Here they are! My top three. I started making this list a long time ago and these three have swapped places with each other a number of times. In reality they all tie for me, with one being my preferred film a certain times while another may take the top spot depending on my mood. And they are all at least a tad bit tragic.

3. Splendor in the Grass
Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; we will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.

I fell in love with this after watching 20+ times during my freshman year of college. I had seen it before and decided to write one of the best (IMO) papers of my life on it. It’s a story about expectations and social mores, young love and the things that can drive you apart. Natalie Wood is excellent in this film and the ending is worth every minute. Not everything ends up the way we expect. Life just…is.

Trivia: I named my first guinea pig, Wilmadean, after the main character in this film

2. Two for the Road
Mark: It’s really meant for photographing three-dimensional objects.
Joanna: I’m three dimensional, as a matter of fact.

This is a story of falling in love, falling out of love, and returning again — all told in a non-linear style that I love. This is Audrey Hepburn in my favorite performance of hers. She’s so natural and funny in it. Albert Finney is a little gruff, but charming. Their love story is believable and goes through all the twists and turns that real relationships do — nothing sugar-coated about this. It shows beautifully how relationships change over the years and brings the viewer to the point where the protagonists are, deciding where their lives are going to go.

Such a lovely story with wonderful music. It makes me cry every time I watch it. Especially the “I’m three-dimensional” scene. Sigh. Watch it.

1. Jeux d’enfants (English: Love Me If You Dare)
Tell me that you love me first because I’m afraid that if I tell you first you’ll think that I’m playing the game.

You will either love or hate this film, most likely based on the ending. You need to be able to make the ending what you want and not demand such, ahem, concrete answers from the film.

It’s beautiful. I love every single moment of this. From all the versions of “La vie en rose” that play throughout to the quirky little dares. Even the great big ones. It’s really about two kids who love each other and who have a hard time getting around to expressing it in an appropriate way. Gorgeous and funny and sad. (Try to avoid spoilers before seeing this one!)

Thanks for sticking through this with me! Here are the previous films in the list:

5 & 4
10 – 6
15 – 11
20 – 16
25 – 21
30 – 26
35 – 31
40 – 36
45 – 41
50 – 46

Related posts:

1. 50 of My Favorite Films — 25-21
2. 50 of My Favorite Films — 35-31
3. 50 of My Favorite Films — 50-46