BFI's 90 great films of the 1990s
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One decade. 90 films. One film per director.
How do you even begin to choose just 90 films to represent an entire decade of cinema? That’s the question we’ve been asking ourselves ever since BFI Southbank announced its two-month retrospective, Nineties: Young Cinema Rebels.
With the season casting a very specific eye on the new voices that emerged between 1989 and 1999, we thought we’d cast our net a little wider, in a squabble-inducing attempt to shine a light on some of the very best films the decade produced.
There’s no scientific method applied to the selection process here, and this isn’t a Sight & Sound poll involving hundreds of critics or filmmakers. It’s more a chance for us to highlight some of our favourite films from around the world.
This list of 90s greats could very easily have been at least double the size (in early drafts it was), but with only 90 spots available, some favourites – both ours and yours – are bound to be missing, the hope being that any frustration at omissions will be juxtaposed with a few new discoveries.
To keep things as varied as possible, we’ve allowed for only one film per director – in itself leading to some impossible choices. Take the ranking with as little or large a pinch of salt as you see fit; every film on this list is terrific as far as we’re concerned, and these things are always going to be subjective, with any and all grievances or nods of approval welcome.
Pssst, want to check out the BFI's 90 great films of the 1990s list in our new look?
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1 new
Crash
1996, in 9 top lists Check -
2 new
Guling jie shaonian sharen shijian
1991 — a.k.a. A Brighter Summer Day, in 19 top lists Check -
3 new
The Thin Red Line
1998, in 14 top lists Check -
4 new
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1992, in 6 top lists Check -
5 new
Nema-ye Nazdik
1990 — a.k.a. Close-Up, in 21 top lists Check -
6 new
He liu
1997 — a.k.a. The River, in 8 top lists Check -
7 new
Sátántangó
1994 — a.k.a. Satantango, in 12 top lists Check -
8 new
Beau travail
1999, in 15 top lists Check -
9 new
Conte d'automne
1998 — a.k.a. Autumn Tale, in 4 top lists Check -
10 new
Khrustalyov, mashinu!
1998 — a.k.a. Khrustalyov, My Car!, in 6 top lists Check -
11 new
Xi meng ren sheng
1993 — a.k.a. The Puppetmaster, in 11 top lists Check -
12 new
La Belle Noiseuse
1991 — a.k.a. The Beautiful Troublemaker, in 11 top lists Check -
13 new
Le temps retrouvé, d'après l'oeuvre de Marcel...
1999 — a.k.a. Marcel Proust's Time Regained, in 5 top lists Check -
14 new
The Long Day Closes
1992, in 9 top lists Check -
15 new
The Piano
1993, in 14 top lists Check -
16 new
Pola X
1999, in 2 top lists Check -
17 new
Chung Hing sam lam
1994 — a.k.a. Chungking Express, in 19 top lists Check -
18 new
Hoop Dreams
1994, in 15 top lists Check -
19 new
Eyes Wide Shut
1999, in 11 top lists Check -
20 new
El sol del membrillo
1992 — a.k.a. The Quince Tree Sun, in 9 top lists Check -
21 new
Unforgiven
1992, in 24 top lists Check -
22 new
Jurassic Park
1993, in 23 top lists Check -
23 new
Naked
1993, in 9 top lists Check -
24 new
Underground
1995, in 9 top lists Check -
25 new
Safe
1995, in 8 top lists Check -
26 new
Short Cuts
1993, in 9 top lists Check -
27 new
Pulp Fiction
1994, in 38 top lists Check -
28 new
Belfast, Maine
1999, in 3 top lists Check -
29 new
D'Est
1993 — a.k.a. From the East, in 5 top lists Check -
30 new
Rosetta
1999, in 9 top lists Check -
31 new
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991, in 27 top lists Check -
32 new
Before Sunrise
1995, in 14 top lists Check -
33 new
The Silence of the Lambs
1991, in 36 top lists Check -
34 new
Trois couleurs: Rouge
1994 — a.k.a. Three Colors: Red, in 20 top lists Check -
35 new
Goodfellas
1990, in 31 top lists Check -
36 new
Heat
1995, in 23 top lists Check -
37 new
Lat sau san taam
1992 — a.k.a. Hard Boiled, in 12 top lists Check -
38 new
La cérémonie
1995 — a.k.a. La Cérémonie, in 7 top lists Check -
39 new
Wandafuru raifu
1998 — a.k.a. After Life, in 9 top lists Check -
40 new
Strange Days
1995, in 4 top lists Check -
41 new
To Sleep with Anger
1990, in 8 top lists Check -
42 new
Taiga
1992, in 2 top lists Check -
43 new
Orlando
1992, in 7 top lists Check -
44 new
Van Gogh
1991, in 5 top lists Check -
45 new
Wonderland
1999, in 2 top lists Check -
46 new
'Non', ou A Vã Glória de Mandar
1990, in 4 top lists Check -
47 new
Ching se
1993 — a.k.a. Green Snake, in 3 top lists Check -
48 new
Ladoni
1994 — a.k.a. Palms, in 0 top lists Check -
49 new
Mat i syn
1997 — a.k.a. Mother and Son, in 7 top lists Check -
50 new
Daughters of the Dust
1991, in 9 top lists Check
Last updated on May 20, 2020 by Chilton; source