Empire top 100
by mitri-david-d | created - 28 May 2013 | updated - 29 Jul 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Rules of the Game (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély
Votes: 31,344
2. Three Colors: White (1994)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After his wife divorces him, a Polish immigrant plots to get even with her.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Stuhr
Votes: 79,674 | Gross: $1.46M
3. Pather Panchali (1955)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Banerjee, Chunibala Devi
Votes: 38,577 | Gross: $0.54M
4. Aparajito (1956)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
Following his father's death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Pinaki Sengupta, Smaran Ghosal, Kamala Adhikari, Rani Bala
Votes: 16,004 | Gross: $0.17M
5. The World of Apu (1959)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
This final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Alok Chakravarty, Swapan Mukherjee
Votes: 16,769 | Gross: $0.02M
6. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, Fantasy
In 1940, after watching and being traumatized by the movie Frankenstein (1931), a sensitive seven year-old girl living in a small Spanish village drifts into her own fantasy world.
Director: Víctor Erice | Stars: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent, Isabel Tellería
Votes: 20,697
7. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.
Directors: Jean Cocteau, René Clément | Stars: Jean Marais, Josette Day, Mila Parély, Nane Germon
Votes: 28,094 | Gross: $0.30M
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
PG | 125 min | Drama, Romance
China in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao
Votes: 35,369 | Gross: $2.60M
9. Godzilla (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi
Votes: 39,768 | Gross: $2.42M
10. The Grand Illusion (1937)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, War
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 38,872 | Gross: $0.17M
11. The Decalogue (1989–1990)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama
Ten television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.
Stars: Artur Barcis, Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Olaf Lubaszenko, Aleksander Bardini
Votes: 27,897 | Gross: $0.10M
12. Germany Year Zero (1948)
Not Rated | 78 min | Drama
A young German boy faces the problems of the tough life in the immediate post-WWII Berlin.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Edmund Moeschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraud Hinze, Franz-Otto Krüger
Votes: 13,719
13. Paisan (1946)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, War
American military personnel interact warily with a variety of Italian locals over a year and a half in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces make their retreat.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Carmela Sazio, Gar Moore, William Tubbs, Robert Van Loon
Votes: 9,561
14. Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Romance, War
As World War II and the German occupation ends, the Polish resistance and the Soviet forces turn on each other in an attempt to take over leadership in Communist Poland.
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski, Adam Pawlikowski
Votes: 13,475
15. L'Avventura (1960)
Not Rated | 144 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar
Votes: 32,653
16. Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
PG | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, History
Famed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez, Jacques Weber
Votes: 25,960 | Gross: $15.14M
17. Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980)
PG | 162 min | Drama, History, War
A petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken'ichi Hagiwara, Jinpachi Nezu
Votes: 38,207
18. Dersu Uzala (1975)
G | 142 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, Mikhail Bychkov, Vladimir Khrulyov
Votes: 33,536
19. Red Beard (1965)
Not Rated | 185 min | Drama
In 19th-century Japan, a rough-tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan
Votes: 21,122
20. High and Low (1963)
Not Rated | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yutaka Sada, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyôko Kagawa
Votes: 53,276
21. The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Not Rated | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyôko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi
Votes: 14,035
22. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara
Votes: 42,279
23. I Live in Fear (1955)
103 min | Drama
An aging Japanese industrialist becomes so fearful of nuclear war that it begins to take a toll on his life and family.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Eiko Miyoshi
Votes: 5,545
24. To Live (1952)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
A bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka
Votes: 87,652 | Gross: $0.06M
25. Suspiria (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé
Votes: 105,531
26. Jules and Jim (1962)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Romance
Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino
Votes: 44,442
27. Ten (2002)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
A visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Mania Akbari, Amina Maher, Kamran Adl, Roya Akbari
Votes: 8,612 | Gross: $0.11M
28. Closely Watched Trains (1966)
Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An apprentice train dispatcher at a village station seeks his first sexual encounter and becomes despondent when he is unable to perform.
Director: Jirí Menzel | Stars: Václav Neckár, Josef Somr, Vlastimil Brodský, Vladimír Valenta
Votes: 13,852 | Gross: $3.27M
29. Touki Bouki (1973)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.
Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty | Stars: Magaye Niang, Myriam Niang, Christoph Colomb, Mustapha Ture
Votes: 4,107
30. The Celebration (1998)
R | 105 min | Drama
At Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Paprika Steen
Votes: 93,928 | Gross: $1.65M
31. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
PG | 224 min | Drama, Musical, Sport
The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker | Stars: Aamir Khan, Raghubir Yadav, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley
Votes: 120,730 | Gross: $0.91M
32. Belle de Jour (1967)
R | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page
Votes: 49,087 | Gross: $0.03M
33. Heimat: A Chronicle of Germany (1984)
924 min | Drama, History, War
The village of Schabbach experiences the shifting fortunes of Germany from 1919 to 1982.
Stars: Marita Breuer, Rüdiger Weigang, Kurt Wagner, Gertrud Bredel
Votes: 3,336
34. Jean de Florette (1986)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Votes: 27,553 | Gross: $4.94M
35. Manon of the Spring (1986)
PG | 113 min | Drama
A beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her father's land caused his death years earlier.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil, Hippolyte Girardot
Votes: 23,960 | Gross: $3.94M
36. Knife in the Water (1962)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Thriller
A couple pick up a hitchhiker on the way to their yacht. The husband invites the young man to come along for their day's sailing. As the voyage progresses, the antagonism between the two men grows. A violent confrontation is inevitable.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Anna Ciepielewska
Votes: 23,600
37. Wings of Desire (1987)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois
Votes: 77,098 | Gross: $3.33M
38. Un chien andalou (1929)
Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Luis Buñuel, Pancho Cossío
Votes: 53,823
39. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,310
40. Solaris (1972)
PG | 167 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy
Votes: 98,325
41. Hard Boiled (1992)
R | 128 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Teresa Mo, Philip Chan
Votes: 54,051
42. Devdas (I) (2002)
Not Rated | 185 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
After his wealthy family prohibits him from marrying the woman he is in love with, Devdas Mukherjee's life spirals further and further out of control as he takes up alcohol and a life of vice to numb the pain.
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jackie Shroff
Votes: 46,981 | Gross: $3.50M
43. Breathless (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Van Doude, Jean-Luc Godard
Votes: 87,981 | Gross: $0.34M
44. The Idiots (1998)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama
The group of people gather at the house in Copenhagen suburb to break all the limitations and to bring out the "inner idiot" in themselves.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby
Votes: 33,981 | Gross: $0.01M
45. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama
A television actress encounters a variety of eccentric characters after embarking on a journey to discover why her lover abruptly left her.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma
Votes: 46,497 | Gross: $7.18M
46. Band of Outsiders (1964)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Danièle Girard, Louisa Colpeyn
Votes: 27,077 | Gross: $0.04M
47. Mother India (1957)
Not Rated | 172 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
In this melodrama, a poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, she always sticks to her own moral code.
Director: Mehboob Khan | Stars: Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar Tuli, Raaj Kumar
Votes: 9,857
48. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,538
49. Xala (1975)
Not Rated | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
A corrupt politician is cursed with impotence on the night of his third wedding after embezzling 100 tons of rice.
Director: Ousmane Sembene | Stars: Thierno Leye, Myriam Niang, Seune Samb, Fatim Diagne
Votes: 1,939
50. Orpheus (1950)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.
Director: Jean Cocteau | Stars: Jean Marais, François Périer, María Casares, Marie Déa
Votes: 13,419
51. The Conformist (1970)
R | 113 min | Drama
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
Votes: 33,725 | Gross: $0.54M
52. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
PG-13 | 79 min | Comedy, Music
Siberian rock band Leningrad Cowboys go to the USA in pursuit of fame.
Director: Aki Kaurismäki | Stars: Matti Pellonpää, Kari Väänänen, Sakke Järvenpää, Heikki Keskinen
Votes: 8,460
53. Loves of a Blonde (1965)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Romance, Drama
A factory manager in rural Czechoslovakia bargains with the army to send men to the area, to boost the morale of his young female workers, deprived of male company since the local boys have... See full summary »
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Hana Brejchová, Vladimír Pucholt, Vladimír Mensík, Josef Sebánek
Votes: 9,379
54. Rififi (1955)
Not Rated | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Four men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Janine Darcey
Votes: 36,858 | Gross: $0.06M
55. Yeelen (1987)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Fantasy
A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.
Director: Souleymane Cissé | Stars: Issiaka Kane, Aoua Sangare, Niamanto Sanogo, Balla Moussa Keita
Votes: 2,755
56. De vierde Man (1972– )
Drama
Stars: Sjarel Branckaerts, Ward de Ravet, Frans Maas, François Bernard
57. The Way of the Dragon (1972)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A man visits his relatives at their restaurant in Italy and has to help them defend against brutal gangsters harassing them.
Director: Bruce Lee | Stars: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Nora Miao, Ping-Ou Wei
Votes: 41,077 | Gross: $4.06M
58. Delicatessen (1991)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime
Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.
Directors: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Marie-Laure Dougnac, Dominique Pinon, Pascal Benezech, Jean-Claude Dreyfus
Votes: 90,086 | Gross: $1.79M
59. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
R | 171 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge
Votes: 33,188 | Gross: $5.22M
60. Iron Monkey (1993)
PG-13 | 85 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A martial artist/doctor steals from the corrupt authorities as a masked thief to give to the poor while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt him down. But a major threat unites them as a powerful and traitorous shaolin monk takes over the authorities.
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen | Stars: Rongguang Yu, Donnie Yen, Jean Wang, Sze-Man Tsang
Votes: 17,229 | Gross: $14.68M
61. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
R | 153 min | Comedy, Drama
Mr. Lãzãrescu, a dying old man, is shuttled from hospital to hospital by a loyal paramedic as doctors refuse to operate and no one can agree on a diagnosis.
Director: Cristi Puiu | Stars: Doru Ana, Monica Barladeanu, Alina Berzunteanu, Dorian Boguta
Votes: 15,929 | Gross: $0.08M
62. Three Times (2005)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Three stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005. Two actors play the two main characters in each story.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Fang Mei, Shu-Chen Liao
Votes: 6,155 | Gross: $0.15M
63. A Touch of Sin (2013)
Not Rated | 130 min | Crime, Drama
Four independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Wu Jiang, Baoqiang Wang, Tao Zhao, Lanshan Luo
Votes: 12,902 | Gross: $0.09M
64. Silent Light (2007)
Not Rated | 136 min | Drama, Romance
In a Mennonite community in Mexico, a father's faith is tested when he falls in love with a new woman.
Director: Carlos Reygadas | Stars: Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz, Peter Wall
Votes: 6,841 | Gross: $0.05M
65. The Child (2005)
R | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Bruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Jérémie Renier, Déborah François, Jérémie Segard, Fabrizio Rongione
Votes: 19,403 | Gross: $0.65M
66. Wendy and Lucy (2008)
R | 80 min | Drama
Over the summer, a series of unfortunate happenings triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Michelle Williams, Lucy, David Koppell, Max Clement
Votes: 19,764 | Gross: $0.86M
67. White Material (2009)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, War
Amidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert, Isaach De Bankolé, Nicolas Duvauchelle
Votes: 8,429 | Gross: $0.30M
68. Summer Hours (2008)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Family
Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.
Director: Olivier Assayas | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier, Edith Scob
Votes: 8,177 | Gross: $1.64M
Tell Your Friends