Miguel Marias: The Essential Melodramas

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Description

This list was made in 1990 for Peter von Bagh's book Elokuvan ilokirja and includes 121 films. The following is my own translation:

"Choosing the best melodramas is a difficult task, especially since I consider melodrama to be as one with film dramaturgy. Are The Wings of Eagles, Seven Women, Tabu, Sunrise, Akasen Chitai or Vertigo melodramas? I think they are without a doubt among my top 25 favorite films of all time. If I try to be hard and squeeze inside some sort of borders this genre, which for me means vision, way of life, form of expression and the most cinematic way of delivering with a touching way thoughts, emotions, characters and stories to the audience... I have to expel many of my favorite films and directors and some films which in my opinion DEFINE melodrama.

Yes, there are melodramatic directors but even melodramatic countrys (China, Italy, Mexico). I would assume that about 600 of the 700 or 800 best films I've ever seen are melodramas - true, absolute masterpieces. I am leaning towards the American way of defining melodrama: from Shakespeare to trash, from Welles to soap opera, through all the genres of film and especially the gothic fairy tales, fantasy romances, sentimental comedies and sometimes even musicals, westerns and thrillers."

The only film missing from the list is The Shadow Box (Paul Newman, 1980) because it is a tv film.