1. The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人)
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
It has an average vote of 7.953 on TMDB.
2. Red Beard (赤ひげ)
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
It has an average vote of 8.09 on TMDB.
3. Kagemusha (影武者)
Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.
It has an average vote of 7.819 on TMDB.
4. Ikiru (生きる)
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
It has an average vote of 8.3 on TMDB.
5. I Live in Fear (生きものの記録)
Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is convinced that Japan will be affected by an imminent nuclear war, and resolves to move his family to safety in Brazil. His family decides to have him ruled incompetent and Dr. Harada, a Domestic Court counselor, attempts to arbitrate.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
6. Al lupo, al lupo (Al lupo, al lupo)
Vanni, Gregorio and Livia are brothers. The first is a well-known pianist, the second has abandoned his career as an aspiring violinist to become a deejay. When Vanni discovers that his father has disappeared into thin air, together with Gregorio they decide to call his sister Livia. The three relatives travel the length and breadth of Tuscany to find their missing parent.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
7. Trenque Lauquen (Trenque Lauquen)
With the strange disappearance of Laura, two colleagues, her older boyfriend, Rafael, and Ezequiel, learn of their recent discoveries, which may help them locate her. However, the story is bigger and stranger than they could imagine.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
8. Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang)
Known for his spectacular pyrotechnic displays, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang creates his most ambitious project yet: Sky Ladder, a visionary, explosive event that he pulls off in his hometown in China after 20 years of failed attempts.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
9. Let's Scare Jessica to Death
Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her.
It has an average vote of 6.258 on TMDB.
10. Madadayo (まあだだよ)
Based on the life of Hyakken Uchida, a Japanese author and academic. The film opens with Uchida resigning his job as a German professor at the onset of WWII. The story is told mostly in vignettes as he is cared for by former students in his old age.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
11. The Way Things Go
Artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss create the ultimate Rube Goldberg machine. The pair used found objects to construct a complex, interdependent contraption in an empty warehouse. When set in motion, a domino-like chain reaction ripples through the complex of imaginative devices. Fire, water, the laws of gravity, and chemistry determine the life-cycle of the objects. The process reveals a story concerning cause and effect, mechanism and art, and improbability and precision, in an extended science project that will mesmerize the mind.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
12. The Cat Piano
A city of singing cats is preyed upon by a shadowy figure intent on performing a twisted feline symphony.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
13. Empire of Passion (愛の亡霊)
In a small Japanese village at the end of the 19th century, a rickshaw driver's wife takes on a much younger lover and the two conspire to murder him.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
14. Sympathy for the Devil
While The Rolling Stones rehearse "Sympathy for the Devil" in the studio, an alternating narrative reflects on 1968 society, politics and culture through five different vignettes.
It has an average vote of 6.307 on TMDB.
15. The Moralist (Il moralista)
The newly appointed head of a censorship board uses his uncompromising stance against everything "immoral" – from nudity in movies to nightclubs – to hide a rather unseemly double life.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
16. Who's Minding the Store?
Jerry Lewis plays Norman Phiffer, a proud man in a humble life, who doesn't know that his girlfriend, Barbara, is heir to the Tuttle Department Store dynasty. Mrs. Tuttle, Barbara's mother, is determined to split the two lovers, and hires Norman in an attempt to humiliate him enough that Barbara leaves him. Will she ruin their love, or will he ruin her store?
It has an average vote of 6.906 on TMDB.
17. Long Day's Journey Into Night
Over the course of one day in August 1912, the family of retired actor James Tyrone grapples with the morphine addiction of his wife Mary, the illness of their youngest son Edmund and the alcoholism and debauchery of their older son Jamie. As day turns into night, guilt, anger, despair, and regret threaten to destroy the family.
It has an average vote of 6.805 on TMDB.
18. Karniggels (Karniggels)
After his training as a policeman, the young, shy Köppe is transferred to a northern German town. Unfortunately, in an area where fox and rabbit say goodnight, there is little for a lawman to do. So Köppe kills time with the search for mysterious cow murderers, flirting with two attractive women and befriending a likeable petty crook.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
19. Little Miss Sumo
In an ancient sport traditionally reserved for men, 20-year-old female sumo prodigy Hiyori attempts to revolutionize Japan’s national pastime.
It has an average vote of 6.057 on TMDB.
20. Cries from Syria
An attempt to re-contextualize the European migrant crisis and ongoing hostilities in Syria, through eyewitness and participant testimony. Children and parents recount the revolution, civil war, air strikes, atrocities and ongoing humanitarian aid crises, in a portrait of recent history and the consequences of violence.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
