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Michael Caine Thriller GET CARTER Tops British Critics’ Best British Films



Get Carter, Michael Caine, Mike HodgesTotal Film magazine recently asked twenty-five British film critics to come up with their choices of the best British films ever made. The result is somewhat surprising, with the 1971 Mike Hodges-directed thriller Get Carter, starring Michael Caine and some scary-looking weaponry, was selected as Britain’s very best movie ever.

Other top-ten surprises include Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), seen by many Christians as sacrilegious and by myself as an unfunny bore; the Sean Connery/James Bond actioner From Russia with Love (1963); and Mike Leigh’s Naked, with David Thewlis. No pre-1945 film made it to the top ten, which shows that British critics are as ignorant about film history as their American counterparts. Also worth noting is that every single movie on the top-ten list revolves around men and their issues; not one features a woman in a starring role. Here's the list:

1. Get Carter (1971), Mike Hodges
2. A Matter of Life and Death / Stairway to Heaven (1946), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
3. Trainspotting (1996), Danny Boyle
4. The Third Man (1949), Carol Reed
5. Life of Brian (1979), Terry Jones
6. The Wicker Man (1973), Robin Hardy
7. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Robert Hamer
8. Lawrence of Arabia (1962), David Lean
9. From Russia with Love (1963), Terence Young
10. Naked (1993), Mike Leigh

Missing from the top ten were:

According to the BBC, besides Get Carter three other Michael Caine films made it to the top 50: Zulu, The Italian Job, and Alfie (its 2004 remake starring Jude Law will open later this month in the United Kingdom). The full list will be published in this month’s edition of Total Film.

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