Dan Sallitt’s Favorite Films of the 1980s, by International Release Date

1989

  1. DO THE RIGHT THING (Spike Lee, USA)
  2. ELEPHANT (Alan Clarke, UK)
  3. HOMEWORK (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran)
  4. THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH (Hal Hartley, USA)
  5. LA TAREA (EL APRENDIZ DE PORNOGRAFO) (video version) (Jaime Hermosillo, Mexico)
  6. SAY ANYTHING… (Cameron Crowe, USA)
  7. THE FIRM (Alan Clarke, UK)
  8. LA FILLE DE 15 ANS (Jacques Doillon, France)
  9. CAT CHASER (120-minute version) (Abel Ferrara, USA)
  10. PALOMBELLA ROSSA (Nanni Moretti, Italy)
  11. PARENTS (Bob Balaban, USA)
  12. MY TWENTIETH CENTURY (Ildikó Enyedi, Hungary)
  13. GETTING IT RIGHT (Randal Kleiser, UK)

SPEAKING PARTS (Atom Egoyan, Canada)
STRAPLESS (David Hare, UK)

1988

  1. THE VENUS TRAP (Robert van Ackeren, West Germany)
  2. LA LECTRICE (Michel Deville, France)
  3. DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (Terence Davies, UK)
  4. 36 FILLETTE (Catherine Breillat, France)
  5. ONCE MORE (Paul Vecchiali, France)
  6. THE SUMMER OF MISS FORBES (Jaime Hermosillo, Mexico/Cuba)
  7. CROSSING DELANCEY (Joan Micklin Silver, USA)
  8. HIGH HOPES (Mike Leigh, UK)
  9. WINNIE (John Korty, USA)
  10. DAYS OF ECLIPSE (Aleksandr Sokurov, USSR)
  11. ZERO CITY (Karen Shakhnazarov, USSR)
  12. WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (Pedro Almodovar, Spain)
  13. C.A.T SQUAD: PYTHON WOLF (William Friedkin, USA)
  14. POLICE STORY 2 (Jackie Chan, Hong Kong)
  15. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (Hayao Miyazaki, Japan)
  16. THE THIN BLUE LINE (Errol Morris, USA)
  17. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (Richard Linklater, USA)
  18. JULY (Darezhan Omirbaev, Kazakhstan)
  19. JACOB (Mircea Daneliuc, Romania)
  20. MIRACLE MILE (Steve De Jarnatt, USA)

THE MODERNS (Alan Rudolph, USA)
SCHOOL DAZE (Spike Lee, USA)
PATTY HEARST (Paul Schrader, USA)
JACK’S BACK (Rowdy Herrington, USA)

1987

  1. CHANGELING (Sohrab Shahid Saless, W. Germany)
  2. CHRISTINE (Alan Clarke, UK)
  3. THE CRY OF THE OWL (Claude Chabrol, France)
  4. RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO (Alan Clarke, UK)
  5. HOUSEKEEPING (Bill Forsyth, USA)
  6. THE FOUR ADVENTURES OF REINETTE AND MIRABELLE (Eric Rohmer, France)
  7. CHANGE OF FORTUNE (Kira Muratova, USSR)
  8. A TAXING WOMAN (Juzo Itami, Japan)
  9. THE SHORT AND CURLIES (Mike Leigh, UK)
  10. CHINA GIRL (Abel Ferrara, USA)
  11. UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN (Maurice Pialat, France)
  12. PERSONAL SERVICES (Terry Jones, UK)
  13. THE TROUBLE WITH DICK (Gary Walkow, USA)
  14. ROAD (Alan Clarke, UK)
  15. LAW OF DESIRE (Pedro Almodovar, Spain)
  16. DAUGHTER OF THE NILE (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan)
  17. LUMINOUS WOMAN (Shinji Somai, Japan)
  18. KHAREBA AND GOGI (Giorgi Shengelaia, USSR)
  19. BILLY THE KID AND THE GREEN BAIZE VAMPIRE (Alan Clarke, UK)
  20. FALSCH (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium)
  21. THE CARTOGRAPHER’S GIRLFRIEND (Hal Hartley, USA)
  22. MAKING WAVES (Ann Wingate, UK)

1986

  1. LE RAYON VERT (Eric Rohmer, France)
  2. SONG OF EXPERIENCE (Stephen Frears, UK)
  3. ROSA LA ROSE, FILLE PUBLIQUE (Paul Vecchiali, France)
  4. THE SIDEWALKS OF SATURN (Hugo Santiago, France/Argentina)
  5. NOIR ET BLANC (Claire Devers, France)
  6. THE BIG EASY (Jim McBride, USA)
  7. THE TERRORIZERS (Edward Yang, Taiwan)
  8. MAUVAIS SANG (Leos Carax, France)
  9. CRIME STORY: “Pilot” (Abel Ferrara, USA)
  10. ALGER LA BLANCHE (Cyril Collard, France)
  11. RIVER’S EDGE (Tim Hunter, USA)
  12. DOGS IN SPACE (Richard Lowenstein, Australia)
  13. A DEADLY BUSINESS (John Korty, USA)
  14. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: ENOUGH ROPE FOR TWO (David Chase, USA)
  15. THE CUP AND THE LIP (Warren Sonbert, USA)
  16. MODERN GIRLS (Jerry Kramer, USA)
  17. EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE (Hal Ashby, USA)

DUET FOR ONE (Andrei Konchalovsky, USA)

1985

  1. LA VIE DE FAMILLE (Jacques Doillon, France)
  2. CONTACT (Alan Clarke, UK)
  3. THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (Dan O’Bannon, USA)
  4. POLICE (Maurice Pialat, France)
  5. MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (Stephen Frears, UK)
  6. KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN (Yi Chang, Taiwan)
  7. DAY OF THE DEAD (George Romero, USA)
  8. BAD MEDICINE (Harvey Miller, USA)
  9. MY LIFE AS A DOG (Lasse Hallstrom, Sweden)
  10. WETHERBY (David Hare, UK)
  11. INTO THE NIGHT (John Landis, USA)
  12. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (Jacques Rivette, France)
  13. COME AND SEE (Elem Klimov, USSR)
  14. ROSETTE VEND DES ROSES (Rosette and Eric Rohmer, France)
  15. ADELA (Mircea Veroiu, Romania)
  16. LITTLE TREASURE (Alan Sharp, USA)
  17. COMPROMISING POSITIONS (Frank Perry, USA)
  18. TAIPEI STORY (Edward Yang, Taiwan)
  19. HANS, A YOUTH IN GERMANY (Sohrab Shahid Saless, Germany)
  20. LOST CHAPTER OF SNOW: PASSION (Shinji Sômai, Japan)

A YOUNG COMPOSER’S JOURNEY (Giorgi Shengelaia, USSR)

1984

  1. CHOOSE ME (Alan Rudolph, USA)
  2. TARANG (Kumar Shahani, India)
  3. FULL MOON IN PARIS (Eric Rohmer, France)
  4. LES CAPRICIEUX (Michel Deville, France)
  5. ANOTHER COUNTRY (Marek Kanievska, UK)
  6. THE WILLOW TREE (Sohrab Shahid Saless, W. Germany)
  7. KAOS (Taviani Bros., Italy)
  8. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? (Pedro Almodovar, Spain)
  9. FOUR DAYS IN JULY (Mike Leigh, UK)
  10. THE HIT (Stephen Frears, UK)
  11. UFORIA (John Binder, USA)
  12. KADDISH (Steve Brand, USA)
  13. VENGEANCE IS MINE (HAUNTED) (Michael Roemer, USA)
  14. NEXT OF KIN (Atom Egoyan, Canada)
  15. THIS IS SPINAL TAP (Rob Reiner, USA)
  16. STRANGER THAN PARADISE (Jim Jarmusch, USA)
  17. THE FLAMINGO KID (Garry Marshall, USA)
  18. SUMMER AT GRANDPA’S (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan)
  19. MEMORIES OF PRISON (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazil)
  20. FIRSTBORN (Michael Apted, USA)
  21. BOY MEETS GIRL (Leos Carax, France)
  22. THE HANASARERU GANG (Nobuhiro Suwa, Japan)
  23. KHANDHAR (THE RUINS) (Mrinal Sen, India)
  24. A GIRL’S OWN STORY (Jane Campion, Australia)
  25. MY GENIE (Ronald Resnick, USA)
  26. TIME OF DESIRE (Yuli Raizman, USSR)
  27. THE YEAR OF THE JELLYFISH (Christopher Frank, France)
  28. PASO DOBLE (Lothar Lambert, West Germany)
  29. NAUGHTY BOYS (Eric de Kuyper, Belgium)
  30. A PRIVATE FUNCTION (Malcolm Mowbray, UK)

MAYA MIRIGA (Nirad N. Mahapatra, India)

1983

  1. A NOS AMOURS (Maurice Pialat, France)
  2. THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (Shohei Imamura, Japan)
  3. RISKY BUSINESS (Paul Brickman, USA)
  4. MEANTIME (Mike Leigh, UK)
  5. UTOPIA (Sohrab Shahid Saless, West Germany)
  6. AMONG GREY STONES (Kira Muratova, USSR)
  7. BREATHLESS (Jim McBride, USA)
  8. THE TERENCE DAVIES TRILOGY (Terence Davies, UK)
  9. ISLAND OF SWANS (Herrmann Zschoche, East Germany)
  10. BETRAYAL (David Jones, UK)
  11. L’ARGENT (Robert Bresson, France)
  12. APPROACHING OMEGA (John Dorr, USA)
  13. GOOD GRIEF (Susan Rogers, USA)
  14. CATCH THE GOLDEN RING (Elizabeth Stoner, USA)
  15. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Nils Malmros, Denmark)
  16. THE CATCH (Shinji Somai, Japan)
  17. LOVESICK (Marshall Brickman, USA)
  18. AMERICAN TABOO (Steve Lustgarden, USA)
  19. TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE: “NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET” (George Miller, USA)
  20. DREAMLAND COURT (Dale Herd and Barry Hall, USA)
  21. THE STORY OF PIERA (Marco Ferreri, Italy)
  22. CAREFUL, HE MIGHT HEAR YOU (Carl Schultz, Australia)
  23. HARD MAN (Alan Barker, USA)
  24. PAULINE AT THE BEACH (Eric Rohmer, France)
  25. THE DAY IS LONGER THAN THE NIGHT (Lana Gogoberidze, Georgia/USSR)
  26. HOME VILLAGE (Seijiro Koyama, Japan)
  27. LOVING WALTER (Stephen Frears, UK)

AMITYVILLE 3-D (Richard Fleischer, USA)
A WOMAN IN FLAMES (Robert van Ackeren, West Germany)
THE DAY AFTER (Nicholas Meyer, USA)

1982

  1. LA TRUITE (Joseph Losey, France)
  2. THE STATE OF THINGS (Wim Wenders, West Germany)
  3. CONTES MODERNES: À PROPOS DE TRAVAIL: “OFFRE D’EMPLOI” (Jean Eustache, France)
  4. DANGEROUS COMPANY (Lamont Johnson, USA)
  5. LOOKIN’ TO GET OUT (director’s cut only) (Hal Ashby, USA)
  6. THE MARATHON FAMILY (Slobodan Sijan, Yugoslavia)
  7. THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (Taviani Bros., Italy)
  8. HOME SWEET HOME (Mike Leigh, UK)
  9. TEX (Tim Hunter, USA)
  10. LES FANTOMES DU CHAPELIER (Claude Chabrol, France)
  11. PRIVATE LIFE (Yuli Raizman, USSR)
  12. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (Nicholas Meyer, USA)
  13. A HUNGER ARTIST (John Strysik, USA)
  14. THE EYES, THE MOUTH (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)
  15. MADE IN BRITAIN (Alan Clarke, UK)
  16. STRAIGHT TO THE HEART (Gianni Amelio, Italy)
  17. THE WORTHLESS (Mika Kaurismaki, Finland)
  18. LEÇONS D’UNE UNIVERSITÉ VOLANTE: LEÇON 4 (Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne, Belgium)
  19. LE BEAU MARIAGE (Eric Rohmer, France)
  20. BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott, USA)
  21. IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy/France)
  22. CASTA DIVA (Eric de Kuyper, Belgium)

VOLVER (David Lipszyc, Argentina)

1981

  1. THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE (Nils Malmros, Denmark)
  2. THE AVIATOR’S WIFE (Eric Rohmer, France)
  3. RICH AND FAMOUS (George Cukor, USA)
  4. DRAGONSLAYER (Matthew Robbins, USA)
  5. LOLA (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany)
  6. THE MELODY HAUNTS MY REVERIE (Rajko Grlic, Yugoslavia)
  7. PLEIN SUD (Luc Beraud, France)
  8. SMASH PALACE (Roger Donaldson, New Zealand)
  9. LA FILLE PRODIGUE (Jacques Doillon, France)
  10. EAUX PROFONDES (Michel Deville, France)
  11. A THOUSAND LITTLE KISSES (Mira Recanati, Israel)
  12. KNIGHTRIDERS (George Romero, USA)
  13. BELOVED ENEMY (Alan Clarke, UK)
  14. MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR (George Miller, Australia)
  15. MEMOIRS OF A SURVIVOR (David Gladwell, UK)
  16. MURDER IN TEXAS (William Hale, USA)
  17. BLIND CHANCE (Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland)
  18. THE IDEAL LANDSCAPE (Peeter Simm, Estonia)
  19. EIJANAIKA (Shohei Imamura, Japan)
  20. ALL NIGHT LONG (Jean-Claude Tramont, USA)
  21. MS. 45 (Abel Ferrara, USA)
  22. EYE OF THE NEEDLE (Richard Marquand, UK)
  23. ORDERLY OR UNORDERLY (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran)

MONTENEGRO (Dusan Makavejev, UK)
HIGH RISK (Stewart Raffill, USA)

1980

  1. GROWN-UPS (Mike Leigh, UK)
  2. BLOODY KIDS (Stephen Frears, UK)
  3. THE FIANCEE (Gunter Reisch and Gunther Rucker, East Germany)
  4. CRUISING (William Friedkin, USA)
  5. BERLIN-ALEXANDERPLATZ (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany)
  6. ORDINARY PEOPLE (Robert Redford, USA)
  7. AMERICAN GIGOLO (Paul Schrader, USA)
  8. LES BONS DEBARRAS (Francis Mankiewicz, Canada)
  9. LAND AND SONS (Ágúst Guđmundsson, Iceland)
  10. LOULOU (Maurice Pialat, France)
  11. STRANGULATION BLUES (Leos Carax, France)
  12. AMBER WAVES (Joseph Sargent, USA)
  13. C’EST LA VIE! (Paul Vecchiali, France)
  14. BYE BYE BRAZIL (Carlos Diegues, Brazil)
  15. ASPHALT NIGHT (Peter Fratzscher, West Germany)
  16. A CHANGE OF SEASONS (Richard Lang, USA)
  17. THE COMPETITION (Joel Oliansky, USA)
  18. AND NEXT YEAR AT LAKE BALATON (Herrmann Zschoche, East Germany)
  19. JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT (Sidney Lumet, USA)
  20. ALTERED STATES (Ken Russell, USA)
  21. EXTERIEUR, NUIT (Jacques Bral, France)
  22. ORDER (Sohrab Shadid Saless, West Germany)
  23. SING BEAST SING (Marv Newland, USA)
  24. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEMINI (Richard Benner, USA)
  25. WHO’S SINGIN’ OVER THERE? (Slobodan Sijan, Yugoslavia)
  26. PILGRIM, FAREWELL (Michael Roemer, USA)
  27. SNAPSHOT AROUND THE FAMILY TABLE (Ada Pistiner, Romania)

BAD TIMING/A SENSUAL OBSESSION (Nicolas Roeg, UK)
MIKE TEST (Mircea Daneliuc, Romania)
VAN MORRISON IN IRELAND (Michael Radford, UK)

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