For my final podcast, I look at how Steven Spielberg effectively remade his first feature, Firelight to deliver a message of hope. The post 401. Close Encounters of the Third Kind appeared first on Steven Benedict.

In January 1954, Francois Truffaut wrote a landmark essay on film criticism. Five years later, he put his theory into practice and cinema never been the same since. The post The 400 Blows appeared first on Steven Benedict.

The gangster genre is dominated by men, but in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman the most important position is held by a woman who utters barely a dozen words. The post The Irishman appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Rome Open City began filming as Auschwitz was liberated and Roberto Rossellini's film marks a crucial step in the creation of art in the wake of the Holocaust. The post Rome, Open City appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Puzzling audiences ever since it premiered at Cannes in 2001, David Lynch's disturbing masterpiece seems to address the abuse of women in the film industry. The post Mulholland Dr. appeared first on Steven Benedict.

With this modernist masterpiece, Michelangelo Antonioni told a story that abandoned its initial plot. Booed at Cannes, it paved the way for a new cinematic form. The post L’Avventura appeared first on Steven Benedict.

It is said a film is made three times; writing, filming and editing. In which case, editor Walter Murch deserves enormous credit for this masterpiece. The post The Conversation appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Like many Fellini films, Amarcord is a contradiction; an account of his youth yet a complete fabrication, a vivid realisation of the past, but also a dream. The post Amarcord appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Four years after the advent of sound in cinema, Charlie Chaplin insisted on making a silent movie the entire plot for which hinged on not being able to see. The post City Lights appeared first on Steven Benedict.

This modern French masterpiece avoids all the clichés of American prison films while at the same time bearing an uncanny similarity to a 1960s' Japanese action picture. The post A Prophet appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Twenty-one feature films, $14b at the worldwide box-office and 15 Oscars. If you want to know the secret of Pixar's success, read their mission statement. The post WALL•E appeared first on Steven Benedict.

In Agnes Varda's classic, Corrine Marchand plays one woman; happy Cléo and anxious Florence, walking about Paris in real time awaiting her medical results. The post Cléo from 5 to 7 appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Whether it be ethically, legally, politically, geographically or even chemically, Michael Mann's multi-Oscar nominated picture is about crossing the line. The post The Insider appeared first on Steven Benedict.

In adapting Wajdi Mouawad’s play, Denis Villeneuve used two time lines to push the past against the present and ask if suffering is the only outcome of war. The post Incendies appeared first on Steven Benedict.

The Palme d'Or winner in 1949, Carol Reed's masterpiece drew on covert sources and unexpected styles and techniques to deliver a melancholic mystery. The post The Third Man appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Master auteur, Abbas Kiarostami forged an entire career out of defying conventional film grammar to successfully find new ways of presenting the human condition. The post Ten appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Originally titled Whore's Gold, Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning western exposes the psychosis, bigotry and misogyny at the heart of the genre's mythology. The post Unforgiven appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Matteo Garrone's adaptation of Roberto Saviano's book on the Neapolitan camorra smacks down the innumerable movies that have marketed the Mafia mythology. The post 384. Gomorrah appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Forget Vertigo. Alfred Hitchcock's greatest film is Notorious. With his usual McGuffin, he wrapped a paranoid love story inside an espionage thriller about genocide. The post Notorious appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-winning divorce drama delivers a story that is specific to a particular time and place yet also manages to resonate on a universal level. The post A Separation appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Almost seventy years young, this Hollywood masterpiece remains in perfect condition and for our modern age, offers up unexpected and pertinent meaning. The post Singin’ in the Rain appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Adapted from three different sources, Kenji Mizoguchi's masterpiece owes a great debt of gratitude to cinematographer, Kazuo Miyagawa. The post Ugetsu Monogatari appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Released to mixed reviews in 1969, Midnight Cowboy is a landmark film that examines the then toxic topics of male identity, intimacy, sexuality and trauma. The post Midnight Cowboy appeared first on Steven Benedict.

Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or for his unflinching drama about a single day in the lives of two young women. The post 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days appeared first on Steven Benedict.