Warfare director Alex Garland has named his four favourite films. In a recent interview with social media platform for film fanatics, Letterboxd the director talked about some of the films the he liked most.
The Civil War director started with one he’d watched recently and that he has “absolutely loved”, Anatomy of a Fall.
The film’s synopsis reads: “A man falls to his death at his chalet in the French Alps. There is enough evidence to suggest that it may have been murder. His wife, who was the only other occupant of the chalet at the time, is the prime suspect and is indicted. The only witness is their blind young son. At the trial all manner of secrets of the couple’s relationship are revealed.”
On the 2023 Oscar-winning film, Garland said: “I was blown away by it.
“It’s a completely stunning bit of filmmaking.”
Garland then selected another film that he had watched recently but also as a child, All That Jazz.
On the Bod Fosse movie he said: “Scorchingly honest about itself, also blown away by that.”
All That Jazz’ synopsis reads: “When he is not planning for his upcoming stage musical or working on his Hollywood film, choreographer/director Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) is popping pills and sleeping with a seemingly endless line of women. The physical and mental stress begins to take a toll on the ragged perfectionist. Soon, he must decide whether or not his non-stop work schedule and hedonistic lifestyle are worth risking his life. The film is a semi-autobiographical tale written and directed by the legendary Bob Fosse.”
Spirited Away was the next choice for the director. The 2022 animated movie has received widespread critical acclaim.
“In this animated feature by noted Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, 10-year-old Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi) and her parents (Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi) stumble upon a seemingly abandoned amusement park. After her mother and father are turned into giant pigs, Chihiro meets the mysterious Haku (Miyu Irino), who explains that the park is a resort for supernatural beings who need a break from their time spent in the earthly realm, and that she must work there to free herself and her parents,” its synopsis states.
Garland’s last pick was Come and See, it’s synopsis reads: “The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya (Aleksey Kravchenko) into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family’s wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha (Olga Mironova), who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.”
“It’s an extraordinary film, but it’s also an anti-war film. A lot of war movies might want to be anti-war movies but they are not really anti-war and Come and See, that’s anti-war,” explained Garland.
Garland’s most notable films include Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, and Civil War. He has also written screenplays for other films such as 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Never Let Me Go.