Ever seen a movie that changed your life? Not just in a superficial way, like “wow, I just saw a movie that I like more than all others!” No, I mean one that really changes the way you see the world.

It’s hard to find a better list of films that are so unbelievably watchable, and yet say more about all those topics listed above. These movies will literally change your life.

#5: Riefenstahl’s Disturbing Masterpiece, Triumph of the Will.

Leni Riefenstahl’s chilling tribute to Hitler and the Nazi party will change the way you think about art that glorifies war and violence. When you realize that great film spectacle can be put into the service of something so terrible as Nazism, it changes the way you look at all heavily aestheticized works.

#4: Neo-Realism At Its Best — Bicycle Thieves.

Ultra-simple — a man gets a bike, and a job, when Rome is very poor after the second world war. He then loses the bike, and tries to steal another one so he can keep the job. There isn’t much else to the plot, but it contains a whole world.

#3: Chinatown.

If you’ve been put off by a few select films from the’40s because the plots are so convoluted or you don’t happen to be a huge Bogart fan, check out this one instead, which has the perfect spirit of the 70s but happens to be set way back.

#2: Hitchcock Never Got Better Than Vertigo.

When people talk about deep novels with layers of meaning that you can return to again and again, this is the film equivalent of those. You can watch this for fun, for James Stewart, for San Francisco, or for Hitchcock’s complete dismantling of how he directs films, treats women, and sees the world.

#1: Coppola’s Godfather Hits Heights Most Films Dream About.

It doesn’t matter that this film is about the mafia — it’s actually about family, power, children, America, crime, and politics. It’s also told so unbelievably well that sometimes you literally cannot believe it doesn’t have a bad moment. Which it doesn’t. The ultimate example of film’s completely unique cultural position.

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