Tilda Swinton picks the 10 greatest movies of all time
Few contemporary actors have left an impression on cinema quite like Tilda Swinton, known for her bold presence and androgynous style, often pushing the boundaries of convention in her roles. Her movie career found its start in the experimental works of Derek Jarman. Then, in 1992, she impressed critics with her portrayal of Orlando in Sally Potter’s film of the same name, a character that traverses genders and centuries.
In the early 2000s, the actor dipped her toe into the world of mainstream Hollywood, appearing in films such as Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Moving between Hollywood blockbusters and experimental independent cinema, Swinton proves it’s possible to balance both, exceeding in everything she does. In 2007, she took home a ‘Best Supporting Actress’ Academy Award and BAFTA for her role as Karen in Michael Clayton, cementing her place in the annals of Hollywood history.
Reflecting on her work and career to date, Swinton once explained to GQ: “For a lot of actors, there’s a sort of code of honor around playing something other than yourself, which I just don’t have. I love feeling like I’m – I won’t even say acting out, but performing in some deep seam of my consciousness or my family’s consciousness or my past. That’s really amusing to me.”
Judging by the scope of Swinton’s filmography, it is clear that she lives and breathes cinema. For Sight and Sound’s decennial greatest films of all time poll, Swinton was asked to select her ten picks. Every movie on her list was made before 1990, and it appears that she has a particular love for cinema dating back to the 1940s and 1950s.
To kick things off, Swinton cites Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s A Matter Of Life And Death as one of the greatest films of all time, which she has previously referred to as her defintiive favourite. In You Gotta See This: More Than 100 of Hollywood’s Best Reveal and Discuss Their Favorite Films by Cindy Pearlman, Swinton revealed that she loves it because it “creates a magical world” while exploring “the fantasy of heaven in a man’s mind”.
Swinton also selected Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles by Chantal Akerman, which was crowned the greatest film of all time in Sight and Sound‘s 2022 poll. The project is a landmark of feminist cinema, detailing the monotonous life of a widowed woman, played by Delphine Seyrig.
Discover Swinton’s complete list of picks below.
Tilda Swinton’s 10 favourite movies:
- A Matter Of Life And Death (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946)
- Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
- Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953)
- To Be Or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)
- Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)
- Journey To Italy (Roberto Rossellini, 1954)
- Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
- Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
- My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)
- La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
The actor also picked Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro, often regarded as one of the best animated films ever made, earning itself a spot at number 72 in the poll overall. During an interview with W Magazine, she revealed that Miyazaki’s films never fail to make her cry. Swinton said: “When I met Hayao Miyazaki last night, I told him with not a word of a lie that he’s a household god in my family. […] If I’m ever in a coma, just play the music of My Neighbour Totoro, and I’ll come round.”
