Vatican's list of films

1995 listing of 45 great films

In 1995, on the "centenary of cinematography", 100 years after the Lumière brothers displayed their first film for an audience, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications compiled a list called Some Important Films (Italian: Alcuni film importanti). The 45 movies are divided equally into three categories—religion, values, and art—with no order of importance placed on the films. The council was careful not to regard the films on the list as the "best", or most important, saying: "not all that deserve mention are included". The list was distributed as part of an information packet on film appreciation, sent to bishops' conferences in mid-October 1995.

Religion

Andrei Rublev (1966)
Babette's Feast (1987)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
Francesco (1989)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Vie et Passion du Christ (1903)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
The Mission (1986)
Monsieur Vincent (1947)
Nazarin (1959)
Ordet (1955)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Sacrifice (1986)
Thérèse (1986)

Values

Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
The Burmese Harp (1956)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Dekalog (1989)
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Gandhi (1982)
Intolerance (1916)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Rome, Open City (1945)
Schindler's List (1993)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
Wild Strawberries (1957)

Art

Citizen Kane (1941)
8½ (1963)
Fantasia (1940)
Grand Illusion (1937)
La Strada (1954)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
The Leopard (1963)
Little Women (1933)
Metropolis (1927)
Modern Times (1936)
Napoleon (1927)
Nosferatu (1922)
Stagecoach (1939)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

References

"Vatican Best Films List". Official website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
Steven D. Greydanus. "The Vatican Film List". Decent Films Guide. Retrieved 2012-04-20.