Gary Oldman’s five favourite movies: “Unrepeatable, unquotable and indescribable”

Posted On December 11, 2024December 11, 2024

“What people think of me,” Gary Oldman once said, “Is none of my business.” Nevertheless, he’s fortunate enough that quite a lot of people think of him as one of the greatest actors of all time. The actor has given some of the most deeply textured performances in the history of cinema and has kept himself busy as a serial devotee of cinema ever since he began his long and storied journey from New Cross to Hollywood.

There’s a good reason that actors such as Tom Hardy and Colin Farrell consider Oldman the greatest to ever do it. How many people could convincingly play Winston Churchill, a gangster, Sid Vicious, Dracula and a crooked DA? These diverse roles are indicative of not only the scope of his skill but also the far-reaching realms of cinema that he enjoys as a punter. It’s a reminder that the best in cinema are usually not the people who spend hours upon hours in classrooms but days and days in the cinema. 

If you’re after extremes, Francis Ford Coppola is undoubtedly a filmmaker who can provide them. Oldman has had the joy of working with him for the sometimes impeachable Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but first, he was a fan. In fact, he remains a mega-fan, ranking Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II, and The Conversation among his five favourite films of all time when asked by Rotten Tomatoes: “The list changes, but I always hold the three Coppola movies,” he explains. 

To set himself up, Oldman starts with Apocalypse Now, noting his appreciation for the “sheer grandeur” and “originality” of Coppola’s Vietnam War epic.

“Godfather: Part II,” Oldman moves on, is more simply “a master class in acting, production design, directing, lighting, composition. I think that if you were a film student, you’ve got — the way he tells the story, it’s masterful storytelling. And it never ever seems to disappoint.”

And for his final Coppola effort, Oldman notes that The Conversation’s appeal is driven by his love for Gene Hackman, commenting: “I love that internal man who’s just, you know, very closed down.”

Also on his list is the seminal Terrence Malick’s post-modern masterpiece Badlands. With a narrative style akin to Leon: The Professional, which Oldman himself soared in, he had this to say of the unspooling unreliable narration: “I love Badlands because, I think, I like the interior — I love the story told through Sissy Spacek’s character. I think the telling of it is delicate. It’s just exquisite, that sense of the relationship seen through her; as if she’s telling one story and we’re witnessing another.”

If the brilliance of Badlands is in this novelistic storytelling where prose and premise form a wild dichotomy, then it’s easy to see why Lynne Ramsay’s indie effort Ratcatcher appeals. The movie, which Oldman describes as “a masterful piece of filmmaking”, comes with the synopsis: “A naïve young lad navigates the dirty, squalid streets of 1973 Glasgow and the poor youth around him.” It’s a connection to the streets of his native Britain that has often made Oldman’s performance feel particularly authentic. 

Mostly, however, Ratcatcher exists as an extension of Ramsay’s view on cinema. As the director said herself: “When I walk into a cinema, I want to leave with an experience unrepeatable, unquotable and indescribable.” I can think of a few scenes where Oldman has mixed that unplaceable magic into his own performance, too. 

Oldman was also quick to add three Martin Scorsese films as honourable mentions. He went with Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and proclaimed, “I love King of Comedy.” And this got us thinking, ‘Boy, would we love to see him take the lead role in a Scorsese film’. While that dream now seems unlikely, there’s a good sense to cast Oldman in almost any role. From perfecting spitting with Sid Vicious to arguably his defining performance as Jackson Lamb in Apple TV’s Slow Horses, Oldman has proved that he is capable of delivering the highest calibre of performance. 

While his training in the art cannot be dismissed, and his continued devotion to honing and sharpening his tools means he is always ready to attack role sufficiently, one can’t help but assume that his true education came from sitting down to watch the masterpiece movies that came before him.

Gary Oldman’s five favourite films:

• Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
• The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
• The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
• Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
• Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay, 1999)

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