100 Road Movies (BFI Screen Guide)
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- DirectorStephan ElliottStarsHugo WeavingGuy PearceTerence StampTwo drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
- DirectorCarlos SorinStarsJuan VillegasWalter DonadoRosa ValsecchiIn Patagonia, a mechanic who dreams of a different life starts to think big after his adopted pup wins first prize at a local dog show.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsWarren BeattyFaye DunawayMichael J. PollardBored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsWhoopi GoldbergMary-Louise ParkerDrew BarrymoreRobin shares a ride in her car with Jane from New York to Los Angeles. They stop at Jane's friend Holly's place in Pittsburgh and take her with them west, making a long stop in Tucson. The three very different women become close friends.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsWarren OatesIsela VegaRobert WebberAn American barroom pianist and his prostitute girlfriend go on a trip through the Mexican underworld to collect the bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsBill MurrayJessica LangeSharon StoneAs the extremely withdrawn Don Johnston is dumped by his latest woman, he receives an anonymous letter from a former lover informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him. A freelance sleuth neighbor moves Don to embark on a cross-country search for his old flames in search of answers.
- DirectorVincent GalloStarsVincent GalloChloë SevignyCheryl TiegsProfessional motorcycle racer Bud Clay heads from New Hampshire to California to race again. Along the way he meets various needy women who provide him with the cure to his own loneliness, but only a certain woman from his past will truly satisfy him.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsAmanda PlummerKathy JamiesonSaskia ReevesEunice is walking along the highways of northern England from one filling station to another. She is searching for Judith, the woman, she says to be in love with. It's bad luck for the women at the cash desk not to be Judith, because Eunice is eccentric, angry and extreme dangerous. One day she meets Miriam, hard of hearing and a little ingenuous, who feels sympathy for Eunice and takes her home. Miriam is very impressed by Eunice's fierceness and willfulness and follows her on the search for Judith. Shocked by Eunice's cruelty she tries to make her a better person, but she looses ground herself.
- DirectorCarlos DieguesStarsJosé WilkerBetty FariaFábio Jr.The Caravana Rolidei rolls into town with the Gypsy Lord at the mike: he does magic tricks, the erotic Salomé dances, and the mute Swallow performs feats of strength. A young accordion player is completely enamored of Salomé, and he begs to come along. The Gypsy Lord shrugs, and the accordionist and his pregnant wife, Dasdô, join the troupe. Television is their enemy as they go from the coast deep into the Amazon. Salomé lets the accordion player sleep with her once, with Dasdô's knowledge. He's moon-struck. Then, after Dasdô's baby is born and financial disaster hits the troupe, and the accordionist must choose between seeing his wife a prostitute and leaving the caravan.
- DirectorMarguerite DurasStarsMarguerite DurasGérard DepardieuIn this most talky and personal of films, director Marguerite Duras and actor Gerard Depardieu do an on-camera read-through of a movie script. Occasionally, the director comments about the characters or their motivations, and sometimes the actor does. That's all -- there is no action, there are no location shots, no one pretends to be anything else. The script itself tells about an encounter between a blank-slate of a woman hitchhiker, and a communist truck driver. As the reading progresses, Duras comments bitterly about the failed ideals of communism and the glorious revolution that will probably never happen.
- DirectorRobert FrankRudy WurlitzerStarsKevin J. O'ConnorEric MitchellMary JoyA struggling musician sets out to find the legendary guitar maker Elmore Silk, with whom he hopes to strike a deal to make himself rich and famous.
- DirectorHal NeedhamStarsBurt ReynoldsRoger MooreFarrah FawcettA wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsDave ClarkThe Dave Clark FiveBarbara FerrisDinah is a model whose face appears in an ad campaign for meat. While shooting a TV commercial, she and Steve, one of the stunt men, run off together. The advertising executives use their disappearance to generate more publicity for meat.
- DirectorFriðrik Þór FriðrikssonStarsMasatoshi NagaseLili TaylorFisher StevensA Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.
- DirectorNanni MorettiStarsNanni MorettiRenato CarpentieriAntonio NeiwillerDirector Nanni Moretti takes a mordant look at Italian life through three disparate journeys, presented as the chapters of an open diary.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsTom NealAnn SavageClaudia DrakeThe life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsMatt DillonKelly LynchJames Le GrosA pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDennis WeaverJacqueline ScottEddie FirestoneA business commuter is pursued and terrorized by the malevolent driver of a massive tractor-trailer.
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsPeter FondaDennis HopperJack NicholsonTwo bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.
- DirectorTony GatlifStarsRomain DurisLubna AzabalZouhir GacemTwo French lovers, Zano and Naima, decided to travel to the land of their parents: Algeria. Their road trip gradually becomes a spiritual quest.
- DirectorPablo TraperoStarsGraciana ChironiAdelina BielopolskyLudmila StancerA wedding invite from an estranged sibiling inspires a grandmother to assemble her family and embark on a roadtrip in a broken down caravan.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJack NicholsonKaren BlackBilly Green BushA dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
- DirectorAndrew KottingStarsAndrew KottingEden KottingBenji MingWhen British filmmaker Andrew Kotting decided to tour the perimeter of Great Britain with his grandmother Gladys and his daughter Eden, he brought a film crew along. The result is this often humorous and picturesque documentary.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsOssie DavisCharles S. DuttonAndre BraugherA disparate group of African-American men travel by bus to Washington, DC for the Million Man March.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsArthur BraussKai FischerErika PluharGoalkeeper Josef Bloch is ejected during a game for foul play. He leaves the field and goes to spend the night with a cinema cashier.
- DirectorIsmaël FerroukhiStarsNicolas CazaléMohamed MajdJacky NercessianReda, a young French-Moroccan guy and his old father drive from the south of France to Mecca in order for the father to do his pilgrimage. At first distant, they gradually learn to know each other.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorTomás Gutiérrez AleaJuan Carlos TabíoStarsCarlos CruzMirta IbarraJorge PerugorríaIt is a satire about life in Cuba. The members of a funeral procession and some truck drivers who need to take the same route begin to talk about God and the world and they end up discovering that life for both groups has many similarities and many differences, depending on the point of view.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsJohn DallPeggy CumminsBerry KroegerTwo disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsFreddie StuartRalph BrownA.J. ClarkeTen years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsJamal Udin TorabiEnayatullahImran ParachaA refugee family is trying to reach more peaceful lands illegally inside trucks.
- DirectorJan SverákStarsAnna GeislerováRadek PastrnákFilip RencTwo guys bought a car and travelled through the country until they met a lonely girl on the road. So they begin to travel together having so much fun. And there is another guy who has a better car and who is looking for the girl because he is her lover, he is her first one. What is going on inside of this girl? Nobody knows, until the end.
- DirectorYesim UstaogluStarsNazmi KirikNewroz BazMizgin KapazanMehmet, a young Turkish man newly migrated from the village Tire, takes a job searching for water leaks below the surface of the streets of Istanbul. Due to a strange set of events, he is mistaken for a Kurd, imprisoned, and brutally beaten.
- DirectorDominic SenaStarsBrad PittJuliette LewisKathy LarsonA journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsRüdiger VoglerHanns ZischlerLisa KreuzerA traveling projection-equipment mechanic works in Western Germany along the East-German border, visiting worn-out theatres. He meets with a depressed young man whose marriage has just broken up, and the two decide to travel together.
- DirectorBoris KhlebnikovAlexei PopogrebskyStarsGleb PuskepalisIgor ChernevichEvgeniy SytyyA widowed aeronautics engineer, who has lost his job, travels with his son hopping freight trains from Moscow to Koktebel, a town by the Black Sea, to start a new life with the father's sister. After they are stopped by a train guard, they continue their travel on foot. The father battles against his alcohol addiction and the son is fascinated with the idea of flight. One rainy day an old man accepts them in his house in return for the repair of the roof. The father gives in to the alcohol offered by the old man, who in a drunken brawl accuses him of stealing money and shoots him. A young female village doctor takes care of him and a romantic relationship between the two ensues. The father feels reluctant to continue the journey. The son leaves alone and a truck driver gives him a ride to Koktebel. However, his aunt has left for the summer.
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsMichalis ZekeTania PalaiologouStratos TzortzoglouTwo children journey the long road to Germany to find the man they believe to be their father.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsJack NicholsonRandy QuaidOtis YoungTwo Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsMichael CaineBob HoskinsTom CourtenayA group of old friends reminisce about their lives over the years after the death of one of their crew.
- DirectorRichard FleischerJohn HustonStarsGeorge C. ScottTony MusanteTrish Van DevereA getaway driver comes out of retirement to pull off one last run - one that could send him to an early grave instead.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsRita TushinghamColin CampbellDudley SuttonAn immature teenager marries a young biker but becomes disenchanted with the realities of working-class marriage--and her husband's relationship with his best friend.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsMatti PellonpääKari VäänänenSakke JärvenpääSiberian rock band Leningrad Cowboys go to the USA in pursuit of fame.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsMike DytriCraig GilmoreMark FinchLuke is a gay hustler. Jon is a movie critic. Both are HIV positive. They go on a hedonistic, dangerous journey, their motto "Fuck the world".
- DirectorAlbert BrooksStarsAlbert BrooksJulie HagertySylvia FarrelA husband and wife in their 30s decide to quit their jobs, live as free spirits and cruise America in a Winnebago.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonBruce SpenceMichael PrestonIn the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community get rid of a horde of bandits.
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsCharlotte GainsbourgAnouk GrinbergMichel BlancA lonely teenage girl studying her exams meets a homeless woman and befriend with her.
- DirectorAlain TannerStarsClémentine AmourouxCatherine RétoréFranziskus AbgottsponTwo young women from very different backgrounds journey into the countryside seeking respite from unsatisfactory lives and relationships, but ultimately find that there is no way back to the world they once knew.
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsRobert De NiroCharles GrodinYaphet KottoA bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.
- DirectorCarlos SorinStarsJavier LombardoAntonio BenedictiJaviera BravoThree people and a baby set off on separate journeys, along the same road; their disparate dreams and stories intertwine amidst the breathtaking deserted Patagonic route.
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsGael García BernalRodrigo de la SernaMía MaestroErnesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRiver PhoenixKeanu ReevesJames RussoTwo best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsWoody HarrelsonJuliette LewisTom SizemoreTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsAdrian PasdarJenny WrightLance HenriksenA small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.
- DirectorJames BenningStarsWillem Dafoe
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsBill PaxtonBilly Bob ThorntonCynda WilliamsA small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsRyan O'NealTatum O'NealMadeline KahnDuring the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJack NicholsonMaria SchneiderJenny RunacreUnable to find the war he's been asked to cover, a frustrated war correspondent takes the risky path of co-opting the identity of a dead arms-deal acquaintance.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsSteve MartinJohn CandyLaila RobinsA Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower-curtain-ring salesman as his only companion.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsJanet JacksonTupac ShakurRegina KingGrieving hairdresser Justice goes on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland on a mail truck alongside her friend and an obnoxious postal worker.
- DirectorJonathan WacksStarsGary FarmerA MartinezJoanelle RomeroTwo Northern Cheyenne men take a road trip from Montana to New Mexico to bail out the sister of one of them who has been framed and arrested in Santa Fe. On the way, they begin to reconnect to their spiritual heritage.
- DirectorChristopher PetitStarsDavid BeamesLisa KreuzerSandy RatcliffIn 1970s Britain, a man drives from London to Bristol to investigate his brother's death, and the purpose of his trip is offset by his encounters with a series of odd people.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsNicolas CageHolly HunterTrey WilsonWhen a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.
- DirectorCédric KahnStarsJean-Pierre DarroussinCarole BouquetVincent DeniardA cross-country trip turns out to be a nightmare for a troubled couple.
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsVladimir GarinIvan DobronravovKonstantin LavronenkoIn the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father - a man they know only through a single photograph - resurfaces.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsKen TakakuraKiichi NakaiShinobu TerajimaA Japanese father travels to China's Yunnan province in the place of his ailing son to film a folk-opera singer.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsBing CrosbyBob HopeDorothy LamourTwo carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.
- DirectorAbbe WoolStarsJohn DoeAdam HorovitzDavid Anthony MarshallTwo strangers meet on the road and travel through Nevada on motorcycle to find an elusive spot where they can dump another man's ashes.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
- DirectorSergei BodrovStarsSergey BodrovViktor BorisovAleksandr BureyevAn independent young boy living in a prison-like state children's home escapes multiple times, searching for his imprisoned father.
- DirectorRoss McElweeStarsRoss McElweeDede McElweeRoss McElwee Jr.Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee sets out to make a movie about Union General Sherman's March to the Sea towards the end of the American Civil War, but keeps getting sidetracked by his own love life.
- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsPaul GiamattiThomas Haden ChurchVirginia MadsenTwo men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsRobert John BurkeBill SageMartin DonovanDennis is a handsome & bookish college student. His brother, Bill, is a roughhewn ladies' man & thief. Together they search for their dad, confront their expectations of each other, themselves, & their attitudes towards women.
- DirectorStefan SchwartzStarsPeter CapaldiFrances BarberCatherine RussellEight years ago, Gavin artistic son of an Scots/Italian ice-cream dynasty, turned his back on Glasgow and moved south to London to make his name illustrating children's books. Now, frustrated and broke, his Uncle Sal appears with an offer. Gavin's father has sold the family business. To get his share of the proceeds,Gavin must return home for his father's birthday party. Swayed by the money, he sets off north and picks up a hitchicker with a secret. Their journey is difficult but ultimately rewarding.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAnthony QuinnGiulietta MasinaRichard BasehartA care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsRichard FarnsworthSissy SpacekJane Galloway HeitzAn old man makes a long journey by lawnmower to mend his relationship with an ill brother.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsJohn LurieEszter BalintRichard EdsonA New Yorker's life is thrown into a tailspin when his younger cousin surprise-visits him, starting a strange, unpredictable adventure.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsGoldie HawnBen JohnsonMichael SacksA woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsJoel McCreaVeronica LakeRobert WarwickHollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsJohn CusackDaphne ZunigaAnthony EdwardsWalter Gibson is a university freshman going through a dry spell. His old buddy arranges a "sure thing" for him in California. Gibson and his classmate Allison then take a long road trip out to Cali, and both foil each other's plans.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSusan SarandonGeena DavisHarvey KeitelTwo best friends set out on an adventure, but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the police, as these two women escape for the crimes they committed.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsKeith CarradineShelley DuvallJohn SchuckWhen two men break out of prison, they join up with another and restart their criminal ways, robbing banks across the South.
- DirectorArthur RipleyStarsRobert MitchumGene BarryJacques AubuchonA veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsClint EastwoodJeff BridgesGeorge KennedyWith the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organize a daring new heist.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsJames TaylorWarren OatesLaurie BirdWhile drag-racing through the American Southwest in a Chevrolet 150, a driver and his mechanic cross paths with an enigmatic hitchhiker and the tall-tale-spinning driver of a GTO.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsSandrine BonnaireMacha MérilStéphane FreissA young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsGérard DepardieuMiou-MiouPatrick DewaereTwo thugs harass assault, steal, murder, Marie-Ange, a jaded, passive hairdresser, joins them as lover, cook, and mother confessor, on her own search for seemingly unattainable sexual pleasure.
- DirectorRichard C. SarafianStarsBarry NewmanCleavon LittleCharlotte RamplingDuring the 1970s, car-delivery driver Kowalski delivers hot rods in record time, but always runs into trouble.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsValérie LemercierVincent LindonHélène de Saint-PèreIt's Friday night--she's moving in with her boyfriend tomorrow--so she goes out, but gets stuck in traffic--where she meets a handsome stranger.
- DirectorFernando E. SolanasStarsWalter QuirozSoledad AlfaroRicardo BartisFollows the journey taken by 17-year-old Martin through Latin America - by bicycle - from his snow-frozen school in Tierra del Fuego in search of his 'real' father, a cartoonist turned anthropologist believed to be in the Amazon jungle.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsIngrid BergmanGeorge SandersMaria MaubanAn unhappily married couple attempts to find direction and insight while vacationing in Naples.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsYves MontandCharles VanelPeter van EyckIn a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsMireille DarcJean YanneJean-Pierre KalfonA surreal tale of a married couple going on a road trip to visit the wife's parents with the intention of killing them for the inheritance.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsBabek Ahmed PoorAhmed Ahmed PoorKhodabakhsh DefaeiEight-year-old Ahmed has mistakenly taken his friend Mohammad's notebook. He wants to return it, or else his friend will be expelled from school. The boy determinedly sets out to find Mohammad's home in the neighbouring village.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsNathan PhillipsCassandra MagrathKestie MorassiThree backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsMaribel VerdúGael García BernalDaniel Giménez CachoIn Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.