Paul Giamatti reveals his five favourite movies of all time
Among the finest artists of his generation, Paul Giamatti is always a powerful on-screen presence who automatically elevates any project he joins. Whether it be his stunning work on the Showtime series Billions or his tragicomic performance in the 2004 film Sideways, the American actor has never shied away from challenging roles or difficult scripts. That’s exactly how he has found himself in a race for the coveted ‘Best Actor’ prize at the Oscars this year.
Giamatti’s nomination came courtesy of Alexander Payne’s latest feature, The Holdovers, starring him as a crusty classics teacher at an elite school who develops an unusual but deep bond with a neglected student over the holidays. Exploring beloved coming-of-age tropes with a delicate touch, the movie touches upon subjects like race, loss, grief, socioeconomic inequality and more. At the centre of it all is Giamatti, with an unforgettable portrayal.
During the promotional campaign for The Holdovers, the actor spoke to A-Frame about his favourite movies of all time, and he started with Barry Lyndon: “I think it’s the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen. Every time I see it, I’m more amazed by every aspect of it. Everything about it is incredible. It disproves the whole idea that Kubrick is ‘too cold’ too. There’s so much suppressed passion and feeling in that movie that bursts out in the most incredible ways.”
Giamatti also highlighted Carol Reed’s sublime 1949 noir: “The Third Man is a movie that I’ve seen so many times that, at this point, I don’t even need to watch it because I’ve seen it so repeatedly that I can almost recreate the film myself. It’s kind of a perfect movie. It exceeds the hype. Everything about it — the performances, music, cinematography — delights me. The end of the film, too, is so unspeakably great. It never fails.”
While reflecting on the films that affected him as a child, he noted: “Local Hero is a movie that I loved as a kid. I watched it over and over again when it was on HBO, and I still love it. It’s not sentimental, but it’s whimsical, and it’s sweet, and it achieves both those things without ever overstepping a line and becoming too much of one thing. It walks this perfect line, and it’s such a sweet movie and such a heartbreaking movie.”
Although all of Giamatti’s selections are top-notch, he singled out Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon as a rare cinematic masterpiece that brings him to tears. The Japanese auteur’s 1950 experiment with narrative structures and ethics is one of the great achievements in film history, influencing multiple generations of artists who have followed in its footsteps.
Giamatti revealed: “I love Rashomon. It makes me cry, which most movies don’t. I know it’s like, ‘Who doesn’t think Rashomon is a great film?’ But I just love everything about it. I love Toshirô Mifune and I’m a big fan of Japanese cinema, and that movie goes to so many amazing places. There’s a medium that channels the spirit of a dead guy at one point!”
Check out the films below.
Paul Giamatti’s five favourite movies:
- Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
- Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
- The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
- Local Hero (Bill Forsyth, 1983)
- Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
