Children of Paradise (1945)

In the theatrical world of Paris’s Boulevard du Crime, unattainable courtesan Arletty encounters and forms relationships with four men of vastly disparate backgrounds and demeanors. Notable for being filmed during the Nazi occupation of France, it’s an incredibly sweeping epic that somehow never feels like it’s overstaying its more than three hour runtime as it details the intrigues of the five characters’ entwined lives. In a role inspired by the famous mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Jean-Louis Barrault is beautifully melancholic, bearing witness to the virtues of mime as an art form in ways I never knew possible while also portraying the desperate heartbreak of a love that, even when unrequited, won’t die. 

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Original Screenplay