convincing. He is initially subdued but soon he starts showing his tough and nasty edge and towards the end, he ends up being a hero worth rooting for. Foxx plays Django with a solid conviction and incorruptibility and his transition from vulnerability to heroics is quite compelling.

 

But the real fire is in the supporting cast. Waltz’s Schultz is clearly the best-written part of the film. A self-assured and reliably excellent performer, Waltz shines throughout his role, embodying his suave and streetwise Schultz with both wit and warmth. He is a character you root for, ready to kill in lighting speed and yet surprisingly generous and possibly the really likeable person in the film. Waltz chomps up the frames with a superb and solid performance, his expressions memorably charismatic and cool while his silver-tongued dialogue delivery is unforgettable as ever.

Leonardo DiCaprio is so, so superb that we actually forget that he is actually acting. He dives beneath the smooth and calculated cruelty of his character and actually makes Calvin real. He is loathsome when required. He goes wild when in a fit of rage and his more subtle moments- when mouthing those incredible lines, are done with a vicious style- so that his character is constantly explosive material for the screen.

 

And finally, Samuel L. Jackson as the elderly yet evil slave Stephen is clearly the biggest surprise that Tarantino hands us. We see him first stamping a piece of paper clad in the dim light of his study and then we see his evil side growing more distinctly and it soon envelops the proceedings with its darkness. Samuel plays it to perfection- his infirmness is a false disguise for the apprehensive nature that he often reveals yet he always sticks loyally to Calvin Candie. It is a plain fantastic performance, unforgettable in its little nuances as much as it is in totality.

‘Django Unchained’ is clearly not everyone’s cup of tea. It sees the supremely talented Tarantino in full throttle- firing away one big gun after another and scoring yet another bullseye. It is smart and enthralling filmmaking in its top form and with endless thrills, spills and chills, it is sure to rock you out of your seats.

Go, watch it! And Get Your Senses Shaken, Stirred And Stunned. For Once and For All…..

My Rating- 5 Stars.