1. The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet)
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
It has an average vote of 8.2 on TMDB.
2. Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället)
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
It has an average vote of 8.127 on TMDB.
3. Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop)
As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so deeply immersed in their own psychic pains that they can't offer her the support she needs. Maria is wracked with guilt at her husband's attempted suicide, caused by his discovery of her extramarital affair. The self-loathing, suicidal Karin seems to regard her sister with revulsion. Only Anna, the deeply religious maid who lost her young child, seems able to offer Agnes solace and empathy.
It has an average vote of 7.931 on TMDB.
4. Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen)
While vacationing on a remote German island with his pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
5. Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten)
After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
6. Winter Light (Nattvardsgästerna)
A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.
It has an average vote of 7.855 on TMDB.
7. Stalker (Сталкер)
Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.
It has an average vote of 8.162 on TMDB.
8. Some Mother's Son
Based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in a British prison, in which IRA prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. The film focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle to save the lives of their sons.
It has an average vote of 6.632 on TMDB.
9. Red Desert (Il deserto rosso)
In an industrializing Italian town, a married woman, rendered mentally unstable after a traffic accident, drifts into an affair with a friend of her husband.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
10. Through a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel)
Karin hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny island. Her husband, Martin, cares for her but is frustrated by her physical withdrawal. Her younger brother, Minus, is confused by Karin's vulnerability and his own budding sexuality. Their father, David, cannot overcome his haughty remoteness. Beset by visions, Karin descends further into madness.
It has an average vote of 7.761 on TMDB.
11. Mirror (Зеркало)
A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.
It has an average vote of 7.983 on TMDB.
12. Vivre Sa Vie (Vivre sa vie: film en douze tableaux)
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
It has an average vote of 7.8 on TMDB.
13. The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups)
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
14. Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander)
As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.
It has an average vote of 7.756 on TMDB.
15. Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette)
Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.
It has an average vote of 8.2 on TMDB.
16. Amour (Amour)
Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
It has an average vote of 7.8 on TMDB.
17. Candy
A poet falls in love with an art student, who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle — and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.
It has an average vote of 7.134 on TMDB.
18. Sunset Boulevard
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
It has an average vote of 8.3 on TMDB.
19. The Last Emperor
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
It has an average vote of 7.633 on TMDB.
20. Cléo from 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7)
Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.
It has an average vote of 7.7 on TMDB.
