1966 is a phenomenal year for International Cinema. In my list, only four are American productions, while four are British productions. That leaves 12 foreign language films. The last three cuts were all Asian: Tokyo Drifter, The Pornographers and Come Drink With Me. The next closest American film would be Alfie, which is good, but does not compare with the international heavyweights.

A high percentage of the films are on the Criterion Collection, and three of the Blu-Rays, I have yet to review. I’m saving those for later. A Criterion supplement even came close to making the cut, Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials, which is on the L’Avventura.

For a year with such a large international presence, this year many of my choices were Oscar contenders or winners. The most notable is the big winner, A Man For All Seasons, which won six Oscars including Picture, Director, Actor, and Cinematography. Elizabeth Taylor won for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and I imagine Burton gave Scofield a run for his money (I would have chosen Burton).

My top two would be in contention for my favorites of the decade. Even though Persona is on top now, I could bump Battle of Algiers after my next viewing. They are close.

1. Persona
2. Battle of Algiers
3. Blow-Up
4. The Sword of Doom
5. Seconds
6. Andrei Rublev
7. A Man For All Seasons
8. Here Is Your Life
9. The Face of Another
10. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
11. Au Hazard Balthazar
12. Violence at Noon
13. Le Deuxième souffle
14. Black Girl
15, Closely Watched Trains
16. The Shooting
17. The Sand Pebbles
18. Daisies
19. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
20. Cul-de-Sac
21. Zatoichi’s Pilgrimage