Comments

Each of these films exposed me to various key aspects of cinema’s allure. Citizen Kane opened my eyes to the possibilities of film narrative, while City Lights (and several other Chaplins) first showed me the range of emotions the medium can convey. Battleship Potemkin put theoretical notions about polemical filmmaking into dynamic action. 2001: A Space Odyssey was my gateway drug to the avant garde. The Searchers imbued the American frontier with poetic depth, illustrating the rendering mythology as lyricism that transcends its moral ambiguities. Psycho takes the Hitchcock slot just like City Lights takes the Chaplin one, because every great Hitchcock movie testifies to his masterful blending of entertainment and psychological depth. Chronicle of a Summer is simply the finest illustration of a national mindset captured in moving-image form. Taxi Driver demonstrates how movies not only think but can have an attitude. And Sullivan’s Travels shows us why we need movies to survive.