1. Downfall (Der Untergang)
In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.
It has an average vote of 7.863 on TMDB.
2. Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella)
A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.
It has an average vote of 8.451 on TMDB.
3. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
It has an average vote of 7.643 on TMDB.
4. Breathless (À bout de souffle)
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.
It has an average vote of 7.6 on TMDB.
5. The White Sound (Das weisse Rauschen)
Lukas, a young schizophrenic man, has to deal with a new town, a new relationship, and the paranoia in his head.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
6. The Big Blue (Le Grand Bleu)
Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy-adventure. Jacques and Enzo are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men. As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest -- determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear -- Jacques meets Johana, a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea.
It has an average vote of 7.454 on TMDB.
7. Harold and Maude
The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery of his current family and home environment. Harold meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude who also lives in her own world yet one in which she is having the time of her life. When the two opposites meet they realize that their differences don’t matter and they become best friends and love each other.
It has an average vote of 7.603 on TMDB.
8. Beyond Silence (Jenseits der Stille)
Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.
It has an average vote of 6.954 on TMDB.
9. Snow Cake
A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
10. Rashomon (羅生門)
Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
It has an average vote of 8.091 on TMDB.
11. After.Life
Following a terrible car crash, a woman awakes to find an enigmatic mortician preparing her for burial.
It has an average vote of 6.283 on TMDB.
12. The Sea Inside (Mar adentro)
The Sea Inside is about Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. It is the story of Ramón’s relationships with two women: Julia a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living.
It has an average vote of 7.579 on TMDB.
13. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon)
The true story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.
It has an average vote of 7.565 on TMDB.
14. The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite)
The lives of six German-Turkish immigrants are drawn together by circumstance: An old man and a prostitute forging a partnership, a young scholar reconciling his past, two young women falling in love, and a mother putting the shattered pieces of her life back together.
It has an average vote of 7.202 on TMDB.
15. Tattoo (Tattoo)
Marc Schrader, a rookie cop caught red-handed with drugs in a police raid of an illegal rave, joins a homicide investigation conducted by Chief Inspector Minks. The victim is a naked young woman with the skin stripped off her back, killed as she staggered into traffic. As Schrader and Minks investigate the murder, the case is complicated by a finger found in the stomach of the victim. Forensic examination proves the finger belongs to Nobert Günzel, who was previously convicted of rape and assault. The police raid Günzel’s residence, and discover a blood-stained table with restraints and bits of human flesh in his basement. They also find video equipment and preserved, tattooed skin from the victim’s back. Soon, they found dead bodies buried in the garden. Günzel then goes missing.
It has an average vote of 6.1 on TMDB.
16. The Brave
A down-on-his-luck American Indian recently released from jail is offered the chance to "star" as the victim of a snuff film, the resulting pay of which could greatly help his poverty stricken family.
It has an average vote of 6.041 on TMDB.
17. Premonition
A depressed housewife who learns her husband was killed in a car accident the day previously, awakens the next morning to find him alive and well at home, and then awakens the day after to a world in which he is still dead.
It has an average vote of 6.291 on TMDB.
18. The Opposite of Sex
A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.
It has an average vote of 6.1 on TMDB.
19. Platoon
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
It has an average vote of 7.745 on TMDB.
20. Good Morning, Vietnam
A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humour.
It has an average vote of 7.313 on TMDB.