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Recommended for Children I'm afraid real
life outside the cinema has caught up with me a bit this month so as the magazine deadline looms I shall just take the opportunity to tell you about another film list I have found (you know I love lists!) which I hope
you will find interesting and/or useful. On 13 July 2005 the bfi (British Film Institute) and the Barbican jointly hosted a debate called 'Watch This!' to discuss whether there should be a list of films that all
children should see by the age of 14. Participants at the debate, as well as a number of children's film organisations across Europe, and individuals including bfi staff, filmmakers and teachers, were invited to submit
nominations. They came up with a list of 50 films which I think is a a great resourse for any parent though it is noticeably short on escapist hollywood fare (no 'Legally Blond' or 'Princess Diaries'). It does
include the likes of 'E.T.', 'Toy Story' and the 'Wizard of Oz' but also a lot of foreign and/or serious films which most of us probably wouldn't otherwise think to show our children. I'm pleased that it includes many
films which are not 'children's films' as such, but are just classics which anyone would enjoy - 'Some Like it Hot' for example which my girls loved when we watched it as a family. They've seen about two thirds of them
so far so they've got a way to go yet (and there are quite a few I haven't seen myself!).The following is an alphabetical list of the ten most recommended films:
- Bicycle Thieves
(Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy)
- ET The Extra-Terrestrial
(Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA)
- Kes
(Ken Loach, 1969, UK)
- The Night of the Hunter
(Charles Laughton, 1955, USA)
- Les Quatre Cents Coups
(François Truffaut, 1959, France)
- Show Me Love
(Lukas Moodysson, 1998, Sw/Dk)
- Spirited Away
(Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan)
- Toy Story
(John Lasseter, 1995, USA)
- Where is the Friend's House?
(Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran)
- The Wizard of Oz
(Victor Fleming, 1939, USA)
The list of the full 50 can be found online on the BFI Site
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