Book Introduction

It was Henry Miller’s book, “The Books in My Life,” that inspired me to write this book. In his book, Henry Miller speaks reverently about the books that inspired him, “These books were alive and they spoke to me.” I would use similar words to describe the movies that have inspired me, “These movies were alive and they spoke to me!”

Henry Miller’s wonderful book changed my life forever by introducing me to authors like Knut Hamsun and Jean Giono. Looking back, I can no longer remember exactly what Henry Miller had to say about these authors but I will never forget reading “Hunger” by Knut Hamsun and “Song of the World” by Jean Giono!

In his book, “Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth,” A. O. Scott, the chief film critic for the New York Times, explains why critics write about the books, music, and movies that interest them, “Let’s say that a critic is a person whose interest can help activate the interest of others.” This statement exactly states my purpose. I write about the wonderful movies which have inspired me because I want to activate your interest!

The project that set me on the path to write this book was to select the “three best” movies I could think of for topics like “Family,” “Childhood,” “Coming of Age,” “Romance,” and “Relationships.” As I sat and thought about my favorite movies for these topics, I found myself adding movies, shifting movies from one topic to another, and suddenly realizing that I had overlooked a wonderful movie which related to a particular topic.

I occasionally make changes to my list of movies when I encounter a particularly outstanding new movie or revisit an older movie which I suddenly realize is superior to one of the movies on my list. The movie “Roma,” for example, was so wonderful that I immediately knew I had to include it under the topic “Family.” It was a difficult decision, but I decided to replace “Central Station,” which was on my list of movies about “Family,” with “Roma.” Both of these movies expand our definition of family, but I felt that “Roma” was richer and more beautiful than “Central Station.”

Chapters 1 through 5 are introductory. They include a chapter about my life at the movies, a chapter on the art of cinema, a chapter about movies that transport us to foreign countries and other unfamiliar destinations, a chapter about conversational movies, and, finally, a chapter about character driven movies.

Chapters 6 through 15 each focus on a stage in a typical person’s life. These stages include Family, Childhood, Coming of Age, Romance, Sex, Relationships, Love, Memory, Old Age, and finally, Death. When you begin a chapter on a topic like “Family” or “Childhood,” you will find an introductory essay which frames the topic and identifies the issues which are central to that topic. Following the introductory essay, you will find reviews for the movies I have selected for that topic. The movie reviews explain how each movie contributes to our understanding of the topic. The movie reviews also suggest things for you to look for as you watch each movie and explain what makes each movie special.

The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard famously observed, “Just as we cannot step off a train while it is moving, so we cannot step away from life to reflect on its meaning.” The very best movies from around the world convey universal truths that help us reflect upon and understand our lives. If you watch these extraordinary movies, you will become more understanding, more at peace, and more loving.

Finally, Chapter 16 explains how to start a film club. Following Chapter 16, you will find an expanded list of movies. Three movies are selected for each of fifty topics for a total of one hundred fifty extraordinary movies. Each movie tells its own story. Taken together, however, the three movies on a particular topic tell a larger story. This larger story could be described as a “conversation.” The movies are selected for their individual excellence. They are also selected for their contribution to the “conversation” on a particular topic.

My fondest hope is for this book to inspire readers to watch the movies! If you decide to skip over the book in order to immediately start watching the movies, nothing would please me more! The whole point of this book is to encourage you to watch the movies! If you watch just one movie each week, you can watch all the movies discussed in this book over the course of a single year! Your life will surely be transformed!

When I begin watching a movie, I find that it takes a while before I am fully engaged. Starting a movie is similar to starting a book, it takes a little while to understand what is going on and to become interested in the story. For this reason, I suggest that you read the relevant review in this book about each movie before you begin watching the movie. This will allow you to start watching the movie knowing the basics about the characters and the story. I have watched all the movies many times and yet I still find it very helpful to read the relevant review in this book before re-watching a movie.

At any given time, several of the movies discussed in this book are likely to be available on Netflix or Amazon. You can pay to stream individual movies by searching for the title of the movie on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, or iTunes. Finally, approximately thirty of the movies discussed in this book are available on the superb Criterion Channel streaming service.