The Top 25 British Films Of The Last 25 Years

By Peter Sciretta/Sept. 1, 2009 7:00 am EST

I’ve also included a few selected personal top 10 lists from some of the participants, including director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), screenwriter Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), and actor Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog, Sexy Beast, Gandhi).

The Top 25 British Films Of The Last 25 Years

1 . Trainspotting (1996)

  1. Withnail & I (1987)

  2. Secrets and Lies (1996)

  3. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

  4. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

  5. Sexy Beast (2000)

  6. Ratcatcher (1999)

  7. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

  8. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

  9. Touching The Void (2003)

  10. Hope and Glory (1987)

  11. Control (2007)

  12. Naked (1993)

  13. Under The Skin (1997)

Head on over to The Guardian for films 16-25

Here are a few of the lists that were included in the poll:

Edgar Wright, director

Life is Sweet (Mike Leigh, 1991)

Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)

Dead Man’s Shoes (Shane Meadows, 2004)

Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996)

The Filth and the Fury (Julien Temple, 2000)

Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson, 1987)

Control (Anton Corbijn, 2007)

Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)

The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005)

The Low Down (Jamie Thraves, 2000)

You can read some of Wright’s thoughts on his selections (and films he didn’t include) on his blog.

Peter Morgan, screenwriter

Croupier (Mike Hodges, 1998)

Last Resort (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2000)

Howards End (James Ivory, 1992)

Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996)

The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996)

Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2002)

Man on Wire James Marsh (2008)

One Day in September (Kevin Macdonald, 1999)

Love Is The Devil (John Maybury, 1998)

Sir Ben Kingsley, actor

Shadowlands (Richard Attenborough, 1993)

The Remains of the Day (James Ivory, 1993)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994)

Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)

Iris (Richard Eyre, 2001)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Mark Herman, 2008)

The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo, 1997)

Somers Town (Shane Meadows, 2008)

Venus (Roger Michell, 2006)