1. Ivan the Terrible, Part I (Иван Грозный)
Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc)
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
It has an average vote of 7.999 on TMDB.
3. The General
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
It has an average vote of 7.961 on TMDB.
4. Metropolis (Metropolis)
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
It has an average vote of 8.137 on TMDB.
5. October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (Октябрь)
Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
6. Caché (Caché)
A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on their front porch.
It has an average vote of 7.055 on TMDB.
7. Strike (Стачка)
Workers in a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia go on strike and are met by violent suppression.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
8. Man with a Movie Camera (Человек с киноаппаратом)
A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.
It has an average vote of 7.856 on TMDB.
9. Paisan (Paisà)
Six vignettes follow the Allied invasion from July 1943 to winter 1944, from Sicily north to Venice.
It has an average vote of 7.6 on TMDB.
10. Belle de Jour (Belle de jour)
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
11. Greed
A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
12. State of Siege (État de siège)
Using the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.
It has an average vote of 7.23 on TMDB.
13. Mr. Arkadin
Claiming that he doesn't know his own past, a rich man enlists an ex-con with an odd bit of detective work. Gregory Arkadin says he can't remember anything before the late 1920s, and convict Guy Van Stratten is happy to take the job of exploring his new acquaintance's life story. Guy's research turns up stunning details about his employer's past, and as his work seems linked to untimely deaths, the mystery surrounding Mr. Arkadin deepens.
It has an average vote of 6.913 on TMDB.
14. The King of Pigs (돼지의 왕)
After his business goes bankrupt, 30 something Kyeong-Min kills his wife impulsively. Hiding his anger, he seeks out his former middle school classmate Jong-Seok. Jong-Seok now works as a ghostwriter for an autobiography, but he dreams of writing his own novel. For the first time in 15 years they meet. Kyeong-Min and Jong-Seok both hide their own current situations and begin to talk about their middle school days.
It has an average vote of 6.1 on TMDB.
15. Foxy Brown
A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
It has an average vote of 6.217 on TMDB.
16. A Page of Madness (狂った一頁)
A man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.
It has an average vote of 7.413 on TMDB.
17. Fear (La Paura)
Irene Wagner, the wife of the prominent German scientist Professor Albert Wagner, had been having an affair with Erich Baumann. She does not disclose this to her husband, hoping to preserve his innocence and their "perfect marriage". This fills her with anxiety and guilt. However, Johanna Schultze, Erich's jealous ex-girlfriend, learns about the affair and begins to blackmail Irene, turning Irene's psychological torture into a harsh reality.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
18. Way Down East
A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
19. A Room in Town (Une chambre en ville)
Set against the backdrop of an increasingly violent strike, a worker falls in love with the middle-class daughter of his landlady.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
20. Harishchandra's Factory (हरिश्चंद्राची फॅक्टरी)
In 1913 India's cinema industry is born from Dadasaheb Phalke's efforts to make Raja Harishchandra , India's first feature-length B&W silent film.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
