kieran's - BFI: 50+15 films to see by age 15 List

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This enchanting film, based on the novel by Mary Hayley Bell, is considered a family classic. Hayley Mills, Diane Holgate and Alan Barnes live on their widowed father's farm in the north of England. Their lives are disrupted when they discover a wanted man hiding out in their father's barn.

After a confrontation and misunderstanding they come to the conclusion he is Jesus Christ.

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13-year-old Antoine (Jean-Pierre Leaud) can't seem to do anything right. His dysfunctional parents yell at him, his spiteful schoolteacher picks on him and luck just never goes his way.

Despite his efforts at patience, one day it all becomes too much and Antoine throws in the towel, choosing to take his chances on the Paris streets. At times joyous and at others bitterly hard, his new life brings a newfound freedom - one that Antoine will follow up to its painful, poignant and beautiful conclusion...

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When Chicago musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a gangland shooting they quickly board a southbound train to Florida, disguised as Josephine and Daphne, the two newest and homeliest members of an all-girl jazz band. Their cover is perfet...

until a lovelorn singer (Marilyn Monroe) falls for "Josephine", an ancient play-boy (Joe Brown) falls for "Daphne", and a mob boss (George Raft) refuses to fall for their hoax!

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'The Red Balloon' and 'White Mane' remain timeless and wonderful children's classics. Unseen for years, these award-winning short films have been recently restored so as to present them in the best possible picture quality.

The two films were both directed by the award-winning Albert Lamorisse, a man who the New York Times has described as"...a remarkable artist: one of the cinema's best poets and a fearless explorer of the scary and exhilarating outbacks of the imagination".

The Red Balloon (1956)
The award-winning and critically acclaimed fantasy short film directed by Albert Lamorisse follows the relationship between a little boy and a red balloon with a mind of its own that he befriends on the Parisian streets. Widely recognised as one of the most important films in children's cinema, this 1956 classic is the only dialogue-free film to win an Oscar for Best Screenplay.
White Mane (1953)
The 1953 French classic and winner of the Palme D'Or at Cannes tells the tale of a boy who tames a wild stallion called White Mane. Filmed in the marshes of the Camargue in south-west France, 'White Mane' is a beautiful journey into the wilderness that remains a groundbreaking work of children's cinema to this day.

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A tall, handsome 'preacher' - his knuckles eerily tattooed with 'love' and 'hate' - roams the countryside, spreading the gospel...and leaving a trail of murdered women in his wake.

To Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), the work of the Lord has more to do with condemning souls than saving them, especially when his own interests are involved. Now his sights are set on $10,000 - and two little children are the only ones who know where it is. 'Chill...dren!' the preacher croons to the terrified boy and girl hiding in the cold, dark cellar...innocent young lambs who refuse to be led astray.

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'Pather Panchali' tells the story of a family living in the grip of poverty in a small Bengali village, focusing on the experiences of a young boy, Apu (Subir Banerjee), and paying careful attention to a series of ordinary events: Apu's father sets off to the city in search of work, leaving his

wife to take care of the children and an elderly aunt; a frugal meal is prepared; rains flatten the landscape; a train passes by; someone dies.

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The film that brought Jacques Tati international acclaim also launched his on-screen alter ego: the courteous, well-meaning, eternally accident-prone Monsieur Hulot with whom Tati would from now on be inseparably associated.

As with Jour de fete, Vacances is set in a sleepy French coastal resort which is seasonally disrupted by holidaymakers in energetic pursuit of fun. At the centre of the chaos is the eccentric Hulot, struggling at all times to maintain appearances, but somehow entirely divorced from his immediate surroundings. There is little plot in Tati's beautifully orchestrated 'ballet' of comic action: it's a series of incidents, a seamless succession of gently studies of human absurdity.

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Lotte Reiniger was one of the twentieth century's major animation artists, pioneering a distinctive style of black and white silhouette animation in her interpretations of classic myths and fairy tales.

Reiniger began her career in Germany, making 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed', one of the first and most ingenious full-length animated films in the history of cinema. After the war, she moved to Britain with her husband Carl Koch and made short films for the GPO and later, in collaboration with Primrose Productions, an extensive series of famous fairy tale short films. With wonderful music tracks and charming narrations, these enchanting films will appeal to children and adults alike.

Silent movies are giving way to talking pictures - and a hoofer-turned-matinee idol (Gene Kelly) is caught in that bumpy transition, as are his buddy (Donald O'Connor), prospective ladylove (Debbie Reynolds) and shrewish costar (Jean Hagen).

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David Lean's atmospheric production remains the definitive version of the Charles Dickens masterpiece. Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) is expelled from a harsh orphanage by the miserly Mr.Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan) for daring to ask for more.

After an unhappy apprenticeship to an undertaker, oliver escapes to the foggy streets of London where he falls in with a group of thieves headed by the mercurial Fagin (Alec Guinness) and the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley).

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'Bicycle Thieves' tells the story of Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani), a long unemployed man who finally finds employment putting up cinema posters for which he needs a bicycle.

His wife pawns all the family linen to redeem their already pawned bicycle and for Antonio salvation has come, until it is stolen. Antonio and his son take to the streets in a desperate search to find the bicycle which is so crucial to his livelihood.

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George Bailey (James Stewart) has spent his entire life in the small town of Bedford Falls.

Despite his yearning to see the world, George has always sacrificed his personal ambitions for the sake of his family and the local community, settling down to marry his childhood sweetheart, Mary (Donna Reed), and raise a family. However, when a huge amount of money goes missing from the savings and loans company he panics and finds himself preparing to commit suicide. However, he is shown the error of this idea by Clarence (Henry Travers), an angel who has been sent to Earth in order to earn his wings. To this end, Clarence shows George just how badly Bedford Falls and its residents would have turned out had he never been born.

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"Beauty and the Beast " is a landmark feat of cinematic fantasy in which master filmmaker Jean Cocteau conjures spectacular visions of enchantment, desire and death that have never been equalled.

Josette Day is luminous yet feisty as Beauty, and Jean Marais gives one of his best performances as the Beast, at once brutal and gentle, rapacious and vulnerable, shamed and repelled by his own bloodlust. Henri Alekan's subtle black and white cinematography combine with Christian Berard's masterly costumes and set designs to create a magical piece of cinema, a children's fairytale refashioned into a stylised and highly sophisticated dream.

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One of the best-loved movies of all time. 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) stars Judy Garland as Dorothy, a young Kansas farm girl who is whisked away by a twister to the land of Oz. Accompanied by a brainless Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a heartless Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a cowardly Lion.

Dorothy and her little dog, Toto, follow the Yellow Brick Road seeking the Wizard of Oz. In order that he may grant her wish to return home.

When Prince John (Claude Rains) and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.