The Best Movies of the '60s, According to Data

Referred to as “a film with itself as its subject,” this autobiographical comedy by Italian surrealist filmmaker Federico Fellini follows a famous director suffering from a creative blockage as he attempts to direct an epic science fiction film – which happens to be a film called “8 ½.” Fellini’s use of self-reference, fantasy, and dream sequences does nothing to detract from the film’s intimate portrayal of a director’s personal and professional trials.

Following Bob Dylan and his contemporaries on his 1965 tour of England, this uncensored portrait of the capricious young star set the stage for the modern rock documentary, catching a full range of behind-the-scenes encounters in cars, hotel rooms, and backstage. Dylan is seen as a quarrelsome and reluctant press subject even as he craves prestige for his artistry. Throughout the film, the moments of musical coalescence somehow make up for the cantankerous temperament of a 24-year old genius.

When a lonely office worker allows his higher-ups to use his apartment for illicit affairs in order to secure a raise, he ends up falling for a woman who is secretly seeing his boss. Despite criticism for its depictions of adultery, this romantic comedy is widely regarded as one of the greatest romantic films ever made. Director Billy Wilder, a five-time Academy Award-winner, is remembered for pushing the boundaries of Hollywood censorship and broadening the range of what was deemed acceptable to portray on film.

This epic film with a running time of 227 minutes rejects melodrama and standard tropes, instead relying on stunning visuals, an award-winning musical score, and a visionary cinematic style that would influence a host of future directors, including Steven Spielberg. The historical drama is based on the experiences of British Colonel T.E. Lawrence who served as an advisor to Bedouin forces in their revolt against the Ottomans during WWI. It won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director

Based on a book of the same name, this wartime adventure film is a fictionalized rendition of fighter pilot Paul Brickhill’s first-hand account of a mass escape of prisoners from a supposedly escape-proof Nazi POW camp in 1944. Lead Steve McQueen won best actor at the Moscow International Film Festival and went down in history for performing an epic motorcycle chase scene (with the final jump over a six-foot barbed wire fence performed by stuntman Bud Etkins.)

A resourceful 30-year-old widow in the bar district of Ginza is hesitant to remarry, which would dishonor her late husband, and decides to open her own bar instead. But at every step, she is set back by social obligations and constraints. This portrait of a woman struggling to sustain herself in a male-dominated world is considered the magnum opus of director Mikio Naruse, who is remembered for skillfully addressing the social injustices that women face in modern Japanese society.

Known for his dark but empathic explorations of personal struggles amid fractured families, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman portrays the deteriorating psyche of a young woman who hallucinates that she’s being visited by God after a schizophrenic episode that landed her in a mental institution. Her father, meanwhile, attempts to use her as a muse while her neglected teenage brother struggles with a lack of guidance and sexual outlet in his life. The feature won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

One of four noir films by Akira Kurosawa, this crime mystery is a critique of corruption that takes the form of a loose adaptation of “Hamlet.” It follows a young man out for revenge, who climbs the corporate ladder in order to get close to the powerful men responsible for his father’s death. It has been called the least appreciated of Kirosawa’s many works starring Toshirô Mifune, but maintains a critic score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Although this film about French Resistance fighters during WWII was neither widely seen nor well-received upon its initial release, it was restored and re-released in 2006 to critical acclaim. It captures the atmosphere of paranoia and tension surrounding the betrayal of a Resistance leader, his escape from a Nazi prison camp, and his tireless fight against fascism, painting an unglamorous picture of what it means to resist.

A film that explores that tragedy and human cost of war, “Ivan’s Childhood” recounts the journey of a young Russian orphan as he joins a group of partisans and then the army to avenge the death of his family at the hands of the Germans, losing his innocence in his attempt to make sense of what is ultimately senseless. This poetic film is striking in its refusal to glorify war, capturing the stark contrast between Ivan’s idyllic childhood memories and his sacrificed adolescence.

When a wandering samurai passes through a rural town that is being plagued by two warring criminal gangs, he attempts to play each side off of the other in order to rid the town of their presence. The film incorporates elements of satire and comedy along with violent action sequences and multiple plot twists. It has inspired numerous adaptations including the spaghetti Western film “A Fistful of Dollars.”

This neo-noir crime thriller follows an austere and methodical Paris hitman whose career and life are suddenly jeopardized when witnesses see him leaving the scene of one of his hits. As he attempts to cover his tracks, he finds himself deeper and deeper in a hole he cannot escape. With minimal dialogue and a brilliant play of light, shadow, and color, this highly stylized film builds suspense with a minimalistic approach to action.

The class divide in post-war Japan is on full display in this noir crime thriller. The film portrays a wealthy businessman who faces an impossible decision when kidnappers who are attempting to abduct his son for ransom accidentally take the son of his chauffeur. His morality comes into question as he struggles to choose between losing his fortune to ransom the child, and maintaining the tenuous grip he has on his company.

A companion piece to Yôjinbô (1961), this black-and-white period drama follows the clever but unprincipled wandering samurai Sanjuro as he helps a group of young warriors fight corruption and rescue a kidnapped official and his family. This largely comedic action film strays refreshingly from the darkness and brutality of its predecessor, while still providing the sword fights and mayhem necessary for an exemplary samurai film.

This Italian neorealist film about the Algerian War of Independence from France was shot on location, utilizing mostly non-professional actors who had lived through the war, and was edited to reflect documentary-like realism. It highlights both the extreme tactics of the guerilla fighters and the illegal methods undertaken by the French to quell the revolution, showing the cruelty that war brings out in all who participate.

From the King of spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone, comes an epic tale of revenge, mistaken identity, and land conflict set in the unforgiving and rugged town of Flagstone. When a railroad baron sends his thug to scare off the man who owns the only water source in the valley, the thug instead kills the land owner and his children while attempting to blame the crime on a local bandit. The nearly three-hour movie flopped at the box office after executives cut key scenes, but the original cut has been restored and is available to watch at its full length.

This prison drama stars Paul Newman as an inmate and rebel without a cause who repeatedly puts his life in danger by refusing to submit to authority. Although his audacity inspires the other inmates, his lack of creed or conviction ultimately leads him down a dead-end road. The anti-establishment tone of the film was reflective of the budding counter culture movement of the late ’60s, and Newman’s character Lucas Jackson remains one of the greatest movie heroes of all time.

This Czechoslovakian film, set in Nazi-occupied Slovakia during WWII, recounts the fascist regime’s Aryanization program that pit neighbor against neighbor. It follows a quiet carpenter who is appointed as the Aryan controller of an elderly Jewish woman’s haberdashery, and the moral struggles he faces as the two become friends. Meanwhile, the authorities begin rounding up Jewish citizens for forced relocation.

This black comedy by Stanley Kubrick is a satire on the Cold War that portrays the catastrophic dangers of letting the wrong person come into a position of power. It follows the frantic efforts of a slew of politicians and military officers who attempt to prevent nuclear war by calling off an imminent bombing that was ordered by a psychopathic general. It is widely considered one of the greatest – and funniest – films ever made.

A quintessential horror film whose shower scene is one of the most infamous moments in cinematic history, “Psycho” depicts the unfortunate fate of a woman on the run with stolen cash as she stops at a small motel and meets its polite but eerie proprietor. Although it was shot in black-and-white with a small budget and received initial mixed reviews, “Psycho” has become one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most popular films.

This Mexican supernatural film by master of noir Roberto Galvadón is based on a fable as recounted by novelist B. Traven. It portrays the fate of a poor, hungry man who unwittingly makes a deal with Death on the Day of the Dead so that he might improve his family’s fortune. Death gives the man a bottle of water that will heal any illness, and the man’s luck changes…for a time.

When an entomologist misses his bus back to town after searching for insects among desolate sand dunes, some locals insist that he stay at the house of a widow for the evening, deep at the bottom of a sand pit. The next day, he realizes he’s been duped by the townsfolk who have enslaved the widow and have now enslaved him. With no way to climb out of the sand pit, he plots his escape, even as he begins to fall for his fellow captive.

This documentary explores the reactions of the French populace to the Vichy French government’s acceptance of Nazi occupation and fascism during WWII. Extended interviews with resistance fighters, French collaborators, and German officers reveal the numerous reasons for the collaboration, including xenophobia and antisemitism. The film highlights the role of ordinary people’s morals in times of societal upheaval.

A quintessential spaghetti Western, this masterpiece by Sergio Leone follows an unlikely pair of gunslingers searching for a cache of Confederate gold, and a homicidal mercenary who wants the gold for himself. Double crosses, mistrust, and plenty of gun fights punctuate the film, while a musical score by Ennio Morricone effectively incorporates gunshots, yodeling and howling coyotes.

This period drama takes place during the early Edo Period of the 17th Century and recounts the tales of two samurai, one who apparently threatens to commit seppuku (harakiri) in order to gain pity and alms – only to be forced to follow through, and humiliated in the process – and one who appears to be earnest in his desire to end his life. But before he goes through with his ritual, he tells a tale that sheds light on the motivations of his humiliated comrade. A commentary on power and authority, “Hara-Kiri” is considered one of the greatest samurai films of all time.