1. Citizen Kane



In his mansion house in the middle of his sprawling Florida estate, newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane utters 'Rosebud', his last word before dying. No one has the first clue as to the meaning of the word and so reporter, Jerry Thompson, is assigned the task of finding out the meaning of the word. Thompson interviews Foster's friends, family and work colleagues to discover the truth.

2. The Godfather

Francis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece features Oscar winner Marlon Brando as the patriarch of the Corleone family. Coppola paints a chilling portrait of a Sicilian family's rise and near fall from power in America, and the passage of rites from father to son. He masterfully balances the story between family life and the ugly business of crime in which they are engaged. Based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel, this graphic and brilliant film garnered the Oscar for Best Picture in 1972.

3. The Shawshank Redemption

City Banker Andy Dufresne is in Shawshank State Prison after receiving a double life sentence for murder. There he meets Red and also forms friendships with the warden and prison guards. Andy soon finds that you either get on with living or you get on with dying.

4. Schindler's List

The war finds businessman Oskar Schindler joining the Nazi party to make a profit. His dedication to the cause and his generous bribes see him rewarded with an enamelware plant in Krakow, whose employees are unpaid Jews. As time goes by the atrocities overwhelm Schindler, who is determined to protect his workers at all costs. Adapted from the novel by Thomas Keneally. Academy Award: Best Picture 1993.

5. Casablanca

Casablanca: easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if your name is on the Nazi's most wanted list. Atop that list is Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), whose only hope is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one…especially Victor's wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the ex-lover who broke his heart. So when Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo's safe transport out of the country, the bitter Rick must decide what's more important - his own happiness or the countless lives that hang in the balance.