By Damian de Montemas
Well firstly, let me say that this is an impossible task.
Withnail & I (1987)
I had to put this first as I’ve watched it more than any other film, probably well over 500 times. Almost every night through 2nd year at WAAPA we watched this film and, unsurprisingly, we knew every line. Brilliant, funny, clever, clever original dialogue and stunning performances – it has to be the most quotable film I know.
Betty Blue (1986)
The first French film I ever watched and mon dieu what a film! Jean Hughes Anglade is one of my very favourite actors. He’s exceptional in everything. This perhaps more than any other film truly inspired and cemented my need to be an actor. It certainly began my love affair with French Cinema. The soundtrack is stunning, (so is Beatrice Dalle, ha ha) just a perfect, perfect film.
Paris Texas (1984)
Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Wim Wenders directing and Ry Cooder’s sondtrack… I love Harry Dean Stanton. He’s in a few of my very favourite films, just an incredible, natural, no bullshit actor. I adore this film The cinematography is stunning, too. Just a brilliant film.
Trust (1990)
The first Hal Hartley filmed I ever saw and still my favourite. Martin Donovan and Adrienne Shelley have to be one of the best pairings in cinema history. The simplicity and understated style of this film is what I truly love. It’s wonderful story telling, the dialogue is so clean and completely original. Its offbeat and unpretentious, I love it.
The Mission (1986)
What an incredible cast! What a soundtrack by the incomparable Ennio Morricone! Incredible story telling, stunning cinematography and one of the saddest most moving films I’ve ever seen…and based on actual history. I listen to this soundtrack more than any other, it always moves me to tears… the oboe, God, the most beautiful instrument ever made. It’s faultless. I love this film.
Alien (1979)
I remember watching this at the Old Milton Theatre on the South Coast. It scared the hell out of me! I think Ridley Scott is a genius. The first time I ever saw the gritty industrialisation of space, so different to the clean sterility of most other films set ‘out there’. A truly terrifying monster courtesy of Giger and a superb cast, god to see this as a 10 year old on the big screen was unforgettable. The whole Alien franchise is amazing (“Mostly “– to quote Newt).
There are way way way too many films I love to include here. Some have directly inspired and fanned the flames of my desire to act and others have just made me laugh again and again or moved me like nothing else can. The magic of cinema.
Here’s a few more that could easily have been elaborated upon.
Wild at Heart
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources
ET
Angel Heart
Blade Runner
Mississippi Burning
Cyrano de Bergerac
Queen Margot
Camille Claudelle
The English Patient
Onegin
Adaptation
Repo Man
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Room With a View
Mad Max
Gladiator
Somersault
This is Spinal Tap
Hounds of Love
Doubt: A Parable runs at The Old Fitz Theatre from May 10 to June 2, 2017. for tickets, session times and other info, jump over to the official site.
