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Source: DigitalDreamDoor.com


Films in bold are also on Ken Boa’s list of recommended films due to their combination of artistic merit and spiritual/moral themes. Go to his list. [vector_icon icon=”arrow-circle-o-right”]

Disclaimer: The following does not represent an endorsement of any of these films by Reflections Ministries or Ken Boa; we encourage you to do some background research on the movie before watching it (especially if you plan to watch with children).


  1. La Dolce Vita: 1954, Italy, Frederico Fellini (Marcello Mastroianni)
  2. The Seven Samurai: 1954, Japan, Akira Kurosawa (Toshiro Mifune)
  3. 8 1/2: 1963, Italy, Frederico Fellini (Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale)
  4. Wild Strawberries: 1957, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Victor Sjostrom, Ingrid Thulin)
  5. Grand Illusion: 1937, France, Jean Renoir (Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay)
  6. The Rules of the Game: 1939, France, Jean Renoir (Paulette Dubost, Nora Gregor)
  7. La Strada: 1954, Italy, Frederico Fellini (Anthony Quinn)
  8. Rashomon: 1950, Japan, Akira Kurosawa (Toshiro Mifune)
  9. Diabolique: 1955, France, Henri-Georges Clouzot (Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse)
  10. The Seventh Seal: 1956, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson)
  11. M: 1931, Germany, Fritz Lang (Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann)
  12. The Wages of Fear: 1953, France, Henri-Georges Clouzot (Yves Montand, Véra Clouzot)
  13. Solaris: 1972, Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky (Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis)
  14. The Bicycle Thief: 1948, Italy, Vittorio De Sica (Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola)
  15. Fellini Satyricon: 1969, Italy, Frederico Fellini (Martin Porter)
  16. The Virgin Spring: 1959, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Max Von Sydow)
  17. Jean De Florette: 1986, France, Claude Berri (Gerard Depardieu, Yves Montand); based on a book by Marcel Pagnol
  18. Beauty And The Beast: 1946, France, Jean Cocteau (Jean Marais, Josette Day)
  19. Battleship Potemkin: 1925, Russia, Sergei Eisenstein (Aleksandr Antonov)
  20. The Passion of Joan of Arc: 1928, France, Carl Theodor Dreyer (Maria Falconetti)
  21. The Last Metro: 1981, France, Francois Truffaut (Catherine Deneuve)
  22. Day For Night: 1973, France, Francois Truffaut (Jacqueline Bisset)
  23. City of God: 2002, Brazil, Fernando Meirelles (Alexandre Rodrigues)
  24. The Conformist: 1970, Italy, Bernardo Bertolucci (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli)
  25. Persona: 1966, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson)
  26. Belle De Jour: 1967, France, Luis Bunuel (Catherine Deneuve)
  27. Cries and Whispers: 1972, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Liv Ullmann)
  28. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: 2000, Taiwan, Ang Lee (Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang)
  29. Manon Of The Spring: 1986, France, Marcel Pagnol (Emmanuelle Beart, Yves Montand)
  30. Bread And Chocolate: 1974, Italy, Franco Brusati (Nino Manfredi)
  31. The Secret in Their Eyes: 2009, Argentina, Juan José Campanella
  32. Mon Oncle: 1958, France, Jacques Tati (Jacques Tati, Jean-Pierre Zola)
  33. The Garden Of Finzi-Continis: 1971, Italy, Vittorio De Sica (Dominique Sanda)
  34. Frantic: 1958, France, Louis Malle (Jeanne Moreau)
  35. A Good Marriage: 1982, France, Eric Rohmer (Beatrice Romand, Andre Dussollier)
  36. Swept Away: 1975, Italy, Lina Wertmüller (Giancarlo Giannini)
  37. Scenes From A Marriage: 1974, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Liv Ullmann)
  38. Sundays And Cybele: 1962, France (Hardy Kruger, Patricia Gozzi)
  39. Yojimbo: 1961, Japan, Akira Kurosawa (Toshiro Mifune)
  40. Fanny And Alexander: 1983, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Ewa Froling, Erland Josephson)
  41. Z: 1969, Greece, Costa-Gavras (Yves Montand, Irene Papas)
  42. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse: 1933, Germany, Fritz Lang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Oscar Beregi Sr.)
  43. The City of Lost Children: 1995, France (Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork)
  44. Amarcord: 1973, Italy, Frederico Fellini (Puppela Maggio)
  45. Pan’s Labyrinth: 2006, Mexico, Guillermo del Toro (Ivana Baquero, Sergi López)
  46. Nosferatu: 1922, Germany, F.W. Murnau (Max Schreck)
  47. Cousin, Cousine: 1976, France, Jean Charles Tacchella
  48. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie: 1971, France, Luis Buñuel
  49. The 400 Blows: 1959, France, Francois Truffaut (Jean-Pierre Leaud)
  50. Il Postino (The Postman): 1995, Italy (Philippe Noiret)
  51. Delicatessen: 1991, France (Marie-Laure Daugnac)
  52. Andrei Rublev: 1966, U.S.S.R. Andrei Tarkovsky (Anatoli Solonitsyn)
  53. YI YI: 2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang (Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin)
  54. The Silence: 1963, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman (Ingrid Thulin)
  55. Ran: 1985, Japan, Akira Kurosawa (Tatsuya Nakadai)
  56. The Passenger: 1963, Poland, Andrzej Munk (Aleksandra Slaska, Anne Ciepielewska)
  57. Kapo: 1960, Italy, Gillo Pontecorvo (Susan Strasberg)
  58. Through a Glass Darkly: 1960, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman
  59. War and Peace: 1968, USSR, Sergei Bondarchuk
  60. Aguirre, Wrath of God: 1972, Germany, Werner Herzog
  61. The Decameron: 1971, Italy, Pier Paolo Pasolini (Franco Citti)
  62. That Obscure Object of Desire: 1977, Spain, Luis Buñuel
  63. Cinema Paradiso: 1989, Italy, Giuseppe Tornatore
  64. L’ Avventura: 1960, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni (Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti)
  65. Fellini’s Roma: 1972, Italy, Frederico Fellini (Peter Gonzales)
  66. The Double Life of Veronique: 1991, France, Krzysztof Kieslowski (Irene Jacob)
  67. Rififi: 1956, France, Jules Dassin (Jean Sevais, Carl Mohner)
  68. Nights of Cabiria: 1957, Italy, Federico Fellini (Giulietta Masina)
  69. Pandora’s Box: 1929, Germany, Georg Wilhelm Pabst (Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner)
  70. Cyrano De Bergerac: 1990, France, Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Gerard Depardieu)
  71. A Separation: 2011, Iran, Asghar Farhadi (Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami)
  72. Babette’s Feast: 1987, Denmark, Gabriel Axel (Stéphane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel)
  73. Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears: 1980, USSR, Vladimir Menshov
  74. Roma, Città Aperta: 1945, Italy, Roberto Rossellini (Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi)
  75. Das Boot: 1982, Germany, Wolfgang Peterson (Jurgen Procnow)
  76. Life Is Beautiful: 1998, Italy, Roberto Benigni (Roberto Benigni)
  77. Tokyo Story: 1953, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu (Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama)
  78. Mediterraneo: 1991, Italy, Gabriele Salvatores (Claudio Bigagli)
  79. Seven Beauties: 1976, Italy, Lina Wertmüller
  80. Amores Perros: 2000, Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Gael Garcia Bernal)
  81. Playtime: 1967, France, Jacques Tati (Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek)
  82. Black Orpheus: 1959, Brazil/France/Italy—Portuguese
  83. The Tin Drum: 1979, Germany, Volker Schlöndorff
  84. Au Revoir les Enfants: 1987, France, Louis Malle (Gaspard Manesse)
  85. Color of Pomegranates: 1968, Soviet Union/Armenia, Sergei Parajanov (Sofiko Chiaureli)
  86. À bout de souffle (Breathless): 1959, France, Jean-Luc Godard (Jean Seberg)
  87. Pelle the Conqueror: 1988, Denmark, Bille August (Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow)
  88. The Gospel According To St. Matthew: 1964, Italy, Pier Paolo Pasolini)
  89. Oldboy: 2003, S. Korea, Chan-wook Park (Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu)
  90. The Firemen’s Ball: 1968, Czechoslovakia, Milos Forman
  91. All About My Mother: 1999, Spain, Pedro Almodóvar
  92. The Flowers of St. Francis: 1950, Italy, Roberto Rossellini (Aldo Fabrizi, Peparuolo)
  93. The Salesman: 2016, Iran, Asghar Farhadi (Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini)
  94. The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band): 2009, Germany, Michael Haneke
  95. Fälscher, Die (The Counterfeiters): 2007, Germany, Stefan Ruzowitzky (Karl Markovics)
  96. The Scent of Green Papaya: 1993, Vietnam, France, Hung Tran
  97. Amour: 2012, Austria, Michael Haneke (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva)
  98. The Exterminating Angel: 1962, Mexico, Luis Bunuel (Silvia Pinal)
  99. The Juniper Tree: 1993, Iceland, Nietzchka Keene (Björk, Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir)
  100. Spirited Away: 2001, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki)

See additional movies mentioned by DigitalDreamDoor.


Movieline Magazine and The Times have each compiled a similar list to the one above, along with brief summaries. View the Movieline Magazine list here and The Times list here.