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Ben Wheatley

English filmmaker of thrillers and horror laced with black comedy, including Kill List (2011), Sightseers (2012), A Field in England (2013) and High-Rise (2015).

4 things

BrazilOther Terry Gilliam

loved

I loved it. To me, Brazil has everything: it’s funny, horrible, elegant, and messy.

Criterion Collection Top 10 list by Ben Wheatley, the entry for Brazil.

2015-02-26·criterion.com ↗

AlphavilleOther Jean-Luc Godard

loved

Alphaville is the New Wave grandfather of Blade Runner: a film that is at once in the past and far in the future. I’m a big Godard fan, and this is one of his great genre deconstructions: effortlessly cool and serious at the same time.

Criterion Collection Top 10 list by Ben Wheatley, the entry for Alphaville.

2015-02-26·criterion.com ↗

EraserheadOther David Lynch

loved

It’s a singular cinematic experience. I remember watching this whenever it was on in London—Eraserhead and Blue Velvet . . . double bills . . . mmm.

Criterion Collection Top 10 list by Ben Wheatley, the entry for Eraserhead.

2015-02-26·criterion.com ↗

The Battle of AlgiersOther Gillo Pontecorvo

liked

I’d heard bits about The Battle of Algiers and knew I wanted to see it; I’m a big fan of Peter Watkins’s The Battle of Culloden and the whole mock-doc/social-realist filmmaking aesthetic. It makes interesting counterprogramming to our understanding through modern media of the difference between “freedom fighters” and “terrorists.” It’s just as relevant now as it was then.

Criterion Collection Top 10 list by Ben Wheatley, the entry for The Battle of Algiers.

2015-02-26·criterion.com ↗

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