Chiwetel Ejiofor’s four favourite movies of all time
Chiwetel Ejiofor is one of those actors who everyone seems to know from something or other, but still hasn’t ever really gotten his flowers. A dynamic and prolific actor on both screen and stage, he’s got a long list of awards to his name, including a Bafta, a Laurence Olivier Award, multiple Golden Globes, a nomination for an Oscar, and the man has a CBE.
It goes without saying that we should all know exactly who he is. On the silver screen, much of his time has been dedicated to action films and blockbusters, while onstage, much of his time has been spent with Shakespeare. This gives a hint at Ejiofor’s talent, education and dedication to his craft, which becomes even more obvious when you find out his favourite films.
Speaking to Letterboxd, he unpretentiously and without pomp rattled off his current list of faves while on a press run for his most recent film, The Old Guard 2. The first on the list is an Old Hollywood classic, “Today I would say, Holiday—Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn”. The 1938 film follows Grant as the self-made Johnny Case, fiancé to Julia Seton, the by-the-book younger sister to Hepburn’s vivacious Linda Seton.
Planning to take a holiday after their marriage, Case is conflicted between his life of freedom and the stifling upper-class life of his newfound beau. A love triangle ensues, and Hepburn is as captivating as always. In fact, it’s known to be the film that brought her back from the brink of being ‘box-office poison’.
Each film on Ejiofor’s list is completely different from the last, so where Holiday is a classic of old Hollywood, the next is a classic of ’80s cinema: Do the Right Thing. A Spike Lee joint, it explores racial tensions between the owners of an Italian-American pizzeria and its Black customers in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bed-Stuy. Only Lee’s second film, it was both a commercial and critical success, with two Oscar nominations, and it was selected for induction into the National Film Registry for being “culturally, socially or aesthetically significant”.
It’s interesting that while the actor’s first two picks couldn’t be more different, they both also explore social tensions of the time. While the third film on his list might not exactly do this, it’s even more cerebral than the rest. “I would choose a Tarkovsky,” he stated, as if that was the most obvious decision in the world for someone in his position. After a minute of contemplation on which Tarkovsky he casually landed on, “Andrei Rublev… I would say”.
Nothing like a Soviet Epic historical biopic set in medieval Russia to get you going, huh, Chiwetel? Over three hours long, in black and white and censored by the Soviet Union for its depiction of faith and Christianity, it’s certainly an interesting choice that shows this actor is serious. It’s even more hilarious when you consider he’s being interviewed while on the press run for a blockbuster sequel about immortal mercenaries. But, I digress, and it’s better than choosing a Disney movie.
And, lastly, he ends with a film that he’d been “Talking about and thinking about the other day, was Waltz with Bashir… It’s a really extraordinary film”. A 2008 animated war documentary following an IDF soldier as he uncovers buried memories of his complicity in the Sabra and Shatila massacre during the 1982 Lebanon War, it’s understandable why this movie was on Ejiofor’s mind at this time, specifically. The film has often divided opinion, with many viewing it as a powerful anti-war film, while others consider it to be manufacturing sympathy for those enacting violence.
Regardless of your opinion on the film itself, it, along with the others on his list, demonstrates the actor’s engagement with the political, social and cultural world around him. It’s certainly an interesting list to think on.
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s four favourite movies of all time:
- Holiday (c, 1938)
- Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
- Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966)
- Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
