Andrew Haigh names his five favourite movies of all time
Too often, when we think about the greatest British directors of the contemporary screen, we turn to the big names such as Christopher Nolan, Danny Boyle and Gareth Edwards, and whilst they are certainly proficient filmmakers, some of the country’s very best talents operate in relative obscurity. We’re talking about the likes of Lynne Ramsay, Clio Barnard, Andrea Arnold, and Andrew Haigh, who have each contributed extraordinary pieces of cinema to the contemporary fold.
We’re massive fans of the aforementioned female trio, but for now, we want to focus on Haigh, the esteemed filmmaker behind such modern greats as 2011’s Weekend, 2015’s 45 Years and 2023’s All of Us Strangers. A lover of almost ethereal romantic dramas, Haigh’s films float with a weightless beauty, where the atmosphere is treated as a character in and of itself, with 45 Years bleeding with heartache and All of Us Strangers being a yearning lesson in nostalgia.
A highly respected filmmaker in the world of arthouse cinema, Haigh sat down with Le Cinéma Club to discuss his favourite movies of all time, revealing a fascinating insight into the mind of the modern master.
First on Haigh’s list is the iconic Ingmar Bergman movie Cries and Whispers. “Once seen, never forgotten (even if you wish you could),” the filmmaker simply stated regarding the movie that tells the story of a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden who is forced to navigate sibling tensions. Often called one of the best movies of all time, Cries and Whispers is one of Bergman’s many classics.
Praising Bob Rafelson’s 1970 movie Five Easy Pieces for having “the perfect ending,” Haigh sticks the film at number two on his list. Starring Jack Nicholson, the four-time Oscar winner tells the story of an upper-class American who takes work on oil rigs amid his own booze-fuelled life. Nominated for ‘Best Picture, Five Easy Pieces is one of Nicholson’s very best movies.
Making reference to his own 2017 movie, Haigh brings his favourites to the world of British cinema, naming Ken Loach’s 1969 film Kes: “The film I referenced to persuade Willy Vlautin to give me the rights to Lean on Pete (and the best film ever about a boy and a bird).” Regularly called the best British movie of all time for a reason, Loach’s classic is a coming-of-age tale about a boy’s obsession with his pet kestrel.
Taking the penultimate spot is the independent Don McKellar movie Last Night from 1998. Calling the flick “the sweetest film ever made about the end of the world,” it’s clear that Haigh has a lot of fondness for the film that tells the story of a collection of random people who are brought together to reflect upon the end of the world as the new millennium nears.
The final film to grace his list is the 2002 Turkish movie Uzak from Nuri Bilge Ceylan. A graceful drama that tells the story of a photographer going through an existential crisis, Haigh calls Uzak “the best depiction of loneliness in modern cinema,” and we’d tend to agree.
Andrew Haigh’s favourite movies:
- Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman, 1972)
- Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)
- Kes (Ken Loach, 1969)
- Last Night (Don McKellar, 1998)
- Uzak (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2002)
