It was only when I was shortlisting the films for this article, that I realised how much my family, and specifically my dad, has influenced my love for film. Most of these picks are in some way tied to him, so when I send this to him he will know just how he has helped me discover my passion for cinema.
This list is a mixture of intimate stories of love and companionship, to summer blockbusters about big scary sharks. My dad showed me the majority of these films, and I am very glad he did.
The Apartment (1960) dir. Billy Wilder
I want to begin the list with my dad’s favourite film. A stellar romantic drama, The Apartment follows a lonely office worker at an insurance company who lends out of his apartment to his higher-ups for their affairs, all to climb the corporate ladder.
I think it is safe to say that my dad showed me a few films that I was too young to fully appreciate. I remember first watching The Apartment when I was young, at a time when I assumed all black and white films were boring. We watched it again a few years later, and I was shocked that it was the same film. The Apartment is a film about love and loneliness, hiding under the hard corporate exterior of C.C. Baxter’s colleagues. Jack Lemon is amazing, walking a dramatic-comedic tightrope with alarming ease, supported by the charming Shirley McClaine. From The Apartment, we went on to watch a lot of Billy Wilder’s classics and he has become a director we share a mutual love of.
Jaws (1975) dir. Steven Spielberg
More than a leap from The Apartment, Jaws is my favourite Spielberg film, and another movie that I have very specific memories of watching for the first time. Once again, I was probably too young to see Robert Shaw being mauled to death by a shark.
Spielberg captured something with Jaws that I do not think is talked about enough. He managed to create a human drama about three men, who just happen to be fending off a shark. When Jaws appears on screen, it is obviously excellent, with Spielberg employing remarkably simple yet effective sparsity in filming the shark. But my favourite parts of Jaws are the moments between these attacks. To this day, the scene on the boat with Shaw monologuing is one of my favourite scenes in the film, because the sincerity comes out so left field, yet feels wholly suited to the story. Spielberg has made many classics since, yet I do not think he has captured the specific quiet humanity that makes Jaws what it is.
Miracle on 34th Street (1994) dir. Les Mayfield
When the Christmas season falls, my go-to pick is the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street. This is not the best Christmas film, but is my favourite because of the people who showed it to me. My grandparents put this on in front of an unassuming child however many years ago, and by the end, he had fallen in love with its simple message of hope.
The sensitivity that Mayfield brings to this remake still fills me with a childlike sense of wonder as a 20-year-old. The film feels like it was bathed in a warm, comforting glow. This has a lot to do with Richard Attenborough’s performance. He brings an overwhelming enthusiasm to the role, and never treats it like a throwaway kids’ film. He brings an effortless charm to Miracle on 34th Street, that to me elevates it to a film for both adults and children. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much back then, and still do today, is that it feels like a film that unlocks the child in everyone who watches it. I liked the smile it brought to my grandma’s face. It was a big smile, and I knew with the season fast approaching, I could not do a list like this without including it.
(500) Days of Summer (2009) dir. Marc Webb
I first saw this film on a plane when I was 17. I was travelling to Australia without my family, and it felt like I was becoming an adult. At that time, it is safe to say my experience with love and relationships was limited. That did not stop me from enjoying this film at the time, and it will always be tied to the maturing that happened to me on that trip.
I rewatched (500) Days of Summer this week, and it felt like the experiences I have had since 17 have enabled me to appreciate the film in new ways. I accept its flaws, but I still think it is one of the most relatable modern films about love I have seen. It shows that love is messy, undefinable, and likely to cause us to make mistakes, because we have no choice in the moment. I appreciate the fact that it says everything about love, without saying much at all. My rewatch felt like a profound experience, and with more experience under my belt when it comes to love, there are few films that I feel speak to me like this one.
12 Angry Men (1957) dir. Sidney Lumet
I started this list with my dad’s favourite film, so I wanted to end with mine. 12 Angry Men is a tense story that shows Lumet at the height of his directorial powers. He uses the static location to its full, and frames 12 men around a table like few others could. The story questions justice, fatherhood, and what it means to be a good person. All of these are explored with a delicacy that creates the most engrossing drama I have ever seen.
As I ventured out on my own into the realm of film, I remember bringing this to my dad, proud of myself that I had discovered what I thought was a hidden gem. It was only after that I found out it is one of the most celebrated films of the 20th century, but I remember watching it with my dad and feeling like it was a definitive moment in my film journey. I had brought something to him that I had found without him. I have watched it countless times since.
Honourable Mentions: Before Sunset (2004), Her (2013), The Raid (2011), The Godfather (1972), Boyhood (2014)
Words by James Evenden
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