(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Tue 14 October 2025 9:46, UK
Celebrated as one of the most transformative actors of contemporary cinema, the British screen icon Gary Oldman seemingly has the chameleon-like capabilities to take on any role he likes.
A member of the ‘Brit Pack’, a name given to a group of respected upcoming British actors in the late 1980s that included Colin Firth, Tim Roth, and Daniel Day-Lewis, Oldman has arguably become the most successful of the bunch. His delivery is unparalleled, but perhaps his greatest asset is his commitment to his roles, something which has shone brightly through all of his productions.
A truly talented character, Oldman has had the chance to depict a number of historical figures, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Sid Vicious, Joe Orton, and Winston Churchill. Speaking to Daily Actor about his approach to such roles back in 2017, the actor stated: “I have a relatively good ear and can do a few impressions of people. I don’t study them, but I think what happens with an impressionist is that they’re looking at one particular source”.
Boasting an impressive filmography that includes collaborations with the likes of Mike Leigh, Francis Ford Coppola, Luc Besson, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, and many more, Oldman has certainly developed an impressive knowledge of the silver screen. Having also directed the impressive 1997 movie Nil by Mouth, Oldman is highly qualified to pick out ten of the greatest movies ever made.
Naming his picks in the most recent edition of Sight and Sound magazine in their decennial poll of the 100 greatest movies ever made, Oldman named a list that included such filmmakers as François Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Roberto Rossellini, and John Cassavetes. It’s a list of essential films which can confirm to you, with just one simple glance, that Oldman is one of the acting profession’s greatest cinephiles.
Gary Oldman in 2025. (Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
When it comes to Fellini, it is the 1963 classic 8 ½ that Oldman opts for. This surrealist drama (with a liberal sprinkling of comedy) directed by the acclaimed Italian filmmaker follows filmmaker Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) in his struggles with creative stasis as he attempts to get a new movie off the ground. Considered a classic of European cinema, 8 ½ is best known for its iconic dream sequence.
Elsewhere, Oldman chooses the sexy Wong Kar-wai film In the Mood For Love as another film he considers an undisputed classic. Released at the turn of the new millennium, Kar-wai‘s film is one of the sexiest movies of all time, despite not even showing the suggestion of bare skin. Creating a truly seductive and romantically-charged atmosphere, the Hong Kong film director tells a poignant love story about beauty, lust, temptation, and loyalty.
The influential American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick seems to make it onto almost every single list of the greatest movies of all time, and Oldman’s picks are no different. Whilst there is a wealth of films to choose from, Oldman picks out the 1964 anti-war satire Dr. Strangelove, starring Peter Sellers, which tells the story of an American Brigadier who puts the world on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe and the useless politicians who try and prevent disaster.
While it should be noted that Oldman picked these movies as a list of the best pictures ever put to screen, only one of them featured in a list of his five favourite movies. It speaks nicely to the fact that Oldman can recognise talent and quality away from his own personal opinion. But the one movie that features on both lists is Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, starring Gene Hackman, whom Oldman gives great praise: “I love Gene Hackman in The Conversation. I love that internal man who’s just, you know, very closed down.”
Take a look at Oldman’s top 10 list in its entirety below.
Gary Oldman names the 10 greatest movies:The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)Husbands (John Cassavetes, 1970)In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)Les Enfants Du Paradis (Marcel Carné, 1945)Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1975)The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953)The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami, 1999)
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