Idris Elba’s four favourite movies: “It’s an amazing film”
After appearing in a string of British television shows throughout the 1990s, Idris Elba got a rather unexpected start to his film career when he landed a role in the French movie Belle maman alongside Catherine Deneuve. Even though he couldn’t speak French, he soon realised that if he could do a good job, he could do anything. Soon enough, he earned acclaim for his appearance in the show The Wire, while further success inevitably came with Luther in 2010.
As his television career allowed him to take home several prominent awards, such as a Golden Globe, his film credits also increased, and he eventually landed roles in big-budget productions like Thor, Pacific Rim, Avengers: Infinity War, and even Cats, but perhaps we’ll forget about that one. Elba is a multi-talented star, having also honed a successful career as a musician and DJ, but it was acting that became his first love when he was a teenager.
He has been inspired by various films as he has dedicated himself to the craft of cinema, and in an interview with Letterboxd, he selected his four favourite movies. He started with Babylon, the 1980 film by Franco Rosso that explored the lives of several young DJs living in Brixton during the height of Margaret Thatcher’s oppressive reign over the country. Expertly exploring racism and police brutality while highlighting the importance of music and community, the film is one that Elba has taken significant influence from. “It actually was one of the big inspirations for a film I made as a director [Yardie],” he explained.
Up next is The Empire Strikes Back, the second instalment in the Star Wars franchise. Directed by Irvin Kershner, the film was a huge success, cementing the series as one of the most popular and influential in cinema history. “Star Wars is great too, but Empire Strikes Back was just like, wow!” he admitted. “I wanted the toys, I wanted to be in the movies. At that point, I knew filmmaking was something that I really wanted to do.”
Elba couldn’t not mention a Martin Scorsese classic, too, picking Goodfellas as one of his favourites. The classic gangster film was released to widespread acclaim in 1990, and it’s full of acting masterclasses that certainly inspired the budding star. “For many reasons. It’s an amazing film. It’s an amazing time capsule of a time that I didn’t understand until I watched that movie. I was a very big [Robert] De Niro – and still am – fan.” It’s a classic for a reason; you can’t get a much better movie-watching experience than by fully tapping into the epic storytelling of Goodfellas, and it’s one that Elba revisits time and time again.
Finally, Parasite, a modern classic by Bong Joon Ho. It might have only been released in 2019, but it has already cemented itself as one of the greatest dark comedies ever made, delivering a clever attack on class inequality. “There’s so many different things it evokes within me. A person that is pretending to be someone else all the time. The irony of that film really, really touched me,” Elba revealed.
The actor clearly has a diverse taste in films, and it seems as though his childhood dream might be coming true, with rumours now circulating that he will appear in the next Star Wars movie.
