100 Best Movies of the 2000's

The 2000’s have been the most incredible time of my two and a half decades’ worth existence. These last ten years have played the most singularly important part in determining not just who I am today, but also, in all probability, in who I will be (or continue to be) in the next few decades that I hope to remain alive.

Some of the most memorable things of my life have occurred in these last 10 years – high school, graduation in mechanical engineering, hostel life, my first job. This was also the time I made some good friends who I hope will last this lifetime, I had my first tryst with love, I learnt to appreciate good books, good music and good cinema (as opposed to their more popular equivalents), I realised my deep and lifelong love for my city Calcutta, and a lot more, not necessarily scandalous, that I rather not recount here at this blog of mine.

So, without further ado, let me present what counts in my opinion the 100 best movies of the first decade of this millennium, or more appropriately, the 100 best of what I have had the utmost pleasure of seeing till now and being immensely enriched by.

1. No Country for Old Men (US, ’06) – Joel & Ethan Coen
2. Utsab (India, ’01) – Rituparno Ghosh
3. Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico, ’06) – Guillermo Del Toro
4. Oldboy (S. Korea, ’04) – Park Chan-Wook
5. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Romania, ’07) – Cristian Mungiu
6. A History of Violence (UK/Canada, ’05) – David Cronenberg
7. Yi Yi (Taiwan, ’00) – Edward Yang
8. Shubho Mahurat (India, ’03) – Rituparno Ghosh
9. The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (France, ’07) – Julian Schnabel
10. The White Ribbon (Austria/Germany, ’09) – Michael Haneke

11. 2046 (Hong Kong, ’04) – Wong Kar-Wai
12. Memento (US, ’00) – Christopher Nolan
13. Kill Bill Vol. I & II (US, ’03, ’04) – Quentin Tarantino
14. Revanche (Austria, ’08) – Gotz Spielmann
15. Zodiac (US, ’07) – David Fincher
16. The Proposition (Australia, ’05) – John Hillcoat
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (US, ’04) – Michel Gondry
18. Amores Perros (Mexico, ’00) – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
19. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (S. Korea, ’02) – Park Chan-Wook
20. Let the Right One in (Sweden, ’08) – Tomas Alfredson

21. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (US, ’07) – Sidney Lumet
22. 12:08 East of Bucharest (Romania, ’06) – Corneliu Porumboiu
23. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring (S. Korea, ’03) – Kim Ki-Duk
24. A Bittersweet Life (S. Korea, ’05) – Kim Jee-woon
25. Uzak (Turkey, ’02) – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
26. Memories of Murder (Hong Kong, ’03) – Bong Joon-Ho
27. The Royal Tenenbaums (US, ’01) – Wes Anderson
28. The Edge of Heaven (Turkey/Germany, ’07) – Fatih Akin
29. Capote (US, ’05) – Bennett Miller
30. California Dreamin’ (Romania, ’07) – Cristian Nemescu

31. Herbert (India, ’06) – Suman Mukhopadhyay
32. No Man’s Land (Serbia/Bosnia, ’01) – Danis Tanovic
33. In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong, ’00) – Wong Kar-Wai
34. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (US, ’08) – Andrew Dominik
35. Dogville (Denmark, ’03) – Lars von Triar
36. Waltz With Bashir (Israel, ’08) – Ari Forman
37. The Lives of Others (Germany, ’06) – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
38. Talk to Her (Spain, ’02) – Pedro Almodovar
39. Werckmeister Harmonies (Hungary, ’00) – Bela Tarr
40. Paromitar Ek Din (India, ’00) – Aparna Sen



41. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Romania, ’05) – Cristi Puiu
42. Mulholland Drive (US, ’01) – David Lynch
43. Monsoon Wedding (India, '01) - Mira Nair
44. Minority Report (US, ’02) – Steven Spielberg
45. Spider (UK/Canada, ’02) – David Cronenberg
46. City of God (Brazil, ’02) – Fernando Meirelles
47. Cache (Austria, ’05) – Michael Haneke
48. Goodbye, Lenin! (Germany, ’04) – Wolfgang Becker
49. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden, ’09) – Niels Arden Oplev
50. Punch Drunk Love (US, ’02) – Paul Thomas Anderson



51. Shotgun Stories (US, ’07) – Jeff Nichols
52. Omkara (India, ’06) – Vishal Bharadwaj
53. The Squid & the Whale (US, ’05) – Noah Baumbach
54. Before Sunset (US, ’04) – Richard Linklater
55. I’m Not There (US, ’07) – Todd Haynes
56. Bad Education (Spain, ’04) – Pedro Almodovar
57. The Son (France/Belgium, ’02) – Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
58. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexico, ’01) – Alfonso Cuaron
59. The Devil’s Backbone (Mexico, ’01) – Guillermo Del Toro
60. Eastern Promises (UK, ’07) – David Cronenberg



61. Little Miss Sunshine (US, ’06) – Jonathan Dayton
62. Dancer in the Dark (Denmark, ’00) – Lars von Triar
63. The Motorcycle Diaries (Argentina, ’02) – Walter Salles Jr.
64. Ashes of Time Redux (Hong Kong, ’08) – Wong Kar-Wai
65. Hunger (UK, ’08) – Steve McQueen
66. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (S. Korea, ’05) – Park Chan-Wook
67. Munich (US, ’05) – Steven Spielberg
68. A Christmas Tale (France, ’08) – Arnaud Desplechin
69. Death Proof (US, ’07) – Quentin Tarantino
70. Kaalpurush (India, ’08) – Buddhadeb Dasgupta



71. Antares (Austria, ’04) – Gotz Spielmann
72. The Departed (US, ’06) – Martin Scorsese
73. Nowhere in Africa (Germany, ’01) – Caroline Link
74. Mystic River (US, ’03) – Clint Eastwood
75. Children of Men (US, ’06) – Alfonso Cuaron
76. The Darjeeling Limited (US, ’07) – Wes Anderson
77. The Man Who Wasn’t There (US, ’01) – Joel & Ethan Coen
78. Amelie (France, ’01) – Jean-Pierre Jeunet
79. Head-On (Turkey/Germany, ’04) – Fatih Akin
80. Movern Callar (UK-Scotland, ’02) – Lynne Ramsay



81. Flight of the Red Balloon (France, ’07) – Hou Hsiao-Hsien
82. Traffic (US, ’00) – Steven Soderberg
83. The Piano Teacher (Austria, ’01) – Michael Haneke
84. Downfall (Germany, ’04) – Oliver Herschbeigel
85. The Queen (UK, ’06) – Stephen Frears
86. A Serious Man (US, ’09) – Joel & Ethan Coen
87. Hero (China, ’02) –Zhang Yimou
88. The Bow (S. Korea, ’05) – Kim Ki-Duk
89. Johnny Gaddar (India, ’07) – Sriram Raghavan
90. Malena (Italy, ’00) – Guiseppe Tornatore



91. Persepolis (France, ’07) – Marjane Satrapi & Vencent Paronnaud
92. The Savages (US, ’07) – Tamara Jenkins
93. Katyn (Poland, ’07) – Andrzej Wajda
94. I Served the King of England (Czech Repub, ’07) – Jiri Menzel
95. L’Enfant (France/Belgium, ’05) – Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
96. There Will be Blood (US, ’08) – Paul Thomas Anderson
97. Police, Adjective (Romania, ’09) – Corneliu Porumboiu
98. Lust, Caution (Hong Kong, ’07) – Ang Lee
99. Raincoat (India, ’04) – Rituparno Ghosh
100. The Wrestler (US, ’08) – Darren Aronofsky

Disclaimer: If a movie you feel should have been there in the Top 100 isn't there, it means either I haven't watched it (e.g. Russian Ark, Three Times, Tropical Malady, etc.) or it failed to make my Top 100 (e.g. Kings & Queen, Gosford Park, 3-Iron, etc.).