10 All Time Best Movies of the Cannes Film Festival

The annual star fair of Cannes Film Festival has been a cinematic artistry and glamour so far. It has gifted countless classic movies to the world to tell the world that how should shape of the international cinema be.

The Cannes Film Festival French: Festival de Cannes , until 2003 called the International Film Festival (Festival international du film), is the most prestigious film festival in the world[1]. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around the world. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.The festival was formally accredited by the FIAPF in 1951.

Since the rising time, Cannes coveted awards like Palme d’Or and also suggested films with deep and meaningful stories, daring storytelling, and great impact. So, making a shortlist 10 best ever films is a tough and formidable task as if choosing stars from the galaxy.

However, here is a list of 10 All Time Best Movies of the Cannes Film Festival which have groundbreaking narratives, tremendous performances, ever-lasting influences are in the list. These films have made their place in this festival’s glorious history. So, those films have resonated both audiences and critics at a time.

1.The Third man (1949)- Directed by Carol Reed

The film won the Grand Prix International (Palme d’Or pioneer). The British film was an atmospheric noir and a quintessential champion of the festival.

There was a great combination of Graham Greene's sharp script about post-war Vienna, Robert Krasker’s cinematography which won the Oscar and Orson Welle’s iconic acting as Harry Lime. It was a thrilling and morally complex masterpiece that set a milestone for the early Cannes films.

2.The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur-1953)- Directed by Henri- Georges Clouzot

The French thriller was a white-knuckle tale where four desperate men were transporting highly unstable nitroglycerin. They were disloyal and passing the South American terrain. It was a masterclass movie with full of suspense.

Clouzot’s determined direction and the existential dread of this film won the Palme d’Or and set a landmark for action cinemas with cemented status.

3.La Dolci Vita (1960)- Directed by Fredrico Fellini

This film is an irregular and rambling masterpiece that influenced a whole generation that refined how a cool cinema should be. Marcello Mastroianni played the role an undeceived journalist that navigates the decadent Roman high society.

La Dolci Vita won the Palme d’Or that left a footstep of stunning and significant exploration of celebrity, exhaustion, and meaning of life.

4.Taxi driver (1976)- Directed by Martin Scorsese

The story is about a raw and uncomfortable journey of Vietnam veteran taxi driver Travis Bickle. The role was brilliantly played by Robert De Niro. The driver shocked and captured the audiences of Cannes and also won the Palme d’Or.

The outstanding script was written by Paul Schrader and director Scorsese instinctive direction created an enduring and disordered situation of an urban society full of isolation and violence.

5.Apocalypse Now (1979)- Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

It is a hallucinatory cinema and the plot is Vietnam war. Though this film is tormented by a troubled production, it is an artistic achievement as well. It shared the Palme d’Or with the movie ‘Tin Drum’.

The film has a philosophical depth, operatic scale, and also it is a great imaginary that explored a deep-rooted and fearful spreading of war.

6.Pulp Fiction (1994)- Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Pulp fiction is a game-changing film having straightforward narrative. Moreover, meaningful dialogue and pop-culture influenced style took the film at the peak of Cannes leaving with the Palme d’Or.

Tarantino’s career became iconic and Pulp fiction is remembered as a huge influential and endless entertaining classic till date.

7.Taste of Cherry (Ta’m e Guilass-1997)- Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Not only the western film directors but the Asian directors also can make good film and Taste of Cherry is an example of that. The Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami presented profound and minimalist the masterpiece.

The story is deceptively simple where a man drive around Tehran (capital of Iran) looking for someone who will bury him after he commits suicide. The moral of the story is deeply moving meditation on life, death, and human connection.

8.The Pianist (2002)- Directed by Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski has a personal account to the main character of the film Wladyslaw Szpliman. He is a Polish Jewish pianist who survived the Warsaw Ghetto.

Adrian Brodie’s outstanding performance won the Palme d’Or and also deserved the Oscar. The story anchored a pathetic and ultimate situation of unimaginable horror.

9. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 zile-2007)- Directed by Cristian Mungiu

A stark and gripping drama from Romania. The story is about a desperate and determined woman who attempts to arrange an illegal abortion for a friend when the communist era was going on Romania.

Mungiu directed the film very preciously and the intensity of the film is also raw that set an incredible mark.

10.Parasite (Gisaengchung-2019)- Directed by Bong Joon-Ho

It is a South Korean dark comedy thriller. The first non-English language film that won the Academy award for as the best picture. The gateway to win Palme d’Or was opened from that time. The jury of the Cannes was unanimous about the winning.

Parasite is a film about class struggle. Bong Joon-Ho showed the situation satirically that is thrilling, hilarious, and a deeply unstable modern classic film.

So, the above 10 films are not the whole, rather it represents just the fraction of cinematic brilliance. The Cannes Film Festival celebrated those films. Each film has it’s own specialty, characteristics, and philosophy that pushed the boundaries and challenged the conventions. These films proved that films can provoke and inspire the society with enduring legacy.