All the classics of world cinema now known have managed to touch upon the most diverse, sometimes difficult topics, which were not customary to speak openly about. However, this was not always the case.
The cinema that arose in 1895 as such did not immediately become considered a form of art, contrary to popular belief. For a long time it served only as fun for a bored public. The plots and the action on the screen seemed more like a shed.
When did cinema find its true face? It is natural that all the masterpieces of world cinema
received recognition from the general public far from immediately. Perhaps, their significance for the art of cinema as a whole can be considered as original criteria for determining such films.
It is impossible to determine exactly when this art acquired its own style of expression. However, it is safe to say that the masterpieces of world cinema began to appear for the first time exactly when the directors decided on a step that was desperate for those times - to touch upon acute social as well as labor issues.
These were films that made you think about eternal values and ideals, about the meaning of life. Often it was impossible to see them without a sense of deep
empathy with the main characters.
And finally, they became art in the full sense of the word, because they were distinguished by an unusual vision and stunning artistic presentation.
We can say that all the world’s most famous movie masterpieces obeyed these laws, the list which you can start with such an iconic feature film as Intolerance.
This movie was shot by American director David Griffith and was released back in 1916. The film is considered a real masterpiece of silent cinema. Historians even call it a one-of-a-kind cinema fugue, because Griffith managed to describe not one, but four whole eras - from the ancient Babylonians to 1914.
Why films-masterpieces of world cinema is Intolerance headed? The director managed to create a unique film on which he displayed the high ideals of human freedom from oppression, as well as the all-encompassing power of love that knows no boundaries , with the help of cinema.
A very significant picture was the silent horror film "Nosferatu", shot by the German director Friedrich Murnau back in 1922, and the surreal short silent film "Andalusian Dog", sponsored by the Spaniards Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel in 1928.
Of course, many masterpieces of world cinema often touched on such a hot topic as fascism. A vivid example is the film "Night Porter", shot in 1974 by Italian Liliana Cavani.
This film is about the unnatural attraction and love that broke out between a former prisoner of a concentration camp and an SS Nazi. No one before Cavani filmed anything like that, all the more so frankly, so the film made a huge impression on the public.
By the way, about the Soviet cinema. Of course, the masterpieces of world cinema include many amazing and stunning paintings from the USSR.
One of the most talented directors is called Andrei Tarkovsky. Films such as Andrei Rublev of 1966 and Stalker of 1980, based on the novel of the Strugatsky brothers, have already become classics, and this list can be extended. Almost every film director is considered a masterpiece.
Film art would not be complete without such a master of American independent cinema as David Lynch. In 1980, he shocked the whole world by shooting the film "The Elephant Man" about Joseph Merrick, the notorious Briton who lived in the 19th century.