Must See: Favorite Movies of Edgar Wright

Edgar Wright, director of Baby Drive, Kind of Tough Cop and Scott Pilgrim, has compiled an ultimate list of must-see films. As the author modestly notes, if you don’t like these pictures, then you have nothing to talk about.

  1. The Puncture (Brian De Palma, 1981)
final scene
behind the scenes dunkirk

I am proud to say that I am a huge fan of Brian De Palma. In the 70s, his style was very different from directors such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese, and there is a reason for this. His films required, above all, the contemplation of form. Even not the most powerful works of De Palma are marked with the stamp of genius, and his best paintings are examples of pure cinema. Among them – “Puncture”. There is not a single extra frame in this film. De Palma has created an audiovisual thriller that uses steadicam, split screen, zonal lenses and various complex optical effects that make the story more immersive. Some filmmakers are great storytellers without any credibility, but De Palma, like Alfred Hitchcock, manipulates audiences in her own recognizable style.

  1. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
guy ritchie and beckham

When I first watched Brazil in the late 1980s, I felt like I was hit by a truck. It is such a strong and bold statement, so joyful in its escapism and at the same time so crushing in its nihilism that my teenage mind was torn to shreds. I didn’t quite understand the meaning of what I saw, but it simply had no analogues. However, nothing like Brazil has appeared so far.

  1. “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
batman behind the scenes

I grew up in the English countryside, and I never dreamed of a VCR. Therefore, my access to world cinema was limited by four channels. Sergio Leone and Jacques Tati were the few European directors I met as a teenager. While in college, I learned about surrealism. I saw The Andalusian Dog and The Golden Age by Luis Buñuel. But his favorite film for me was The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Watching it is an exciting, though not doable task for everyone. Buñuel has a devilish, provocative sense of humor and a subtle mind. And, by the way, “The Frugal Charm of the Bourgeoisie” directly influenced Monty Python.

  1. “Eyes without a face” (Georges Franju, 1959)
wright behind the final scene

I got into horror at a very early age. Knowing this, my dad would often tell me about what he considered the greatest horror movie in history. Black and white French cinema, “really bloody,” he claimed. The father told the plot: the story of a crazy surgeon who is trying to restore the face of his daughter in an accident, disfiguring other girls. Each time my father remembered new details, so I was convinced that this is the most terrible and great movie in the world. But, unfortunately, my father could not remember the title of the film. It took me a long time to identify the painting, and only years later I finally learned that it was “Eyes without a face”. I watched the film with my dad and of course I agreed that it was an outstanding movie.

  1. “Head” (Bob Raifelson, 1968)
jack at the doorway
on the set at the first day

Head is my favorite movie with musicians. Of course, there is “A Hard Day’s Night” with The Beatles, but “Head” is closer to me, because the film’s success was a kind of Pyrrhic victory – it hastened the disintegration of The Monkees. Filmed by Bob Rajfelson and written by Jack Nicholson. The easiest way to describe it is: The Monkees are tired of their television image and are trying to break out of it. Today “Head” is a classic of cinema about rock music.


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