Kelly Reichardtis an acclaimed director and screenwriter, known for her minimalist character studies and meditative dramas.Some of her best workincludes the fantasticWendy and Lucywith frequent collaboratorMichelle Williams, the contemplative WesternMeek’s Cutoff, and the eco-thrillerNight Moves. Many of her projects concern working-class characters and people on the margins of society.
Like most great directors,Reichardt is an avid cinema watcher who has praised dozens of films over the years. In interviews and top ten lists, Reichardt has cited several movies as influences and inspirations. They lean toward realist dramas and social commentary, overlapping with many of the themes Reichardt engages with in her own work. Odds are, they’ll resonate with Reichardt’s fans as well.
10’Black Girl' (1966)
Directed by Ousmane Sembène
Black Girlis the debut feature by Senegalese filmmaker and novelistOusmane Sembène. The story revolves around Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), a young Senegalese woman who is lured to work as a nanny for a French family in the South of France. However, her dreams of a better life quickly unravel as she faces dehumanizing treatment and isolation. Her small apartment becomes more of a prison. Through her,the film examines the realities of the 1960s postcolonial world.
“I didn’t know anything going into this movie, and I was completely captivated the entire time, “Reichardt wrote. “The lead performance is amazing, and I just love the way it all unfolds. It’s one of my biggest discoveries on the Criterion Channel, which makes everything so convenient.”
Watch on Criterion
9’Mouchette' (1967)
Directed by Robert Bresson
Mouchetteis one of French directorRobert Bresson’smost acclaimed projects.Stark, minimalist, and realistic, it centers on a teenage girl named Mouchette (Nadine Nortier) who lives in a rural French village under the thumb of her alcoholic father. At the same time, she must care for her sickly mother and infant brother. Surrounded by bleakness, Mouchette seeks solace in fleeting moments of rebellion and brief connections with those she encounters.
“This is a perfectly structured film. There’s never anything extra, ever, with Bresson - he always gives you just the right amount,“Reichardt wrote. “The performance by Nadine Nortier is incredible, and Bresson has this haunting way of shooting the back of her head. She doesn’t talk much at all, but because of her gestures - even just the way she makes coffee - the movie never feels stilted.”
8’Playtime' (1967)
Directed by Jacques Tati
In this comedy, French auteurJacques Tatireprises his role as Monsieur Hulot, a clumsy, naive but well-meaning character that later influencedRowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean.Playtimesees Hulot attempting to navigate a bustling and futuristic Paris filled with towering glass and steel buildings, labyrinthine office complexes, and a never-ending parade of bewildering technology. Amid the chaos, Hulot bounces from one comical misadventure to the next, each highlighting the absurdity of modern life’s obsession with efficiency and progress.
The film is beloved for its elaborate set design, visual gags, and surreal atmosphere.“I love the contrast between how clean and slick everything in that set is with [Hulot’s] little umbrella and raincoat,“Reichardt wrote. “It’s all so cartoony, but you’re worried about this character the whole time. Everything is done through gesture, and Tati’s performance is so brilliant it makes you feel such concern for this man drifting in this modern world.”
7’A Poem Is a Naked Person' (1974)
Directed by Les Blank
Les Blankdirected this documentary about musicianLeon Russell, who collaborated with a number of big stars over multiple decades, including the Beach Boys,Elton John,Eric Clapton, andGeorge Harrison. Several artists make appearances in the doc, includingGeorge JonesandWillie Nelson. The film offers a candid glimpse intothe lives and creative processes of these musicians, revealing their quirks, passions, and the camaraderie between them. WhileA Poem Is a Naked Personwas not officially released for many years due to disputes between Blank and Russell, it eventually found its way to audiences,showcasing the raw energy of the 1970s music scene in all its unvarnished glory.
“What a strange movie. I had been hearing about this film for years and couldn’t ever find a way to see it, but it finally played at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland. Those film stocks don’t exist anymore—this is 16 mm at its best, and it looks gorgeous. Les Blank was shooting with all this natural light, and it makes for such a great portrait of the South at a certain moment in time with a bunch of total weirdos!“Reichardt wrote.
6’Safe' (1995)
Directed by Todd Haynes
Julianne Moorestars in this drama as a housewife who begins to suffer physical symptoms when she gets near everyday chemicals. Despite treatment, her condition continues to worsen, until she eventually leaves her home and husband to live in an isolated desert community controlled by a charismatic leader.
DirectorTodd Haynes is a maestro at using simple domestic stories to produce grand statements, andSafeis one of his sharpest, not to mention scariest, movies. He draws onJeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles,andThe Boy in the Plastic Bubbleto create a work that is wholly his own. “Julianne Moore is amazing in the movie - is there a better performance?“Reichardt wrote. “It’s so masterful, and it’s some of my favorite Todd Haynes writing - it’s so darkly funny.”
Watch on Tubi
5’A Taste of Honey' (1961)
Directed by Tony Richardson
This drama directed byTony Richardsoncenters on Jo (Rita Tushingham), a working-class teenager who falls pregnant and is abandoned by her mother. Alone but resourceful, Jo forms an unlikely friendship with a gay man named Geoffrey (Murray Melvin). Through these characters,the film examines themes of class, sexuality, and social judgment in post-war Britain.
A Taste of Honeyisa quintessential entry in the British New Wave, with realistic storytelling and raw, authentic performances. Both Tushingham and Melvin received rave reviews, winning awards at that year’s Cannes Film Festival.Reichardt described the film as"a really complicated portrait of a young woman who doesn’t want to get married and just wants to live in her weird house with her friend.”
4’Walkabout' (1971)
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
Walkaboutis a survival movie directed byDon’t Look Now’sNicolas Roeg. It’s about two British siblings, a teenage girl (Jenny Agutter) and her younger brother (Luc Roeg), who become stranded in the Australian Outback after a tragic incident. There, they encounter a young Aboriginal boy (David Gulpilil) who helps them survive in the harsh wilderness.
“I have such a linear brain, so I admire filmmakers like Nicolas Roeg who can make these incredible montages that tell a story more associatively,“Reichardt wrote. “When we were makingMeek’s Cutoff,there was a scene we shot in which a Native American goes on a dream quest, and the writerJon Raymondand I rewatched this for inspiration.”
3’Wanda' (1970)
Dircted by Barbara Loden
Wandaisthe sole directorial effortby actressBarbara Loden, but it feels like the work of a veteran. Drawing on Loden’s own life, it tells the story of Wanda Goronski (Loden), a recently divorced woman who struggles with the responsibilities of motherhood and the drudgeries of everyday existence. Things take an unexpected turn when she meets a small-time crook named Norman Dennis (Michael Higgins), and becomes entangled in a life of crime.
It’s a moving character study; deliberately rough-around-the-edges, but that’s also its charm.“Why isn’t Barbara Loden more celebrated in the history of film? I don’t understand. Aside from her performance and her sense of framing, I love the way she plays with genre in unexpected ways in this movie. Who else was doing that at that time? You get a true sense of place and people, and all the side actors are fantastic,“Reichardt wrote.
2’The Gleaners and I' (2000)
Directed by Agnès Varda
The Gleaners and Iis a late-career gem from French New Wave iconAgnès Varda. It’sa documentary focusing on gleaners, people who gather leftover crops from French fields. As with many of Varda’s other docs, she becomes an active participant in the story, so it’s as much personal as social.The movie breezes by at just 82 minutes long but is jam-packed with memorable imagery and a ton of food for thought.
“[Varda is] so inventive with narrative form,“Reichardt says.“She’s so inspiring. How she moved in and out of documentary and narrative and how her docs have such narrative threads in them and her narratives… she just opens the door, and it’s like, “OK, now you’re going to talk to these real people that aren’t actors,” and she is just very fluid between those two. I admire those things about her work so much.”
1’Happy as Lazzaro' (2018)
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Lazzaro (Adriano Tardiolo) is a young peasant living in a remote Italian village, where he labors in the tobacco fields for the ruthless local nobles. Despite his unfair treatment, Lazzaro remains unfailingly warmhearted. The narrative heads in a more surreal direction after Lazzaro falls unconscious and awakens years later, having not aged a day.
“I love this film,“Reichardt wrote"I put [it] on my list because it was very important to me to let [directorAlice Rohrwacher] know I found her so inspiring and great, and I felt a real simpatico with her filmmaking.“ParasitedirectorBong Joon-hois also a big fanofHappy as Lazzaro, describingone of its tracking shotsas the finest in recent memory.
