Film Ranking – Scene by Green

The 25 Best Male Actors of the Last Decade

Actor	Top 3 Performances of the Last Decade
1. Timothee Chalamet	1. Call Me By Your Name (2017) 2. Dune: Part One and Two (2021, 2024) 3. Little Women (2019)
2. Adam Driver	1. Marriage Story (2019) 2. Paterson (2016) 3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
3. Ryan Gosling	1. La La Land (2016) 2. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) 3. Barbie (2023)
4. Robert Pattinson	1. The Lighthouse (2019) 2. Good Time (2017) 3. The Batman (2022)
5. Joaquin Phoenix	1. Joker (2019) 2. Beau is Afraid (2023) 3. You Were Never Really Here (2017)
6. Cillian Murphy	1. Oppenheimer (2023) 2. Small Things Like These (2024) 3. Dunkirk (2017)
7. Willem Dafoe	1. The Lighthouse (2019) 2. The Florida Project (2017) 3. Poor Things (2023)
8. Brad Pitt	1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) 2. Ad Astra (2019) 3. Babylon (2022)
9. Jesse Plemmons	1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) 2. Kinds of Kindness (2024) 3. Civil War (2024)
10. Barry Keoghan	1. Saltburn (2023) 2. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 3. Bird (2024)
11. Oscar Isaac	1. The Card Counter (2021) 2. Dune (2021) 3. Annihilation (2018)
12. Daniel Kaluuya	1. Get Out (2017) 2. Widows (2018) 3. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
13. Bradley Cooper	1. Nightmare Alley (2021) 2. Maestro (2023) 3. A Star is Born (2018)
14. Colin Farrell	1. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 2. The Batman (2022) 3. After Yang (2021)
15. Leonardo DiCaprio	1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) 2. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) 3. Don’t Look Up (2021)
16. Ralph Fiennes	1. Conclave (2024) 2. The Menu (2022) 3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023)
17. Michael B. Jordan	1. Sinners (2025) 2. Black Panther (2018) 3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
18. Benedict Cumberbatch	1. The Power of the Dog (2021) 2. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023) 3. The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
19. Adrien Brody	1. The Brutalist (2024) 2. The French Dispatch (2021) 3. Asteroid City (2023)
20. Austin Butler	1. Elvis (2022) 2. Dune: Part Two (2024) 3. The Bikeriders (2023)
21. Gary Oldman	1. Mank (2020) 2. Darkest Hour (2017) 3. Oppenheimer (2023)
22. Steven Yeun	1. Burning (2018) 2. Minari (2020) 3. Nope (2022)
23. Benicio del Toro	1. The Phoenician Scheme (2025) 2. The French Dispatch (2021) 3. Reptile (2023)
24. Andrew Scott	1. Ripley (2024) 2. All of Us Strangers (2023) 3. 1917 (2019)
25. Dev Patel	1. The Green Knight (2021) 2. Monkey Man (2024) 3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023)

2024 in Cinema

Top 10 of the Year

1. Ripley	Steven Zaillian
2. Dune: Part Two	Denis Villeneuve
3. The Substance	Coralie Fargeat
4. Nosferatu	Robert Eggers
5. Nickel Boys	RaMell Ross
6. The Girl with the Needle	Magnus von Horn
7. The Brutalist	Brady Corbet
8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	George Miller
9. Maria	Pablo Larraín
10. Queer	Luca Guadagnino

Best Film – Ripley

A television miniseries as the best film of the year? How is it so? Well with a stylistic vision as ambitious as Steven Zaillian’s and a formal dedication to patient, calculated storytelling, getting caught up on the structure of a cinematic work this brilliant is a mere triviality. It is far from the first time a miniseries has ended up in the top 10 of its year – just check out 2021’s The Underground Railroad and 2022’s Copenhagen Cowboy. It is however the first time that one has made it to the #1 spot, with similar masterpieces of auteur television like the Dekalog and Fanny and Alexander being slightly edged out in their respective years. Where most television falls flat in maintaining visual and formal ambition across multiple episodes, Ripley not only meets this benchmark but leaps over it, marking an enormous feat of filmmaking endurance akin to a seven hour epic. This is the third screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, and through Zaillian’s crisp black-and-white photography and location shooting, it masterfully narrows in on the notorious con artist’s dark, decaying soul.

Baroque interiors and weathered stonework displaying meticulous attention to detail, reflecting the darkness that Tom carries with him throughout Italy. Few television series in history look like this, but Zaillian draws on the expertise of cinematographer Robert Elswit to capture these magnificent visuals, making for some of their best work.

Most Underrated – Dune: Part Two

Ripley could just easily be the pick here, but I will give the critical consensus some leeway since it will likely take a while for them to accept it as a work of cinema. The disparity between Dune: Part Two sitting outside the top 40 of the year while Part One ranks at #6 in 2021 is strange, especially given that both were equally well received at the time of their release. Denis Villeneuve expands the scope and scale of his worldbuilding in this sequel with sweeping, ominous majesty, concluding Paul Atreides’ Messianic ascension to leader of the Fremen and setting his sights on Dune Messiah.

As tremendous as Denis Villeneuve’s epic achievement was in the first instalment of Dune, it is clear with the context of Part Two just how much of that was simply setting up Paul Atreides’ subverted monomyth, where we witness his evolution into one of cinema’s great antiheroes.

Most Overrated – All We Imagine as Light

Payal Kapadia’s Indian drama sits at #2 of the year on TSPDT, and doesn’t come terribly close to my top 10. It is very easy to settle into the muted, comfortable rhythms of All We Imagine as Light, as well as the soothing cool blues of Mumbai’s warm evenings. The lighting is often gorgeous as we confront the harsh realities of modern companionship, but ultimately none of this justifies at as the second best film of 2024.

Payal Kapadia’s narrative flows between these two flatmate’s stories with lyrical grace, not only seeking insight into their interior lives, but also the friction in their own relationship to each other. In this nocturnal urban environment, love flourishes without judgement, connecting souls in moments of sweet, uninhibited honesty.

Best Directorial Debut – Nickel Boys

In some years this category barely warrants a mention, but 2024 is a year I am glad to single it out. RaMell Ross makes the leap from documentary to narrative filmmaking in Nickel Boys, and his avant-garde instincts come fully formed in its first-person camerawork and impressionistic montages. It is also through these perspectives that he studies the relationship between two Black friends in a 1960s reform school – one being an idealistic advocate for social progress, and the other a cynic looking to keep his head down. What could easily be used as a gimmick instead melds beautifully with Ross’ evocative storytelling and cinematography, calling to mind Barry Jenkins’ distinctive combination of shallow focus and close-ups which similarly forge profound connections with ostracised characters.

It is fitting that RaMell Ross should ground his visual style in first-person perspectives, playing with camera angles, orientations, and movements that we are intimately familiar with in our own lives. During Elwood’s childhood, the camera stares up at towering environments and reveals his growing sense of self through reflective surfaces.

Gem to Spotlight – Flow

The 2020s have ushered in a Golden Age of animation which peaked in 2023 with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and this small but ambitious Latvian film proves that it is far from over. Starting with a tiny budget and relatively small crew, director Gints Zilbalodis decided to animate Flow in Blender – a free, open-source computer graphics program that Pixar and DreamWorks would never even think of touching. Instead of using storyboards or concept art, Zilbalodis created expansive environments within the software and explored how his animal characters inhabited the space. It is a stunning achievement of wordless visual storytelling, exploring a flooded, post-apocalyptic world in long camera takes through the eyes of a cat, and immersing us in the harsh and soothing cycles of nature.

Flow illustrates with breath-taking wonder that there is no perfect state of being in nature, besides that of a balanced ecosystem which resiliently oscillates between different phases. We float and soar through a world in perpetual transition, basking in the order and chaos of nature.

Best Male Performance – Adrien Brody in The Brutalist

Adrien Brody gives a raw, battered performance as Hungarian architect László Toth. He is a culmination of countless devastating experiences, each resulting in unhealthy coping mechanisms that only deepen his psychological wounds. The Brutalist is his platform to project both supreme confidence and dazed, drug-fuelled breakdowns, dealing with Holocaust trauma the only way Toth knows how – through compartmentalisation and addiction.

Dune: Part Two sees Timothee Chalamet take the Messianic saviour of Arrakis to ominous ends, mirroring Anakin Skywalker’s descent into darkness. By the time he is standing upon platforms and delivering rousing speeches to followers and enemies, his voice has shifted down to a deeper, gravelly register not unlike Baron Harkonnen’s, and he exudes a megalomania that leads us to mourn the humbler Paul Atreides we met in Part One. Chalamet may be the most promising actor of his generation, and this is one of the best cases to prove why.

*The Brutalist gives Adrien Brody a platform for his best performance and role in many years, playing that complex mix of guilt, trauma, and hope unique to Holocaust survivors.*

Andrew Scott delivers a sinister interpretation of the titular antihero in Ripley, especially when comparing him against previous versions performed by Alain Delon and Matt Damon. Scott is by far the oldest of three at the time of playing the role, applying a new lens to Tom as a more experienced, jaded con artist. He delivers each line with calculated discernment, understanding how a specific inflection or choice of word might turn a conversation in his favour, while his onyx, shark-like eyes patiently scrutinise his prey.

Elsewhere, Daniel Craig plays a fictionalised version of writer William S. Burroughs in Queer, giving one of his most layered performances as a man wracked with existential insecurities over his sexuality. Ralph Fiennes also anchors Conclave’s sacred assembly of cardinals in a weary apprehension, both disillusioned by the church and anxious that its leadership should fall into the wrong hands. He is restrained, subtle, and subdued – something which cannot be said for Chris Hemsworth, who snarls his lines with broad, nasally glee in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. His boisterous charisma is quite distinctive in this barren wasteland, styling himself in the fashion of a dystopian Roman emperor standing atop a chariot led by motorcycles.

Daniel Craig gives his most layered performance to date at the centre of Luca Guadagnino’s character study in Queer. He is an insecure, half-complete man torn between dualities – shame and indulgence, connection and independence, mind and body.

Finally, Bill Skarsgård delivers an acutely Slavic take on Count Orlok in Nosferatu, sporting a heavy fur coat, bushy moustache, and deep, Eastern European accent. His commitment to this otherworldly voice by training in opera and Mongolian throat singing is astonishing, and his naked physicality when latching onto victims is similarly unsettling as he pulses upon them like a pale, writhing leech. His face is often hidden by shadows, but when he does appear in dim light, he ravenously devours the scenery like he does his victims.

Ralph Fiennes’ performance anchors Conclave’s sacred assembly in a weary apprehension, both disillusioned by the church and anxious that its leadership should fall into the wrong hands. Worry lines crease his forehead, and we are often placed in his uneasy state of mind.

Best Female Performance – Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu

Lily-Rose Depp pays homage to Isabelle Adjani in Nosferatu, displaying total command over a deep-seated torment that is as psychological as it is physical. She swings wildly between emotional extremes, falls into demonic seizures, and embraces Count Orlok’s presence in her life with both blissful smiles and mortal terror. Depp does not play Ellen Hutter as the archetypal ‘pure virgin’, but rather a married, mature woman destined to play a far more active role in confronting the vampire.

A committed performance from Lily-Rose Depp, falling into demonic seizures and swinging wildly between emotional extremes. It is through these strong dramatic choices that Depp displays total command over Ellen’s deep-seated torment.

Hollywood’s past and present run up against each other in The Substance, with Demi Moore making a major comeback and Margaret Qualley capitalising on her excellent run in recent years. This body horror features both at their strongest as two sides of a woman simultaneously envying and revelling in her youthful glamour – and eventually pushing this complicated relationship to grotesque ends.

Much like Moore, Angelina Jolie also gives her best performance beyond the prime of her youth, proving that she has more than just raw star power in Maria. She inhabits the titular soprano as a shadow of herself, delicate and fragile in the final week of her life, while Mikey Madison alternately masks her vulnerability in Anora with a stubborn streak of independence. She is extraordinarily natural in this role, demonstrating savviness and resilience as a New York stripper who refuses to let her guard down, yet ultimately does for the wrong guy.

The Girl with the Needle sees Vic Carmen Sonne and Trine Dyrholm’s performances entwine in a disorientated haze – one a victim of abuse falling into guilty self-loathing, and the other masking incredible malice beneath a warm, maternal mask. Anya Taylor-Joy gets the final mention for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, not quite reaching the heights of Charlize Theron’s soaring take on the character, but nonetheless asserting a powerful presence onscreen as the silent, brooding action hero.

For industry veteran Demi Moore and rising star Margaret Qualley, The Substance displays both actresses’ strongest performances to date, playing two sides of one woman simultaneously envying and revelling in her youthful glamour.

Best Cinematography – Ripley

Film	Cinematographer
1. Ripley	Robert Elswit
2. Nosferatu	Jarin Blaschke
3. Dune: Part Two	Greig Fraser
4. The Substance	Benjamin Kracun
5. Nickel Boys	Jomo Fray
6. The Girl With the Needle	Michał Dymek
7. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	Simon Duggan
8. Maria	Edward Lachman
9. The Brutalist	Lol Crawley
10. Monkey Man	Sharone Meir
11. Flow	Gints Zilbalodis
12. Conclave	Stéphane Fontaine
13. Blitz	Yorick Le Saux
14. Queer	Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
15. Challengers	Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
16. Disclaimer	Bruno Delbonel, Emmanuel Lubezki

The visual majesty of Ripley is astounding, drawing on the symmetry of Italy’s Renaissance architecture and Robert Elswit’s immaculate framing. The mise-en-scène earns a comparison to Michelangelo Antonioni here, aptly using the negative space of vast walls to impede on his characters, while detailing the intricate textures of their surroundings with the keen eye of a photographer.

Best Editing – The Substance

Film	Editor
1. The Substance	Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, Valentin Feron
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	Eliot Knapman, Margaret Sixel
3. Nickel Boys	Nicholas Monsour
4. Dune: Part Two	Joe Walker
5. Monkey Man	Dávid Jancsó, Tim Murrell, Joe Galdo
6. Challengers	Marco Costa
7. Maria	Sofía Subercaseaux
8. Queer	Marco Costa
9. The Brutalist	Dávid Jancsó
10. Ripley	Joshua Raymond Lee, David O. Rogers
11. Disclaimer	Adam Gough
12. Conclave	Nick Emerson
13. Kinds of Kindness	Yorgos Mavropsaridis
14. Civil War	Jake Roberts

Coralie Fargeat directly references Requiem for a Dream in The Substance, comparing the processes of beautification to an uncontrollable drug addiction through aggressive, rapid-fire montage editing.

Best Screenplay – Nosferatu

Film	Writer
1. Nosferatu	Robert Eggers
2. Ripley	Steven Zaillian
3. Dune: Part Two	Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
4. Disclaimer	Alfonso Cuarón
5. The Brutalist	Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
6. Kinds of Kindness	Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
7. Civil War	Alex Garland
8. Queer	Justin Kuritzkes
9. Nickel Boys	RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes
10. Anora	Sean Baker
11. Challengers	Justin Kuritzkes

Robert Eggers is not so much subverting horror conventions in Nosferatu than executing them with poetic flair, achieving a 19^th century stylisation in the dialogue which elegantly weaves macabre metaphors among other rhetoric devices. The only trace of modernisation may be in the freedom of its subtextual and explicit sexuality, edging us gradually closer to a full consummation of Ellen and Orlok’s sordid affair.

Best Original Music Score – Dune: Part Two

Film	Composer
1. Dune: Part Two	Hans Zimmer
2. The Brutalist	Daniel Blumberg
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	Tom Holkenborg
4. The Substance	Raffertie
5. Nosferatu	Robin Carolan
6. Challengers	Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
7. Conclave	Volker Bertelmann
8. Nickel Boys	Alex Somers, Scott Alario
9. Flow	Gints Zilbalodis, Rihards Zaļupe
10. Monkey Man	Jed Kurzel
11. Queer	Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
12. Kinds of Kindness	Jerskin Fendrix
13. The Girl With the Needle	Frederikke Hoffmeier
14. Blitz	Hans Zimmer, Nicholas Britell
15. Ripley	Jeff Russo

Hans Zimmer’s score for Dune: Part Two intrepidly builds on the war cries and blaring electronic orchestrations from Part One, roaring towards a violent, devastating climax.

Year Breakdown

Auteur television has been on a steady rise through the 2020s with miniseries like Small Axe, Copenhagen Cowboy, and The Underground Railroad rivalling feature films in cinematic quality, and 2024 marks the peak of this movement towards episodic storytelling. Ripley is the first televised masterpiece of the decade, and Alfonso Cuarón’s psychological drama Disclaimer backs up the trend, cutting into the inherent subjectivity of storytelling through a mystery of conflicting perspectives. Of course, streaming services continue to dominate here, and credit must be given to Netflix and Apple TV Plus for producing such ambitious projects.

Zaillian is the creative genius behind Ripley, but Netflix deserves partial credit for this recent boom in auteur television. The streaming model blurs the boundaries between feature and episodic filmmaking, giving those directors with the ability to maintain cinematic ambition across multiple episodes a platform to show off their stamina.

Cuarón’s last film was for Netflix, and it seems he is sticking with streaming as he move to Apple TV Plus for Disclaimer. He unravels its layers of conflicting perspectives with great patience, keeping us from the reality of Jonathan and Catherine’s mysterious relationship until the final episode, yet the subjectivity of such divergent accounts is woven into the series’ structure from the start.

It is a relatively quiet year for the old guard of tentpole directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, held up only by Cuarón with Disclaimer and George Miller’s newest entry in the Mad Max franchise. Clint Eastwood’s film Juror #2 is not quite on the same level, but he is officially the oldest director to make an archivable film at the age of 93 – an incredible accomplishment in itself, and a testament to his lengthy, laudable career.

Mad Max’s anarchic dystopia of dictators, marauders, and vehicle chases is clearly where George Miller is most comfortable as a filmmaker, turbocharging him with raw, high-octane vigour, and expanding its world to far more expansive proportions than Fury Road’s tightly contained narrative. Quite miraculously, Furiosa sticks its landing with dynamic poise, giving us greater reason to admire the titular warrior as a force of undistiled willpower.

In place of long-established auteurs, 2024 instead sees the next generation down continue to flourish. Yorgos Lanthimos comes off the grand success of Poor Things with a far more alienating anthology film, Pablo Larraín completes his biopic trilogy with a surreal character study of opera singer Maria Callas, and Robert Eggers’ meticulous remake of Nosferatu offers ups one of the most haunting horror films in recent years. This decade has been a very fruitful period for Luca Guadagnino as well, but with both Challengers and Queer, he also achieves the rare, remarkable feat of delivering two top 10 quality films in a single year.

Pablo Larraín brings his trilogy of biopics to a close with Maria. This historic soprano is a woman of magnificent contradictions, and it is in the collision between extremes of soaring exhilaration and abject misery where the film’s disorientating, nostalgic surrealism takes form.

Yorgos Lanthimos returns to the deadpan bleakness of his earlier films in Kinds of Kindness, delivering an absurd anthology that studies love and abuse in all sorts of relationships. The style is more stripped back than Poor Things, yet wide-angle lenses and monochrome dreams continue to weave through his bizarre narratives.

*Art meets mass appeal in Dune: Part Two, delivering some jaw-dropping visuals – here with an overhead shot capturing the Fremen in their pale headdresses swarming Paul Atreides*.

Chief among these directors though is Denis Villeneuve, who tops his first Dune film with an even more grandiose sequel and simultaneously smashes the box office – though not quite enough to unseat Inside Out 2 from the top. With that said, Pixar’s artistic cache is still wavering, leaving Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis to pick up the slack and keep pushing animation forward in the beautifully minimalist Flow.

Speaking of which, Zilbalodis is one of many up-and-coming directors worth noting this year. Nickel Boys and Monkey Man are extraordinary debuts for RaMell Ross and Dev Patel, while Coralie Fargeat, Magnus von Horn, and Brady Corbet make their well-deserved breakthroughs in The Substance, The Girl with the Needle, and The Brutalist. After 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave also marks the second time we have seen Edward Berger direct a film that nips at the edges of the year’s top 10, setting a healthy pattern that will hopefully continue into the future.

*One of the defining shots of 2024, flipping the Statue of Liberty upside down as László Toth emerges from the darkness of the ship to find his new home in America.*

*Dev Patel makes an incredibly admirable directorial debut in Monkey Man, transposing a John Wick-style narrative into modern-day India and drenching it in gorgeous lighting.*

Magnus von Horn’s bleak, black-and-white photography captures the dilapidated architecture of 1920s Copenhagen in The Girl with the Needle, adapting a chilling piece of Danish history with exceptional psychological tension.

At the Academy Awards and Cannes Film Festival, Sean Baker gets recognition for the remarkably consistent work he has been doing since 2015, with Anora winning the top awards at both. This is a feat accomplished by only three other films in history – The Lost Weekend, Marty, and Parasite.

Quite curiously, Anora is also part of a larger trend of films this year proving that Quentin Tarantino had an eye for casting in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Many of the young actors who played Manson Family members there have since launched into the celebrity stratosphere, this year taking on significant roles across a number of films. Besides Mikey Madison’s breakthrough in Anora, Margaret Qualley excels in The Substance and Kinds of Kindness, Austin Butler takes a villainous turn in Dune: Part Two, Dakota Fanning is led down a trail of lies in Ripley, and Maya Hawke is introduced as Anxiety in Inside Out 2. A new generation of talent is here, and Tarantino saw it before any of us.

*Anora was the big 2024 awards darling and another solid achievement for Sean Baker, continuing his admirable run which began in 2015 with Tangerine.*

Film Archives

Film	Director	Grade
A Complete Unknown	James Mangold	R
A Quiet Place: Day One	Michael Sarnoski	R
A Real Pain	Jesse Eisenberg	R
Alien: Romulus	Fede Álvarez	R
All We Imagine as Light	Payal Kapadia	R
Anora	Sean Baker	HR
Blitz	Steve McQueen	HR
Challengers	Luca Guadagnino	HR
Civil War	Alex Garland	HR
Conclave	Edward Berger	HR
Disclaimer	Alfonso Cuarón	HR
Dune: Part Two	Denis Villeneuve	MS/MP
Flow	Gints Zilbalodis	HR
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	George Miller	MS
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1	Kevin Costner	R
I Saw the TV Glow	Jane Schoenbrun	R
I’m Still Here	Walter Salles	R
Joker: Folie à Deux	Todd Phillips	R/HR
Juror #2	Clint Eastwood	R
Kinds of Kindness	Yorgos Lanthimos	HR
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes	Wes Ball	R
Longlegs	Osgood Perkins	R
Love Lies Bleeding	Rose Glass	R/HR
Maria	Pablo Larraín	HR/MS
MaXXXine	Ti West	R
Monkey Man	Dev Patel	HR
Nickel Boys	RaMell Ross	MS
Nosferatu	Robert Eggers	MS
Queer	Luca Guadagnino	HR/MS
Rebel Ridge	Jeremy Saulnier	R
Ripley	Steven Zaillian	MP
Sing Sing	Greg Kwedar	R
Smile 2	Parker Finn	R
The Apprentice	Ali Abbasi	R/HR
The Brutalist	Brady Corbet	MS
The Fall Guy	David Leitch	R
The Girl with the Needle	Magnus von Horn	MS
The Substance	Coralie Fargeat	MS
The Wild Robot	Chris Sanders	R
Trap	M. Night Shyamalan	R
We Live in Time	John Crowley	R
Wicked	Jon M. Chu	R
Wolfs	Jon Watts	R

*Chromatic aberrations in Alex Garland’s cinematography for Civil War, visualising trauma and dissociation through deliberately distorted lenses.*

The 50 Best Directors of All Time

1. Ingmar Bergman

Top 10 Films

1. Persona	1966
2. The Seventh Seal	1957
3. Fanny and Alexander	1982
4. Cries and Whispers	1972
5. Autumn Sonata	1978
6. Winter Light	1963
7. The Virgin Spring	1960
8. The Silence	1963
9. Wild Strawberries	1957
10. Hour of the Wolf	1968

**Persona (1966).** Seeking the foundations of human identity, existence, and purpose in the absence of a responsive God, Bergman composes severe modern parables of great spiritual weight, turning faces into landscapes that both express and withhold deep psychological truths.

2. Stanley Kubrick

Top 10 Films

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey	1968
2. Barry Lyndon	1975
3. A Clockwork Orange	1971
4. The Shining	1980
5. Paths of Glory	1957
6. Eyes Wide Shut	1999
7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb	1964
8. Full Metal Jacket	1987
9. The Killing	1956
10. Spartacus	1960

**2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).** Kubrick marks his cerebral odysseys into the human psyche with immaculate framing, icy detachment, and a meticulous attention to detail, astutely examining humanity’s fragility and ironic capacity for self-destruction.

3. Akira Kurosawa

Top 10 Films

1. Seven Samurai	1954
2. Rashomon	1950
3. High and Low	1963
4. Ikiru	1952
5. The Bad Sleep Well	1960
6. Ran	1985
7. Yojimbo	1961
8. Stray Dog	1949
9. Throne of Blood	1957
10. Dreams	1990

**Seven Samurai (1954).** Blending operatic storytelling and dynamic visual energy, Kurosawa juxtaposes intimate personal dilemmas against sweeping historical backdrops, employing fluid choreography and elemental forces to explore honour, survival, and man’s cruel injustice.

4. Alfred Hitchcock

Top 10 Films

1. Vertigo	1958
2. Psycho	1960
3. Rear Window	1954
4. Notorious	1946
5. North by Northwest	1959
6. Strangers on a Train	1951
7. The Birds	1963
8. Rope	1948
9. Shadow of a Doubt	1943
10. The 39 Steps	1935

**Vertigo (1958).** Hitchcock wields the tools of cinema like a chess grandmaster, orchestrating visual storytelling, spatial tension, and psychological manipulation to place us in a constant state of unease, where danger lurks in the ordinary and morality is seldom absolute.

5. Martin Scorsese

Top 10 Films

1. Raging Bull	1980
2. Taxi Driver	1976
3. Goodfellas	1990
4. The Age of Innocence	1993
5. Mean Streets	1973
6. Casino	1995
7. The Irishman	2019
8. The Departed	2006
9. The Aviator	2004
10. The King of Comedy	1982

**Raging Bull (1980).** Infused with kinetic energy and moral complexity, Scorsese’s films chronicle the turbulent lives of flawed characters caught in cycles of sin, redemption, and self-destruction, his restless camera and evocative soundtracks immersing audiences in both the glamour and cost of their desires.

6. Federico Fellini

Top 10 Films

1. 8 1/2	1963
2. La Dolce Vita	1960
3. Juliet of the Spirits	1965
4. Amarcord	1973
5. La Strada	1954
6. Fellini Satyricon	1969
7. I Vitelloni	1953
8. Nights of Cabiria	1957
9. Fellini’s Casanova	1976
10. Fellini’s Roma	1972

**8 1/2 (1963).** Spanning both neorealism and feverish surrealism, Fellini imbues his examinations of Italy’s past and present with whimsical theatrics, celebrating life’s innocent joys while exposing the spiritual emptiness that lies beneath its extravagant facades.

7. Andrei Tarkovsky

Top 10 Films

1. Stalker	1979
2. Nostalghia	1983
3. Andrei Rublev	1966
4. Mirror	1975
5. The Sacrifice	1986
6. Solaris	1972
7. Ivan’s Childhood	1962

**Stalker (1979).** Time is not a linear force in Tarkovsky’s films but a tangible entity, stretching and bending with the elements of nature, and guiding us into a meditative space where humanity’s frailty is magnified by the eternal and the divine.

8. Francis Ford Coppola

Top 10 Films

1. Apocalypse Now	1979
2. The Godfather	1972
3. The Godfather Part II	1974
4. The Conversation	1974
5. Rumble Fish	1983
6. One From the Heart	1981
7. The Cotton Club	1984
8. Bram Stoker’s Dracula	1992
9. The Godfather Part III	1990
10. The Outsiders	1983

**Apocalypse Now (1979).** Coppola explores entanglements of power, loyalty, and moral decay with visceral intimacy, his vivid storytelling and visual symbolism creating emotionally charged narratives that resonate on both personal and epic scales.

9. Krzysztof Kieślowski

Top 10 Films

1. A Short Film About Killing	1988
2. Dekalog	1989
3. The Double Life of Veronique	1991
4. Three Colours: Blue	1993
5. Three Colours: Red	1994
6. Three Colours: White	1994
7. A Short Film About Love	1988
8. Blind Chance	1981
9. No End	1985
10. Camera Buff	1979

**A Short Film About Killing (1988).** As a leading figure in cinematic, philosophical storytelling, Krzysztof Kieslowski probes metaphysical questions of fate, morality, and spirituality, using sensual colour palettes and symbolic cutaways to better understand the lives that lie just beyond our immediate perspectives.

10. Jean-Luc Godard

Top 10 Films

1. Breathless	1960
2. Pierrot le Fou	1965
3. Contempt	1963
4. Weekend	1968
5. Alphaville	1965
6. Vivre sa Vie	1962
7. A Woman is a Woman	1961
8. Bande à Part	1964
9. La Chinoise	1967
10. Made in U.S.A.	1966

**Breathless (1960).** Godard’s anarchic cinema dismantles conventional storytelling with intellectual playfulness, fragmented narratives, and self-aware imagery, demanding the audience question their own gaze by blurring the lines between art and politics.

Director	Top 5 Films
11. Yasujirō Ozu	1. Tokyo Story (1953) 2. The End of Summer (1961) 3. Early Summer (1951) 4. Late Spring (1949) 5. An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
12. Orson Welles	1. Citizen Kane (1941) 2. Touch of Evil (1958) 3. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 4. The Trial (1962) 5. Chimes at Midnight (1965)
13. John Ford	1. The Searchers (1956) 2. Stagecoach (1939) 3. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) 5. My Darling Clementine (1946)
14. Fritz Lang	1. Metropolis (1927) 2. Die Nibelungen (1924) 3. M (1931) 4. Destiny (1921) 5. Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)
15. Terrence Malick	1. The Tree of Life (2011) 2. Days of Heaven (1978) 3. The Thin Red Line (1998) 4. The New World (2005) 5. Badlands (1973)
16. Wong Kar-wai	1. In the Mood for Love (2000) 2. Chungking Express (1994) 3. 2046 (2004) 4. Days of Being Wild (1990) 5. Fallen Angels (1995)
17. Paul Thomas Anderson	1. There Will Be Blood (2007) 2. The Master (2012) 3. Magnolia (1999) 4. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) 5. Boogie Nights (1997)
18. Michelangelo Antonioni	1. Red Desert (1964) 2. L’Avventura (1960) 3. L’Eclisse (1962) 4. The Passenger (1975) 5. La Notte (1961)
19. Luchino Visconti	1. The Leopard (1963) 2. Rocco and His Brothers (1960) 3. La Terra Trema (1948) 4. Ossessione (1943) 5. Senso (1954)
20. Sergio Leone	1. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 3. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) 4. A Fistful of Dollars (1964) 5. For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Director	Top 3 Films
21. David Lynch	1. Mulholland Drive (2001) 2. Blue Velvet (1986) 3. Lost Highway (1997)
22. The Coen Brothers	1. Fargo (1996) 2. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) 3. The Big Lebowski (1998)
23. François Truffaut	1. Jules and Jim (1962) 2. The 400 Blows (1959) 3. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
24. Steven Spielberg	1. Jaws (1975) 2. Schindler’s List (1993) 3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
25. Woody Allen	1. Manhattan (1979) 2. Annie Hall (1977) 3. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
26. Carl Theodor Dreyer	1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 2. Gertrud (1964) 3. Ordet (1955)
27. Jean Renoir	1. The Rules of the Game (1939) 2. La Grande Illusion (1937) 3. La Chienne (1931)
28. Quentin Tarantino	1. Pulp Fiction (1994) 2. Kill Bill (2003-04) 3. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
29. Wes Anderson	1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 2. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) 3. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
30. Sergei Eisenstein	1. Battleship Potemkin (1925) 2. Strike (1925) 3. Ivan the Terrible (1944-46)
31. Béla Tarr	1. The Turin Horse (2011) 2. Sátántangó (1994) 3. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
32. F.W. Murnau	1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 2. The Last Laugh (1924) 3. Nosferatu (1922)
33. Michael Powell	1. Black Narcissus (1947) 2. The Red Shoes (1948) 3. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
34. Roman Polanski	1. Chinatown (1974) 2. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 3. Repulsion (1965)
35. Robert Altman	1. Nashville (1975) 2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) 3. MASH (1970)*
36. Christopher Nolan	1. Dunkirk (2017) 2. Oppenheimer (2023) 3. Inception (2010)
37. David Fincher	1. The Social Network (2010) 2. Fight Club (1999) 3. Zodiac (2007)
38. Howard Hawks	1. Red River (1948) 2. Scarface (1932) 3. The Big Sleep (1946)
39. Lars von Trier	1. Breaking the Waves (1996) 2. Melancholia (2011) 3. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
40. Billy Wilder	1. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 2. Double Indemnity (1944) 3. The Apartment (1960)
41. Alejandro Iñárritu	1. The Revenant (2015) 2. Birdman (2014) 3. Amores Perros (2000)
42. David Lean	1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 2. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 3. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
43. Alfonso Cuarón	1. Roma (2018) 2. Children of Men (2006) 3. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
44. Brian de Palma	1. Blow Out (1981) 2. Scarface (1983) 3. Carrie (1976)
45. Michael Mann	1. Heat (1995) 2. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) 3. Thief (1981)
46. Josef von Sternberg	1. The Blue Angel (1930) 2. The Scarlet Empress (1934) 3. Morocco (1930)
47. Michael Haneke	1. The White Ribbon (2009) 2. Caché (2005) 3. The Piano Teacher (2001)
48. Max Ophüls	1. Lola Montes (1955) 2. The Earrings of Madame de… (1953) 3. Le Plaisir (1952)
49. D.W. Griffith	1. Intolerance (1916) 2. The Birth of a Nation (1915) 3. Broken Blossoms (1919)
50. Alain Resnais	1. Last Year at Marienbad (1961) 2. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) 3. Mon Oncle d’Amérique (1980)

The 100 Best Film Scores of All Time

Films from the last 10 years have not been included on this list, and will be eligible in future updates when the moratorium has passed.

Film	Composer	Year
1. Star Wars	John Williams	1977
2. Psycho	Bernard Hermann	1960
3. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly	Ennio Morricone	1966
4. Lawrence of Arabia	Maurice Jarre	1962
5. The Lord of the Rings	Howard Shore	2001-03
6. Jaws	John Williams	1975
7. Gone With the Wind	Max Steiner	1939
8. The Godfather	Nino Rota	1972
9. Vertigo	Bernard Hermann	1958
10. The Empire Strikes Back	John Williams	1980
11. Taxi Driver	Bernard Hermann	1976
12. Days of Heaven	Ennio Morricone	1978
13. Raiders of the Lost Ark	John Williams	1981
14. Once Upon a Time in the West	Ennio Morricone	1968
15. There Will Be Blood	Jonny Greenwood	2007
16. Jurassic Park	John Williams	1993
17. Casablanca	Max Steiner	1942
18. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg	Michel Legrand	1964
19. Requiem for a Dream	Clint Mansell	2000
20. Sweet Smell of Success	Elmer Bernstein	1957
21. Citizen Kane	Bernard Hermann	1941
22. Once Upon a Time in America	Ennio Morricone	1984
23. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	John Williams	1982
24. Dead Man	Neil Young	1995
25. Elevator to the Gallows	Miles Davis	1958
26. Suspiria	Goblin, Dario Argento	1977
27. The Wizard of Oz	Harold Arlen	1939
28. The Third Man	Anton Karas	1949
29. The Red Shoes	Brian Easedale	1948
30. Inception	Hans Zimmer	2010
31. King Kong	Max Steiner	1933
32. Blade Runner	Vangelis	1982
33. The Thin Red Line	Hans Zimmer	1998
34. The Man With the Golden Arm	Elmer Bernstein	1955
35. The Piano	Michael Nyman	1993
36. Pinocchio	Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith	1940
37. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Tan Dun	2000
38. The Social Network	Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross	2010
39. The Young Girls of Rochefort	Michel Legrand	1967
40. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters	Philip Glass	1985
41. Punch-Drunk Love	Jon Brion	2002
42. The Searchers	Max Steiner	1956
43. The Nightmare Before Christmas	Danny Elfman	1993
44. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	Nick Cave, Warren Ellis	2007
45. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover	Michael Nyman	1989
46. Mad Max: Fury Road	Junkie XL	2015
47. North by Northwest	Bernard Hermann	1959
48. Saving Private Ryan	John Williams	1998
49. Titanic	James Horner	1997
50. Batman	Danny Elfman	1989
51. The Master	Jonny Greenwood	2012
52. Breathless	Martial Solal	1960
53. Ben-Hur	Miklós Rózsa	1959
54. Thief	Tangerine Dreams	1981
55. Three Colours: Blue	Zbigniew Preisner	1993
56. The Grand Budapest Hotel	Alexandre Desplat	2014
57. Touch of Evil	Henry Mancini	1958
58. The Godfather Part II	Nino Rota	1974
59. Unforgiven	Lennie Niehaus	1992
60. Anatomy of a Murder	Duke Ellington	1959
61. Pyaasa	S.D. Burman	1957
62. 8 1/2	Nino Rota	1963
63. Aguirre, Wrath of God	Popol Vuh	1972
64. The Dark Knight	Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard	2008
65. The Lost Weekend	Miklós Rózsa	1945
66. Schindler’s List	John Williams	1993
67. The New World	James Horner	2005
68. Halloween	John Carpenter	1978
69. Doctor Zhivago	Maurice Jarre	1965
70. A Zed and Two Noughts	Michael Nyman	1985
71. Brokeback Mountain	Gustavo Santaolalla	2005
72. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre	Max Steiner	1948
73. Hero	Tan Dun	2002
74. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest	Jack Nitzsche	1975
75. On the Waterfront	Leonard Bernstein	1954
76. Atonement	Dario Marianelli	2007
77. The Fountain	Clint Mansell	2006
78. The Fly	Howard Shore	1986
79. A Streetcar Named Desire	Alex North	1951
80. Fargo	Carter Burwell	1996
81. A Fistful of Dollars	Ennio Morricone	1964
82. Interstellar	Hans Zimmer	2014
83. Naked	Andrew Dickson	1993
84. Spirited Away	Joe Hisaishi	2001
85. In Cold Blood	Quincy Jones	1967
86. For a Few Dollars More	Ennio Morricone	1964
87. Chinatown	Jerry Goldsmith	1974
88. Pan’s Labyrinth	Javier Navarrete	2006
89. Chariots of Fire	Vangelis	1981
90. American Beauty	Thomas Newman	1999
91. Seven Samurai	Fumio Hayasaka	1954
92. Back to the Future	Alan Silvestri	1985
93. Bob le Flambeur	Eddie Barclay, Jo Boyer	1956
94. The Bad Sleep Well	Masaru Sato	1960
95. One From the Heart	Tom Waits	1981
96. WALL-E	Thomas Newman	2008
97. Mulholland Drive	Angelo Badalamenti	2001
98. Sunset Boulevard	Franz Waxman	1950
99. White Heat	Max Steiner	1949
100. Double Indemnity	Miklós Rózsa	1944

Ennio Morricone’s lush orchestrations elevate the dreamy atmosphere of Days of Heaven (1978).

The 50 Best Cinematographers of All Time

1. Sven Nykvist

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. Persona	Ingmar Bergman	1966
2. Cries and Whispers	Ingmar Bergman	1972
3. Fanny and Alexander	Ingmar Bergman	1982
4. The Sacrifice	Andrei Tarkovsky	1986
5. Autumn Sonata	Ingmar Bergman	1978

**Persona (1966).** Nykvist’s portfolio is largely dominated by his collaborations with Ingmar Bergman, blocking and framing human faces like expressively detailed landscapes, and yet his pairings with Andrei Tarkovsky and Roman Polanski also prove his incredible versatility.

2. Emmanuel Lubezki

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. The Tree of Life	Terrence Malick	2011
2. Children of Men	Alfonso Cuarón	2006
3. The Revenant	Alejandro Iñárritu	2015
4. The New World	Terrence Malick	2005
5. Birdman	Alejandro Iñárritu	2014

**The Tree of Life (2011).** A Lubezki film is immediately recognised by the floating camerawork and wide-angle lenses, but his talent for shooting in natural light shouldn’t go unnoted either, seeing him take lessons learned from Terrence Malick into his collaborations with Alejandro Iñárritu.

3. Gordon Willis

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. The Godfather Part II	Francis Ford Coppola	1974
2. The Godfather	Francis Ford Coppola	1972
3. Manhattan	Woody Allen	1979
4. The Parallax View	Alan J. Pakula	1974
5. Stardust Memories	Woody Allen	1980

**The Godfather Part II (1974).** The Prince of Darkness is one of the few cinematographers who can fairly lay claim to the title of auteur, consistently shooting in low-key lighting setups whether he is capturing the malevolent heart of Michael Corleone, the paranoia of Alan J. Pakula’s political thrillers, or Woody Allen’s comedy-dramas.

4. Sacha Vierny

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover	Peter Greenaway	1989
2. Last Year at Marienbad	Alain Resnais	1961
3. A Zed & Two Noughts	Peter Greenaway	1985
4. Hiroshima Mon Amour	Alain Resnais	1959
5. Mon Oncle d’Amerique	Alain Resnais	1980

**The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989).** Vierny peaked twice – first in his mid-century collaborations with Alain Resnais’s black-and-white dreamscapes, and later in the 80s with Peter Greenaway’s vibrantly theatrical allegories. Across both eras though he held onto that unyielding, rolling camera, often tracking in straight lines through magnificently designed set pieces.

5. Vittorio Storaro

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. The Conformist	Bernardo Bertolucci	1970
2. Apocalypse Now	Francis Ford Coppola	1979
3. 1900	Bernardo Bertolucci	1976
4. The Last Emperor	Bernardo Bertolucci	1987
5. Reds	Warren Beatty	1981

**Apocalypse Now (1979).** Storaro never flinched at the prospect of shooting historical epics, capturing sprawling scenes brimming with extras in long shots while bringing a more psychological, intimate expressionism to smaller-scale character drama.

6. Asakazu Nakai

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. Seven Samurai	Akira Kurosawa	1954
2. The End of Summer	Yasujirō Ozu	1961
3. High and Low	Akira Kurosawa	1963
4. Ikiru	Akira Kurosawa	1952
5. Ran	Akira Kurosawa	1985

**Seven Samurai (1954).** Nakai worked with the two greatest Japanese directors of all time, nailing both the kinetic grace of Akira Kurosawa and the perfectionistic stillness of Yasujirō Ozu, while offering his talent for shooting in deep focus to both.

7. Christopher Doyle

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. In the Mood for Love	Wong Kar-wai	2000
2. Hero	Yimou Zhang	2002
3. Chungking Express	Wong Kar-wai	1994
4. 2046	Wong Kar-wai	2004
5. Days of Being Wild	Wong Kar-wai	1990

**In the Mood for Love (2000).** Despite growing up in Australia, Doyle has primarily worked in Chinese and Hong Kong cinema, carrying his keen eye for colours, patterns, and lighting across highly stylised epics and romances.

8. Giuseppe Rotunno

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. The Leopard	Luchino Visconti	1963
2. Fellini Satyricon	Federico Fellini	1969
3. Rocco and His Brothers	Luchino Visconti	1960
4. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen	Terry Gilliam	1988
5. Amarcord	Federico Fellini	1973

**The Leopard (1963).** Between the painterly films of Luchino Visconti and the chaotic surrealism of Federico Fellini, Rotunno mastered the art of capturing vibrant historical periods, from an anachronistic Ancient Rome to mid-19th century Sicily.

9. Roger Deakins

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	Andrew Dominik	2007
2. Blade Runner 2049	Denis Villeneuve	2017
3. 1917	Sam Mendes	2019
4. Fargo	The Coen Brothers	1996
5. Skyfall	Sam Mendes	2012

**The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).** Deakins brings the same dedication to atmospheric lighting setups whether he is filming the Old West, a futuristic dystopia, or a James Bond film, paying keen attention to the composition and contrast of shadows.

10. John Alcott

Top 5 Cinematographic Works

Film	Director	Year
1. Barry Lyndon	Stanley Kubrick	1975
2. The Shining	Stanley Kubrick	1980
3. A Clockwork Orange	Stanley Kubrick	1971
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Dawn of Man sequence)	Stanley Kubrick	1968
5. No Way Out	Roger Donaldson	1987

**Barry Lyndon (1975).** The strength of Alcott’s collaborations with Stanley Kubrick carries his legacy. These are some of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful films of all time, accomplishing an aesthetic precision and rigour unrivalled in cinema history.

Cinematographer	Top 3 Cinematographic Works
11. Gregg Toland	1. Citizen Kane (1941) 2. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 3. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
12. Sławomir Idziak	1. Three Colours: Blue (1993) 2. A Short Film About Killing (1988) 3. The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
13. Vilmos Zsigmond	1. Heaven’s Gate (1980) 2. Blow Out (1981) 3. McCabe & Mrs Miller (1971)
14. Yūharu Atsuta	1. Tokyo Story (1953) 2. Early Summer (1951) 3. Late Spring (1949)
15. Robert Richardson	1. Kill Bill (2003-04) 2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) 3. The Aviator (2004)
16. Robert Burks	1. Vertigo (1958) 2. Rear Window (1954) 3. North by Northwest (1959)
17. Raoul Coutard	1. Pierrot le Fou (1965) 2. Contempt (1963) 3. Alphaville (1965)
18. Russell Metty	1. Touch of Evil (1958) 2. All That Heaven Allows (1955) 3. Written on the Wind (1956)
19. Robert Yeoman	1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 2. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) 3. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
20. Michael Chapman	1. Raging Bull (1980) 2. Taxi Driver (1976) 3. Hardcore (1979)
21. Gianni Di Venanzo	1. 8 1/2 (1963) 2. Juliet of the Spirits (1965) 3. L’Eclisse (1962)
22. Christian Matras	1. Lola Montès (1955) 2. Grand Illusion (1937) 3. The Earrings of Madame de… (1953)
23. Tonino Delli Colli	1. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 2. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966) 3. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
24. Sergey Urusevsky	1. I Am Cuba (1964) 2. The Cranes Are Flying (1957) 3. Letter Never Sent (1960)
25. Freddie Young	1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 2. Doctor Zhivago (1965) 3. 49th Parallel (1941)
26. Robert Elswit	1. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) 2. Ripley (2024) 3. There Will Be Blood (2007)
27. Kazuo Miyagawa	1. Rashomon (1950) 2. Yojimbo (1961) 3. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
28. Winton C. Hoch	1. The Searchers (1956) 2. The Quiet Man (1952) 3. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
29. Rudolph Maté	1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 2. Vampyr (1932) 3. The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
30. Jack Cardiff	1. The Red Shoes (1948) 2. Black Narcissus (1947) 3. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
31. Otello Martelli	1. La Dolce Vita (1960) 2. La Strada (1954) 3. I Vitelloni (1953)
32. Gunnar Fischer	1. The Seventh Seal (1957) 2. Wild Strawberries (1957) 3. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
33. Bruno Delbonnel	1. Amelie (2001) 2. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) 3. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
34. Robby Müller	1. Dead Man (1995) 2. Breaking the Waves (1996) 3. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
35. Michael Ballhaus	1. Goodfellas (1990) 2. The Age of Innocence (1993) 3. Gangs of New York (2002)
36. Janusz Kamiński	1. Schindler’s List (1993) 2. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 3. Lincoln (2012)
37. Lee Garmes	1. Gone with the Wind (1939) 2. Scarface (1932) 3. Morocco (1930)
38. Luciano Tovoli	1. Suspiria (1977) 2. The Passenger (1975) 3. Tenebrae (1982)
39. Henri Decaë	1. The 400 Blows (1959) 2. Le Samouraï (1967) 3. Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
40. Carlo di Palma	1. Red Desert (1964) 2. Blow-Up (1966) 3. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
41. Eduard Tisse	1. Battleship Potemkin (1925) 2. Ivan the Terrible (1944-46) 3. Strike (1925)
42. Rodrigo Prieto	1. Amores Perros (2000) 2. The Irishman (2019) 3. Broken Embraces (2009)
43. Peter Suschitzky	1. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 2. Dead Ringers (1988) 3. Tale of Tales (2015)
44. Geoffrey Unsworth	1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2. Cabaret (1972) 3. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
45. Charles Lang	1. The Big Heat (1953) 2. Charade (1963) 3. Ace in the Hole (1951)
46. Robert Krasker	1. The Third Man (1949) 2. Senso (1954) 3. Brief Encounter (1945)
47. Darius Khondji	1. Seven (1995) 2. Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022) 3. Delicatessen (1991)
48. Néstor Almendros	1. Days of Heaven (1978) 2. Two English Girls (1971) 3. My Little Loves (1974)
49. Mark Lee Ping-Bing	1. In the Mood for Love (2000) 2. Flowers of Shanghai (1998) 3. The Assassin (2015)
50. Hoyte van Hoytema	1. Dunkirk (2017) 2. Ad Astra (2019) 3. Oppenheimer (2023)

The 100 Best Shot Films of All Time

Films from the last 10 years have not been included on this list, and will be eligible in future updates when the moratorium has passed.

Film	Cinematographer	Year
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey	Geoffrey Unsworth, John Alcott	1968
2. Barry Lyndon	John Alcott	1975
3. Lawrence of Arabia	Freddie Young	1962
4. Days of Heaven	Néstor Almendros, Haskell Wexler	1978
5. Tokyo Story	Yūharu Atsuta	1953
6. Citizen Kane	Gregg Toland	1941
7. The Tree of Life	Emmanuel Lubezki	2011
8. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover	Sacha Vierny	1989
9. The Searchers	Winton C. Hoch	1956
10. Sunrise	Charles Rosher, Karl Struss	1927
11. Blade Runner	Jordan Cronenweth	1982
12. Last Year at Marienbad	Sacha Vierny	1961
13. In the Mood for Love	Christopher Doyle, Mark Lee Ping-Bing	2000
14. Raging Bull	Michael Chapman	1980
15. The Leopard	Giuseppe Rotunno	1963
16. The Conformist	Vittorio Storaro	1970
17. Stalker	Alexander Knyazhinsky, Leonid Kalashnikov, Georgy Rerberg	1979
18. Apocalypse Now	Vittorio Storaro	1979
19. Persona	Sven Nykvist	1966
20. Nostalghia	Giuseppe Lanci	1983
21. I Am Cuba	Sergey Urusevsky	1964
22. Cries and Whispers	Sven Nykvist	1972
23. The Passion of Joan of Arc	Rudolph Maté	1928
24. Fanny and Alexander	Sven Nykvist	1982
25. Suspiria	Luciano Tovoli	1977
26. Children of Men	Emmanuel Lubezki	2006
27. Heaven’s Gate	Vilmos Zsigmond	1980
28. Vertigo	Robert Burks	1958
29. Hero	Christopher Doyle	2002
30. Seven Samurai	Asakazu Nakai	1954
31. 8 1/2	Gianni Di Venanzo	1963
32. The Third Man	Robert Krasker	1949
33. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari	Willy Hameister	1920
34. Rashomon	Kazuo Miyagawa	1950
35. The Revenant	Emmanuel Lubezki	2015
36. Touch of Evil	Russell Metty	1958
37. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg	Jean Rabier	1964
38. The Thin Red Line	John Toll	1998
39. The End of Summer	Asakazu Nakai	1961
40. La Dolce Vita	Otello Martelli	1960
41. Three Colours: Blue	Sławomir Idziak	1993
42. A Short Film About Killing	Sławomir Idziak	1988
43. Taxi Driver	Michael Chapman	1976
44. The Godfather Part II	Gordon Willis	1974
45. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	Roger Deakins	2007
46. High and Low	Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito	1963
47. Red Desert	Carlo di Palma	1964
48. The Godfather	Gordon Willis	1972
49. Metropolis	Karl Freund, Günther Rittau	1927
50. Lola Montès	Christian Matras	1955
51. The New World	Emmanuel Lubezki	2005
52. Ikiru	Asakazu Nakai	1952
53. The Turin Horse	Fred Kelemen	2011
54. Once Upon a Time in the West	Tonino Delli Colli	1968
55. Sátántangó	Gábor Medvigy	1994
56. Playtime	Jean Badal, Andréas Winding	1967
57. Songs from the Second Floor	István Borbás, Jesper Klevenas, Robert Komarek	2000
58. The Shining	John Alcott	1980
59. Early Summer	Yūharu Atsuta	1951
60. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly	Tonino Delli Colli	1966
61. Gone with the Wind	Ernest Haller, Lee Garmes	1939
62. Napoleon	Jules Kruger	1927
63. Chungking Express	Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau	1994
64. The Red Shoes	Jack Cardiff	1948
65. Werckmeister Harmonies	Milós Gurbán, Erwin Lanzensberger, Gábor Medvigy, Emil Novák, Patrick de Ranter, Rob Tregenza, Jörg Widmer	2000
66. The Rules of the Game	Jean Bachelet	1939
67. L’Avventura	Aldo Scavarda	1960
68. Bicycle Thieves	Carlo Montuori	1948
69. Goodfellas	Michael Ballhaus	1990
70. Birdman	Emmanuel Lubezki	2014
71. 2046	Christopher Doyle, Lai Yiu-fai, Kwan Pun-leung	2004
72. A Zed and Two Noughts	Sacha Vierny	1985
73. The Trial	Edmond Richard	1962
74. The Double Life of Veronique	Sławomir Idziak	1991
75. The Magnificent Ambersons	Stanley Cortez	1942
76. The Grand Budapest Hotel	Robert Yeoman	2014
77. The Sacrifice	Sven Nykvist	1986
78. The Bad Sleep Well	Yuzuru Aizawa	1960
79. Grand Illusion	Christian Matras	1937
80. The Ballad of Narayama	Hiroyuki Kusuda	1958
81. Three Colours: Red	Piotr Sobociński	1994
82. The Last Laugh	Karl Freund	1924
83. The Blue Angel	Günther Rittau	1930
84. Brazil	Roger Pratt	1985
85. Andrei Rublev	Vadim Yusov	1966
86. Mirror	Georgy Rerberg	1975
87. Black Narcissus	Jack Cardiff	1947
88. The Cranes Are Flying	Sergey Urusevsky	1957
89. Die Nibelungen	Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau, Walter Ruttmann	1924
90. The Earrings of Madame de…	Christian Matras	1953
91. Naked	Dick Pope	1993
92. The Royal Tenenbaums	Robert Yeoman	2001
93. The Seventh Seal	Gunnar Fischer	1957
94. Punch-Drunk Love	Robert Elswit	2002
95. A Brighter Summer Day	Chang Hui-kung, Li Long-yu	1991
96. Ran	Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda, Asakazu Nakai	1985
97. Juliet of the Spirits	Gianni Di Venanzo	1965
98. Manhattan	Gordon Willis	1979
99. Paths of Glory	Georg Krause	1957
100. A Clockwork Orange	John Alcott	1971

*Winton C. Hoch’s blazing Technicolour and astounding eye for composition in The Searchers (1956).*

The 50 Best Film Editors of All Time

1. Sergei Eisenstein

Top 5 Edited films

Film	Director	Year
1. Battleship Potemkin	Sergei Eisenstein	1925
2. Strike	Sergei Eisenstein	1925
3. October: Ten Days That Shook the World	Sergei Eisenstein	1928
4. Alexander Nevsky	Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev	1938
5. Ivan the Terrible	Sergei Eisenstein	1944-46

**Battleship Potemkin (1925).** Eisenstein pioneered the theory of montage in cinema’s early years, emphasising the power of juxtaposition to generate tension, heighten drama, and inspire revolutionary thought in the minds of viewers.

2. Thelma Schoonmaker

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. Raging Bull	Martin Scorsese	1980
2. Goodfellas	Martin Scorsese	1990
3. Casino	Martin Scorsese	1995
4. The Aviator	Martin Scorsese	2004
5. The Age of Innocence	Martin Scorsese	1993

**Raging Bull (1980).** Schoonmaker has been Martin Scorsese’s editor since the 1960s, building a kinetic energy through pulsating montages, inspired jump cuts, and dynamic narrative rhythms.

3. Akira Kurosawa

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. Rashomon	Akira Kurosawa	1950
2. Seven Samurai	Akira Kurosawa	1954
3. Ran	Akira Kurosawa	1985
4. Yojimbo	Akira Kurosawa	1961
5. High and Low	Akira Kurosawa	1963

**Rashomon (1950).** Kurosawa’s editing accentuates action and rhythm in his samurai films, emphasising the fluid movement of actors within the frame itself, but his creative accomplishments extend into the broader narrative structures at work as well.

4. George Tomasini

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. Psycho	Alfred Hitchcock	1960
2. Vertigo	Alfred Hitchcock	1958
3. Rear Window	Alfred Hitchcock	1954
4. North by Northwest	Alfred Hitchcock	1959
5. The Birds	Alfred Hitchcock	1963

**Psycho (1960).** Tomasini worked as Hitchcock’s primary editor during his strongest period of filmmaking, building psychological tension through cross-cutting, match cuts, and long stretches of pure visual storytelling.

5. Nino Baragli

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly	Sergio Leone	1966
2. Once Upon a Time in the West	Sergio Leone	1968
3. Once Upon a Time in America	Sergio Leone	1984
4. Django	Sergio Corbucci	1966
5. Teorema	Pier Paolo Pasolini	1968

**The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966).** Baragli expertly manipulates time and rhythm in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, generating dynamic suspense in elongated sequences, abrupt cuts, and sharp contrasts between images.

6. D.W. Griffith, James and Rose Smith

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. Intolerance	D.W. Griffith	1916
2. The Birth of a Nation	D.W. Griffith	1915
3. Broken Blossoms	D.W. Griffith	1919
4. Way Down East	D.W. Griffith	1920
5. Orphans of the Storm	D.W. Griffith	1921

**Intolerance (1916).** The Father of Modern Cinema and powerhouse couple James and Rose Smith were an editing trio to be reckoned with in Hollywood’s early days, pioneering new techniques in cross-cutting and narrative structure. They invented a cinematic language that is so woven into the art form today, it has become virtually invisible – but it is still evident that they are among the few to have truly mastered it.

7. Yoshiyasu Hamamura

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. Tokyo Story	Yasujirō Ozu	1953
2. Early Summer	Yasujirō Ozu	1951
3. Late Spring	Yasujirō Ozu	1949
4. An Autumn Afternoon	Yasujirō Ozu	1962
5. There Was a Father	Yasujirō Ozu	1942

**Tokyo Story (1953).** Unlike so many other editors on this list, Hamamura emphasises lyrical pacing and reflective pauses above propulsive momentum, complementing Yasujirō Ozu’s minimalist storytelling with meditative pillow shots to gently transition between scenes.

8. Marguerite Beaugé

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. The Passion of Joan of Arc	Carl Theodor Dreyer	1928
2. Napoleon	Abel Gance	1927
3. La Roue	Abel Gance	1923
4. Pépé le Moko	Julien Duvivier	1937
5. Olivia	Jacqueline Audry	1951

**The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928).** Beaugé’s resume is small, but her top three films display some of the most innovative editing of the silent era, revealing an incredible intuition for sharp visual rhythms and avant-garde experimentations.

9. Michael Kahn

Top 5 Edited Films

Film	Director	Year
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark	Steven Spielberg	1981
2. Saving Private Ryan	Steven Spielberg	1998
3. Schindler’s List	Steven Spielberg	1993
4. Jurassic Park	Steven Spielberg	1993
5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	Steven Spielberg	1984

**Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).** Kahn demonstrates remarkable consistency across his collaborations with Steven Spielberg, not so much pushing the art form forward with experimental techniques as he is perfecting the art of action and continuity editing, maintaining a visceral sense of adventure.

10. Jay Rabinowitz

Top 5 Edited Films

Year	Director	Year
1. Requiem for a Dream	Darren Aronofsky	2000
2. The Tree of Life	Terrence Malick	2011
3. The Fountain	Darren Aronofsky	2006
4. Dead Man	Jim Jarmusch	1995
5. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai	Jim Jarmusch	1999

**Requiem for a Dream (2000).** Rabinowitz’s achievements are varied across collaborations with several magnificent directors, though he frequently emphasises atmosphere above all else, whether that comes through the disjointed, dreamlike quality of Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan ruminations or Darren Aronofsky’s feverish montages.

Film Editor	Top 3 Edited Films
11. William Chang	1. Chungking Express (1994) 2. In the Mood for Love (2000) 3. The Grandmaster (2013)
12. Gerald B. Greenberg	1. Apocalypse Now (1979) 2. The French Connection (1971) 3. The Untouchables (1987)
13. Dylan Tichenor	1. There Will Be Blood (2007) 2. Magnolia (1999) 3. Boogie Nights (1997)
14. Sally Menke	1. Pulp Fiction (1994) 2. Reservoir Dogs (1992) 3. Kill Bill (2003-04)
15. Eraldo Da Roma	1. Red Desert (1964) 2. L’Avventura (1960) 3. L’Eclisse (1962)
16. Lee Smith	1. Dunkirk (2017) 2. Inception (2010) 3. The Dark Knight (2008)
17. Lou Lombardo	1. The Wild Bunch (1969) 2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) 3. The Long Goodbye (1973)
18. Ulla Ryghe	1. Persona (1966) 2. The Silence (1963) 3. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
19. Paul Hirsch	1. Blow Out (1981) 2. Carrie (1976) 3. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
20. Ruggero Mastroianni	1. Juliet of the Spirits (1965) 2. Amarcord (1973) 3. Fellini Satyricon (1969)
21. Graeme Clifford	1. Don’t Look Now (1973) 2. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) 3. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
22. Agnès Guillemot	1. Contempt (1963) 2. Weekend (1967) 3. Alphaville (1965)
23. Ray Lovejoy	1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2. The Shining (1980) 3. Aliens (1986)
24. Joe Walker	1. Shame (2011) 2. Dune (2021-23) 3. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
25. Dede Allen	1. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 3. Reds (1981)
26. Cécile Decugis	1. Breathless (1960) 2. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) 3. My Night at Maud’s (1969)
27. Barry Alexander Brown	1. Do the Right Thing (1989) 2. Malcolm X (1992) 3. 25th Hour (2002)
28. Tom Cross	1. Whiplash (2014) 2. La La Land (2016) 3. Babylon (2022)
29. Billy Weber	1. The Tree of Life (2011) 2. The Thin Red Line (1998) 3. Days of Heaven (1978)
30. Anne V. Coates	1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 2. Out of Sight (1998) 3. The Elephant Man (1980)
31. Sam O’Steen	1. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 2. The Graduate (1967) 3. Chinatown (1974)
32. Peter Zinner	1. The Godfather Part II (1974) 2. The Godfather (1972) 3. The Deer Hunter (1978)
33. Zach Staenberg	1. The Matrix (1999) 2. Speed Racer (2008) 3. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
34. Claudine Bouché	1. Jules and Jim (1962) 2. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) 3. The Soft Skin (1964)
35. The Coen Brothers	1. No Country for Old Men (2007) 2. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) 3. Blood Simple (1984)
36. Susan E. Morse	1. Manhattan (1979) 2. Stardust Memories (1980) 3. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
37. Jill Bilcock	1. Moulin Rouge! (2001) 2. Romeo + Juliet (1996) 3. Muriel’s Wedding (1994)
38. Robert Wise	1. Citizen Kane (1941) 2. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
39. Leo Catozzo	1. 8 1/2 (1963) 2. La Dolce Vita (1960) 3. Nights of Cabiria (1957)
40. Chris Dickens	1. Hot Fuzz (2007) 2. Submarine (2010) 3. Small Axe (2020)
41. Pietro Scalia	1. JFK (1991) 2. The Quick and the Dead (1995) 3. Gladiator (2000)
42. Verna Fields	1. Jaws (1975) 2. American Graffiti (1973) 3. What’s Up, Doc? (1972)
43. Stuart Gilmore	1. The Palm Beach Story (1942) 2. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) 3. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
44. Hank Corwin	1. The Tree of Life (2011) 2. The New World (2005) 3. The Big Short (2015)
45. Mary Sweeney	1. Mulholland Drive (2001) 2. Lost Highway (1997) 3. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
46. Walter Murch	1. Apocalypse Now (1979) 2. The Conversation (1974) 3. The English Patient (1996)
47. Alan Heim	1. Lenny (1974) 2. American History X (1998) 3. Network (1976)
48. Gene Havlick	1. Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 2. It Happened One Night (1934) 3. Lost Horizon (1937)
49. Joe Bini	1. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) 2. You Were Never Really Here (2017) 3. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
50. Stephen Mirrione	1. 21 Grams (2003) 2. Traffic (2000) 3. The Revenant (2015)

The 100 Best Edited Films of All Time

Films from the last 10 years have not been included on this list, and will be eligible in future updates when the moratorium has passed.

Film	Editor	Year
1. Battleship Potemkin	Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov	1925
2. Raging Bull	Thelma Schoonmaker	1980
3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	Nino Baragli, Eugenio Alabiso	1966
4. Intolerance	D.W. Griffith, James Smith, Rose Smith	1916
5. The Passion of Joan of Arc	Marguerite Beaugé, Carl Theodor Dreyer	1928
6. JFK	Joe Hutshing, Pietro Scalia	1991
7. Breathless	Cécile Decugis	1960
8. Apocalypse Now	Richard Marks, Walter Murch, Gerald B. Greenberg, Lisa Fruchtman	1979
9. Tokyo Story	Yoshiyasu Hamamura	1953
10. Psycho	George Tomasini	1960
11. The Wild Bunch	Lou Lombardo	1969
12. Once Upon a Time in the West	Nino Baragli	1968
13. Strike	Sergei Eisenstein	1925
14. The Birth of a Nation	D.W. Griffith, James Smith, Rose Smith	1915
15. Rashomon	Akira Kurosawa	1950
16. The Godfather Part II	Peter Zinner, Barry Malkin, Richard Marks	1974
17. The French Connection	Gerald B. Greenberg	1971
18. Seven Samurai	Akira Kurosawa	1954
19. Citizen Kane	Robert Wise	1941
20. Requiem for a Dream	Jay Rabinowitz	2000
21. Jules and Jim	Claudine Bouché	1962
22. The Godfather	William Reynolds, Peter Zinner	1972
23. Whiplash	Tom Cross	2014
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey	Ray Lovejoy	1968
25. Performance	Antony Gibbs, Brian Smedley-Aston, Frank Mazzola	1970
26. Moulin Rouge	Jill Bilcock	2001
27. Don’t Look Now	Graeme Clifford	1973
28. Napoleon	Marguerite Beaugé	1927
29. Inception	Lee Smith	2010
30. October	Sergei Eisenstein	1928
31. Lawrence of Arabia	Anne V. Coates	1962
32. Chungking Express	William Chang, Kai Kit-wai, Kwong Chi-Leung	1994
33. Rear Window	George Tomasini	1954
34. Jaws	Verna Fields	1975
35. Once Upon a Time in America	Nino Baragli	1984
36. Stagecoach	Otho Lovering, Dorothy Spencer	1939
37. Pulp Fiction	Sally Menke	1994
38. Goodfellas	Thelma Schoonmaker	1990
39. Run Lola Run	Mathilde Bonnefoy	1998
40. Persona	Ulla Ryghe	1966
41. Distant Voices, Still Lives	William Diver	1988
42. Mad Max: Fury Road	Margaret Sixel	2015
43. Taxi Driver	Marcia Lucas, Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro	1976
44. Pierrot Le Fou	Françoise Collin	1965
45. The Tree of Life	Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa	2011
46. The Fountain	Jay Rabinowitz	2006
47. The Matrix	Zach Staenberg	1999
48. I Am Cuba	Nina Glagoleva	1964
49. We Need to Talk About Kevin	Joe Bini	2011
50. Trainspotting	Masahiro Hirakubo	1996
51. The Thin Red Line	Billy Weber, Leslie Jones, Saar Klein	1998
52. Cabaret	David Bretherton	1972
53. Bonnie and Clyde	Dede Allen	1967
54. The End of Summer	Koichi Iwashita	1961
55. 8 1/2	Leo Catozzo	1963
56. Vertigo	George Tomasini	1958
57. Early Summer	Yoshiyasu Hamamura	1951
58. In the Mood for Love	William Chang	2000
59. Do the Right Thing	Barry Alexander Brown	1989
60. Manhattan	Susan E. Morse	1979
61. Enter the Void	Gaspar Noé, Marc Boucrot, Jérôme Pesnel	2009
62. Last Year at Marienbad	Henri Colpi, Jasmine Chasney	1961
63. The New World	Richard Chew, Hank Corwin, Saar Klein, Mark Yoshikawa	2005
64. Days of Heaven	Billy Weber	1978
65. Raiders of the Lost Ark	Michael Kahn	1981
66. Midnight Cowboy	Hugh A. Robertson	1969
67. La Roue	Marguerite Beaugé	1923
68. Lenny	Alan Heim	1974
69. The Man Who Fell to Earth	Graeme Clifford	1976
70. Reservoir Dogs	Sally Menke	1992
71. Late Spring	Yoshiyasu Hamamura	1949
72. Annie Hall	Ralph Rosenblum, Wendy Greene Bricmont	1977
73. Shame	Joe Walker	2011
74. Millennium Actress	Satoshi Terauchi	2001
75. Hot Fuzz	Chris Dickens	2007
76. The Big Short	Hank Corwin	2015
77. The Grandmaster	William Chang	2013
78. Saving Private Ryan	Michael Kahn	1998
79. Mulholland Drive	Mary Sweeney	2001
80. The Conversation	Walter Murch, Richard Chew	1974
81. A Fistful of Dollars	Roberto Cinquini	1964
82. Easy Rider	Donn Cambern	1969
83. There Will Be Blood	Dylan Tichenor	2007
84. The Master	Peter McNulty, Leslie Jones	2012
85. Mr Smith Goes to Washington	Gene Havlick, Al Clark	1939
86. For a Few Dollars More	Eugenio Alabiso, Giorgio Serrallonga, Adriana Novelli	1965
87. The Third Man	Oswald Hafenrichter	1949
88. Blow Out	Paul Hirsch	1981
89. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss	2010
90. Ran	Akira Kurosawa	1985
91. Wings	E. Lloyd, Sheldon Lucien Hubbard	1927
92. Alexander Nevsky	Sergei Eisenstein	1938
93. North by Northwest	George Tomasini	1959
94. Memento	Dody Dorn	2000
95. Mother	Vsevolod Pudovkin	1926
96. Juliet of the Spirits	Ruggero Mastroianni	1965
97. Carrie	Paul Hirsch	1976
98. Earth	Oleksandr Dovzhenko	1930
99. The Lord of the Rings	John Gilbert, Michael J. Horton, Jamie Selkirk	2001
100. Magnolia	Dylan Tichenor	1999

*Yoshiyasu Hamamura’s gentle montage editing through ‘pillow shots’ in Tokyo Story (1953).*

The 50 Best Screenwriters of All Time

Many of cinema’s great screenwriters frequently worked in partnerships or teams, and so in the interest of giving credit where it is due, the names of their key collaborators have been listed as co-writers. The main exception is if co-writers have had strong careers independent of each other, in which case they are listed here separately.