Films All Children Should See

[John Self]

The BFI has produced a list of films that all children should see before the age of 14. Rather idealistic, I fancy - and I can only find their top ten on the website (http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/events/watchthis/), but here it is:

Bicycle Thieves (Italy - 1948 )
ET (US - 1982)
Kes (UK - 1969)
Les Quatre Cents Coups (France - 1959)
The Night of the Hunter (KUS - 1955)
Show Me Love (Sweden/Denmark -1998 )
Spirited Away (Japan - 2001)
Toy Story ( US - 1995)
Where is the Friend's House (Iran - 1987)
The Wizard of Oz (US - 1939)

[Digger]

My what an internationally minded bunch of early teanagers we will have kicking about if they all watch these. A great list (mind you I've not seen many of these) but hardly easy to find!

I personally would stick Cinema Paradiso in there too - not strictly a child's film but about childhood and wonderful to watch.

[amner]

The Night of the Hunter, eh? Blimey. If it's giving-kids-nightmares, sure.

[Colyngbourne]

Woot! that Spirited Away is in there.

[crimecat]

Saw Night of the Hunter when I was 11/12 and I never forgot the image of Shelley Winters' hair floating in the water. It opened my eyes to the visual side of story telling and is definitely one of the reasons for my lifelong love for and interest in films. On the other hand, I have an almost equally long standing interest in horror fiction, splatter punk, and slasher movies, as well as a library on serial killers ... hmm, on second thought, maybe the film should not be included after all. :shock:

[HP]

have an almost equally long standing interest in horror fiction, splatter punk, and slasher movies, as well as a library on serial killers ...

Greetings crimecat and .... goodbye. :wink:

[RC]

Hello, hello. Now I'm back.

Here's the rest of the list:

Top fifty films for children up to the age of 14
In alphabetical order:

A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937, USA)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz/William Keighley, 1938, USA)
Au revoir les enfants (Louis Malle, 1987, France/W.Germany)
Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985, USA)
Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale/Kirk Wise, 1991, USA)
Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy)
Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry, 2000, UK/France)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA)
Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990, USA)
Etre et Avoir (Nicolas Philibert, 2002, France)
Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich, 2003, USA)
It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946, USA)
Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963, UK/USA)
Kes (Ken Loach, 1969, UK)
The Kid (Charles Chaplin, 1921, USA)
King Kong (Merian C.Cooper/Ernest B.Schoedsack, 1933, USA)
Kirikou et la sorcière (Michel Ocelot, 1998, France/Belgium/Luxembourg)
La Belle et la bête (Jean Cocteau, 1946, France / Luxembourg)
Le Voyage dans la lune (Georges Melies, 1902, France)
Les Quatre cents coups (Francois Truffaut, 1959, France)
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953, France)
My Life as a Dog (Lasse Halstrom, 1985, Sweden)
My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988, Japan/USA)
The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, USA)
Oliver Twist (David Lean, 1948, UK)
The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983, USA)
Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955, India)
Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967, France/Italy)
The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987, USA)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (Phillip Noyce, 2002, Australia)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981, USA)
The Railway Children (Lionel Jeffries, 1970, UK)
The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956, France)
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrman, 1996, USA)
The Secret Garden (Agnieszka Holland, 1993, UK/USA)
Show Me Love (Lukas Moodysson, 1998, Sweden/Denmark)
Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly, 1952, USA)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney, 1937, USA)
Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959, USA)
The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973, Spain)
Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan)
Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977, USA)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962, USA)
Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995, USA)
Walkabout (Nicholas Roeg, 1971, UK)
Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2002, New Zealand)
Where is the Friend's House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran)
Whistle Down the Wind (Bryan Forbes, 1961, UK)
The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi, 1995, Iran)
The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA)
This list is based on nominations and votes from those attending the Watch This! debate at the Barbican Cinema on 13 July 2005, from a wide range of individuals, including filmmakers and teachers, and from a number of children's film organisations across Europe.

Wasn't it The Bicycle Thief, rather than Bicycle Thieves?
No sign of Julie Andrews as far as I can tell, that's too bad. I thought Mary Poppins was terrific. And the best Robin Hood movie was that one with Sean Connery - Robin and Marion, I think it was called.

[knovella]

Boy, do I disagree with this list. First, I think classic Disney is pure poison. Second, Billy Elliott scared the piss out of my kid when he was young, Rabbit Proof Fence is tragic and for an older audience, Singin in the Rain, The Outsiders, Some Like It Hot have no appeal for kids, IMO.

Some movies that really fired my imagination when I was little are:

Babes in Toyland (with Laurel and Hardy and the boogeymen)
Great Expectations (with John Mills and Alec Guinness)
The Fallen Idol (with Ralph Richardson)
Sound of Music (shoot me, I'm American)


The Secret of Roan Inish is also great for kids--most underrated John Sayles movie.

[Colyngbourne]

Somehow I missed this thread coming to the top of the pile.

I don't mind that list really - my children have seen 20+ of the films on it. The films I feel frustrated over there are the old ones that never come on TV - it's alright suggesting that children watch Cocteau and Tati and the 1930's films but they are never on TV unless you subscribe to lots of satellite channels. I've been wanting ours to see the original King Kong for ages, before the Jackson version comes out.

[Beth]

Oh joy, a bot was looking at this! After a disastrous evening a few weeks ago with my child and the Terminator, I was delighted to find this. I'd add

The Color Purple
Empire of the Sun
The Last Emperor
Fitzcarraldo
Breaking Away
The Muppet Movie
The Trip to Bountiful
and yet another vote for Spirited Away. He loved this and is asking to see it again.