John Malkovich picks his five favourite movies of all time
There are few actors in the modern history of Hollywood as idiosyncratic and undeniably unique as John Malkovich. A distinctive two-time Oscar nominee, Malkovich’s cinematic choices have led him to collaborate with such names as Stephen Frears, Spike Jonze, Wolfgang Petersen and Dan Gilroy, each time taking on a role that challenges him as an actor and extends his mythos as a curious performer.
Truly unpredictable, Malkovich has taken on everything from intense drama to slapstick comedy, with a few performative oddities thrown in too, including a part in the video game series, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, as well as a short film he made with Robert Rodriguez named 100 Years that is due for release in 2115 (yes, you read that right).
With that being considered, predicting Malkovich’s top five favourite films is understandably tricky, with each one being something of a surprising choice. However, during an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, he revealed all.
The list starts with the 1993 movie, Abraham’s Valley, helmed by the Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira who Malkovich calls a “master”. Continuing in his love of the movie, the American actor adds: “A very idiosyncratic and unique filmmaker with a very singular sense of storytelling and pace. This is his adaptation of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. It has probably my favourite last line in cinema…’No one is so good as I, in pretending life is beautiful’”.
Taking second place on his list is a classic war movie, Gillo Pontecorvo’s Battle of Algiers. The film is set in the 1950s and follows the violence that escalates as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French. Describing the film as “taut and very telling,” Malkovich further calls the film “brilliant, prescient, and very humane,” indeed much of the critical world of cinema agrees.
Taking the third spot on Malkovich’s prestigious list is the 1970 drama, The Conformist, telling the story of a weak-willed Italian man who becomes a fascist and arranges the assassination of his old teacher, a political dissident. Speaking about the classic, the actor wrote: “I think this is Bertolucci’s masterpiece, though one could argue he made several of them. Ravishingly beautiful visuals, terrific performances, and among the most liquid and complex camerawork ever”.
Malkovich may be a fan of classics, but his next pick isn’t beloved by critics, opting for the 2008 movie Elite Squad. Telling the story of a police captain in Rio de Janeiro trying to take down drug dealers, Malkovich praises the film for being “very original, tight, often grimly comic and very informative”. More action-packed than his other picks, his love for Elite Squad shows Malkovich’s eclectic tastes.
John Malkovich’s five favourite movies:
- Abraham’s Valley (Manoel de Oliveira, 1993)
- The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
- The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
- Elite Squad (José Padilha, 2008)
- Night Train to Munich (Carol Reed, 1940)
Taking the last spot on the actor’s list of favourites is the Carol Reed movie Night Train to Munich from 1940. Calling the film a “witty and quite gripping thriller,” similar to his own 1999 movie Being John Malkovich, the actor adds that the film is “intricate and romantic with very amusing performances”. A black and white classic, Night Train to Munich comes from the same celebrated mind as The Third Man, Odd Man Out and Oliver.
