The Stunt Man (Richard Rush, 80)
"If God could do the things we can do, he'd be a happy man."
This little-seen masterpiece stars Peter O'Toole as a maniacal film director who protects a fugitive (Steve Railsback) by making him a stunt man on his set. The trick is this: The previous stunt man was killed when a stunt went wrong, and if police find out they'll close down production. So the two men are dependent on each other. And while they strike up a friendship, they both don't like the fact that their fates are in each others' hands. There's more: The director finds in the fugitive the spark he needs to complete his World War I film; the fugitive needs the film crew (especially Barbara Hershey as the lead actress) to help clear the cobwebs in his own head. Amid all this is an examination of the fine line between reality and illusion. What better place to study this than on a film set? Oscar nominations for Rush and O'Toole; sadly no awards.

Only one other film has been able to get as deeply under my skin, and it's a franchise:

Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 77)
The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 80)
Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 83)
See also: The Phantom Menace (Lucas, 99), Attack of the Clones (Lucas, 02), Revenge of the Sith (Lucas, 05), The Force Awakens (Abrams, 15), Rogue One (Edwards, 16).
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."
Pure exuberance and excitement in the cinema simply can't be matched by watching these films on video. There's a reason why the original trilogy has tapped so deeply into the culture: story-telling simplicity that appeals to the dreamer in us, cool imagery, a sense of humour and irony, a coherently created universe. Empire is the best of the lot (better character development, more action, Yoda), but the first is sheer magic, and the third nicely ties up this part of the story (although that last shot turns my stomach). The prequel trilogy is more troublesome, but it has its moments. And it's becoming rather clear that the sequel trilogy is departing from Lucas' original plot-sketch for the overarching story of the Skywalker family. But it's still a universe that's worth entering - a space opera without the heavy sci-fi.

F I L M S   T H A T   S P E A K

• La Strada (Federico Fellini, 54) about love and loyalty
  
• Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 55) about the human condition
  
• Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 53) about finding your true family
  
• The Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 57) about love and respect
  
• Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 99) on identity, desire, fame
  
• Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 95) about the value of life
  
• Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 89) on racism
  
• My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 89) on struggling with adversity
  
• The Colour of Paradise (Majid Majidi, 99), about beauty
  
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 04) on the complexity of memory
  
• Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 69) on real compassion
  
• The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 39) on childhood imagination
  
• Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant, 89) on addiction
  
• The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 46) on the the flip side of triumph
  
• Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 88) on manipulation
  
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (Hector Babenco, 85) about love for your fellow man