Views from Medina Road

Mark,
I've seen four of the six films listed and, while most are worthwhile, I would not say that any of them have life-changing qualities. "I Know Where I'm Going" is a little hard to follow and too precious by half. "Colonel Blimp" holds interest despite its length, but is ultimately only a fair-to-middling character study. "Red Shoes" is rather dull and uneventful, although the photography is beautiful. I saw "Black Narcissus" many years ago but have no lingering impressions of it. I've always felt the Powell/Pressburger collaboration was somewhat overrated. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts if you have time or opportunity to see any of these.

As for my own nominations for "life-changing" movies, I'd mention the following:

"The Searchers": as a 10-year-old, I found it hypnotically fascinating; it's still the cinematic gold standard for me.

"The Ten Commandments": magnificent spectacle on the big screen; has no equal.

"True Grit": the second-best western ever made; unique combination of humor and melodrama.

"The Black Sleep" (with Karloff): scared me (almost) to death as a young child; it's why I became a horror movie fan.

"Psycho": yes, I *was* afraid to take a shower for a long time after.

Well, there are others, but I'll not go on. All of them are from my youth. I'm not sure it's possible to have a transformative aesthetic experience beyond the age of maximum impressionability. At least, I haven't had one.
 

>>"Red Shoes" is rather dull and uneventful, although the photography is beautiful.<<

"The Red Shoes" is neither dull nor uneventful. It is, instead, one of the most enchanting films of all time. As a big, burly, beer drinking Brit, I doubt I am the target demographic for a film about ballet, but I can watch this film again and again and never tire of it. The performances are exquisite, from the elfin, fiery red-headed beauty of Moira Shearer, to Anton Walbrook's enigmatic and remote Svengali, Boris Lermentov. To toss this masterpiece off as "dull" and "uneventful" says more of the commentator than it does of the film! But yes, Jack Cardiff's cinematography is extraordinary - at least that much is correct.