The anthology film is a complicated art film. These are movies that contain several shorter stories with a clear beginning and ending, joined together by elements like theme or characters. Not to be confused with films like Pulp Fiction, which glue together separate incomplete stories that intersect at various points during the narrative, anthology films are a different beast altogether.
From movies that unite several short films directed by different filmmakers, like Paris, je t’aime, to others which are made by a single auteur, like The French Dispatch, anthology films can be an absolute delight when done right. When the theme unifying them is strong, and the director or directors’ vision comes across clearly, they can be unforgettable experiences. These are cinema’s best anthology movies, striking the perfect balance between variety and depth.
10 ‘Paris, je t’aime’ (2006)
Directed by Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Bruno Podalydès, Walter Salles, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Daniela Thomas, Tom Tykwer, and Gus Van Sant
Boasting the direction of dozens of some of the greatest filmmakers of modern times, from the Coen brothers and Wes Craven to Alfonso Cuarón and Oliver Assays, Paris je t’aime is a modern anthology about the city of love. The film finds love veiled, revealed, imitated, sucked dry, reinvented, and awakened in 18 funny, romantic, touching segments.
Like most anthology films, particularly ones with so many stories, Paris, je t’aime has its stronger segments carry the weaker ones. Despite this unevenness, however, it stands out as an incredible film in its own right thanks to a collection of terrific performances by iconic actors, the work of 21 masters of cinema, and the beautiful backdrop of the City of Lights. Like Paris itself, Paris, je t’aime finds the inherent beauty in the simple act of relating to another person.
9 ‘Creepshow’ (1982)
Director: George A. Romero
Directed by George A. Romero, the father of the zombie film and one of horror cinema’s greatest pioneers, and written by Stephen King, the über-productive master of horror literature, Creepshow tells five grisly tales: One of a murdered father rising from his grave, one of a bizarre meteor, one of a vengeful husband, one of the mysterious occupant of a mysterious crate, and another of a plague of cockroaches.
Creepshow is a worthy comedy horror classic as hilarious as it is chilling. It’s vibrant and wears its influences out on its sleeve, proudly boasting a love for the genre that not many of its peers can claim. Its sort-of-chaotic script isn’t King’s best work, but Creepshow more than makes up for its faults with its unique sense of humor, entertaining visual effects, and nearly palpable love for the horror genre.
Creepshow
- Release Date
- November 12, 1982
- Cast
- Hal Holbrook , Adrienne Barbeau , Fritz Weaver , Leslie Nielsen , Carrie Nye , E.G. Marshall
- Runtime
- 120
8 ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ (2018)
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Few directors have an understanding of the mechanics that make storytelling work as profound and creative as Joel and Ethan Coen. Though it isn’t often counted among the directing duo’s best comedies, the criminally underrated Western anthology movie The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, telling six tales of life, death, and violence in the Old West, is guaranteed to only get better with age.
Anchored by the directors’ perfect understanding of what makes a Western fun, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ties together its six exceptional stories with dark humor, existentialist themes, and perfect writing. Some are emotional, some are suspenseful, and some are irresistibly funny, but there’s something all these segments have in common: They make for a terrific film.
![the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-final-poster](https://www.todaysauthormagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-final-poster-405x600.jpg)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Release Date
- November 9, 2018
- Runtime
- 133 minutes
7 ‘The French Dispatch’ (2021)
Director: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson has always loved to experiment with layered storytelling and meta-humor, but never had he made a film quite as narratively ambitious as The French Dispatch. Set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city, the film brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch Magazine.”
With some of the most meaningful cinematography, creative stories, and elaborate gags of Anderson’s whole filmography, The French Dispatch managed to make a surprising amount of money despite the pandemic’s impact on the box office in 2021. All its stories are brilliantly contained by the inventive framing device, which even manages to make the weaker ones stand out. Impressively, he brings together possibly his most diverse and ambitious ensemble, a mix of usual suspects and exciting new additions.
6 ‘Sin City’ (2005)
Directors: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller
Based on Frank Miller‘s iconic, highly-stylized comic book series of the same title, his and Robert Rodriguez‘s Sin City is among the strongest works of each artist’s career. The striking black-and-white film explores the dark, gritty, and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in the city’s bowels of violence and corruption.
Drawing influence from other multi-story narratives, Sin City makes visually striking use of its black-and-white cinematography mixed with specific, highly contrasting splashes of color. It features a brilliant cast of reliable talent, including a scene-stealing Mickey Rourke and a brilliant Bruce Willis in one of his most impressive performances in the new millennium. Violent, thrilling, and brilliantly cast, the film is like watching pages from Miller’s comics brought to bloody, energetic, vibrant life.
![Sin City Poster](https://www.todaysauthormagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sin-city-poster.jpg)
Sin City
- Release Date
- April 1, 2005
- Runtime
- 124
- Writers
- Frank Miller
5 ‘Fantasia’ (1940)
Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe Jr., Norman Ferguson, David Hand, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, and Ben Sharpsteen
The grandparent of animated anthology films and one of Disney’s greatest works, Fantasia is a musical collage film. Built upon the foundation of eight famous pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in beautiful animation by Walt Disney‘s talented team of artists, Fantasia was an ambitious breakthrough for the Mouse House.
Though not all of Fantasia‘s parts are particularly strong, the best are among the greatest segments in any anthology movie ever made. Fantasia introduced some of the most iconic imagery for the Mouse House, from the brooding terror of “Night on Bold Mountain” to the charming iconicity of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Released as World War II ravaged Europe, Fantasia earned critical acclaim, leaving a profound impact on animation and anthology cinema as a whole.
![fantasia-poster](https://www.todaysauthormagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/fantasia-poster-394x600.jpg)
Fantasia
- Release Date
- November 13, 1940
- Cast
- Leopold Stokowski , Deems Taylor , Julietta Novis , Corey Burton , Walt Disney , James MacDonald
- Runtime
- 120
- Writers
- Joe Grant , Dick Huemer , Lee Blair , Elmer Plummer , Phil Dike , Sylvia Moberly-Holland
4 ‘Kwaidan’ (1964)
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, one of the greatest filmmakers in Japan’s history, Kwaidan is comprised of a collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes. Japanese folklore is rich and enthralling enough as it is, but seeing it colorfully brought to life on the silver screen by Kobayashi’s unique vision and actors as legendary as Tatsuya Nakadai and Takashi Shimura is on a whole other level.
Gorgeous visuals and an epic runtime that perfectly justifies itself make the film stand out. However, it’s the perfectly eerie tone, which shouldn’t put off those who don’t enjoy super scary horror but should also satisfy those who love it, that makes Kwaidan one of the most underrated Japanese films of all time. Anthology movies can be truly legendary, and Kwaidan is proof of that fact.
3 ‘Wild Tales’ (2014)
Director: Damián Szifron
This Argentinian dramedy thriller depicts six short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress. Tied together by an incredible cast and the general theme of revenge, each of the stories of Wild Tales is as intense and gripping as the last, finding the perfect middle ground between being absolutely hilarious and wickedly deranged.
Wild Tales was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, and it isn’t hard to see why. Its chaotic explosiveness feels perfectly calculated, and its commentary on the darkest pits of the human condition is filled with scathing satire and the darkest of dark humor. Anthology films where every story stands perfectly on its own two feet are rare, and this is certainly one of them.
2 ‘Intolerance’ (1916)
Director: D.W. Griffith
Following the negative reception of his revolutionary film The Birth of a Nation, legendary silent film director D.W. Griffith made Intolerance as a response. Often subtitled Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages, it’s an incredible historical epic that interweaves the story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
“Bolstered by amazing production qualities, the movie is a celebration of the unique power of film as a medium.”
Love or hate Griffith, nearly everyone can admit Intolerance is undeniably one of the biggest and most important cinematic juggernauts in film history, without which cinema would probably not be what it is today. Bolstered by amazing production qualities, the movie is a celebration of the unique power of film as a medium. Its then-ambitious anthology structure, which profoundly influenced narrative and cinematic construction, only makes its story more powerful and unforgettable.
1 ‘I Am Cuba’ (1964)
Director: Mikhail Kalatozov
The Soviet-Cuban masterpiece I Am Cuba is a political drama propaganda film by Mikhail Kalatozov, one of the Soviet Union’s greatest filmmakers. Recommended by some of the greatest directors working today, it’s a striking work of art depicting four vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people during the pre-revolutionary era.
“It’s an exhilarating piece of genius filmmaking that’s beyond admirable and a pinnacle of what cinema is able to achieve.”
Absorbing, technically masterful, and as relevant and fascinating to analyze today as it was back in the ’60s, I Am Cuba is an exhilarating piece of genius filmmaking that’s beyond admirable and a pinnacle of what cinema is able to achieve. The film benefits from its technical proficiency, transcending the boundaries of the unfairly maligned label of “propaganda film.” Despite its lukewarm reception at the time, the years have only improved the film’s standing, and now, I Am Cuba is easily considered one of the greatest films of all time.