After a recent poll suggested 92 minutes is the ideal runtime for a film, it’s hard not to agree, as most films these days average around 2hr 30mins, for no good reason other than to have a 30 minute flying, fight sequence. So I do appreciate how this could be a hard sell. But you’ll have to hear me out today, as the following are all three hours plus, but every single one is worth your time. If you can sit and binge-watch six-plus episodes of a tv show you can do the same with a film. It’s okay to take a break if you want, no one is judging.
This list is by no means exhaustive (‘Satantango’ [7hr 30min] should be on here), it’s more a list of suggestions that aren’t too alienating for those looking to explore longer-form narrative filmmaking.
Once Upon a time in America (3hr 49in)
Quite possibly the most undervalued film about America ever. This epic tale that spans several decades is as violent and ugly as it is awe-inspiring and heart wrenching. Synopsis: A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. Considering director Sergio Leone made ‘The Dollars Trilogy’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, it’s saying something that this could well be his greatest achievement.
Magnolia (3hr 8min)
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to see this on the list. The film that solidified for me that I wanted to make films. Synopsis: On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story. A masterclass in every single aspect of filmmaking.
Berlin Alexanderplatz (15hr 30min)
Though technically a miniseries, this 1980 release is largely forgotten, but this is assured filmmaking from one of my favourites – Rainer Werner Fassbinder – the maniac who completed over 40 feature films, 24 plays, 2 TV serials and 3 short films, all before the age of 37! Synopsis: In late-1920s Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released from prison and vows to go straight. However, he soon finds himself embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld. This is a vision of a man hamstrung by forces out of his control, doomed to a life of angst.
The Irishman (3hr 29min)
Though this seems to have become a bit of a marmite film, I would argue it is proof that Scorsese has not lost any of his skills as a filmmaker in his later years. Synopsis: An illustration of Frank Sheeran’s life, from WWII veteran to hit-man for the Bufalino crime family and his alleged assassination of his close friend Jimmy Hoffa. Both huge in scale and unbearably intimate and subtle at times, its the ending that really gets me – one of the most haunting and honest accounts of old age to ever be put on screen.
The Deer Hunter (3hr 3min)
This is one that most people would have heard of but somehow unlikely seen. Synopsis: An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania. It’s hilarious at times, uncomfortably intense at others (Russian roulette anyone?) but above all one of the best ensembles ever put together.
The Godfather II (3hr 22min)
Far more formally daring than the first with it’s dual narratives. It’s often argued that this is one of the best sequels of all time and is on par with the first. It’s hard to disagree. Performance, cinematography, staging, scale, deeper themes, it has it all and then some. Synopsis: The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate. Like a lot of others on this list – immaculately crafted.
Yi Yi (2hr 53min)
Alright, so this one isn’t quite 3 hours, but it’s too good not to put on the list. Synopsis: Set in Taiwan, the film follows the lives of the Jian family over a year, from the alternating perspectives of the three main family members, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of this century.
Fanny and Alexander (3hr 8min)
It’s easy to overlook in a filmography of over 60 films, especially given master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman broke new ground with projects like ‘Persona’, this one however is one of the best examples of crystal clear capturing life on film. Synopsis: Two young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls. The highs are high and the lows are as low as can be.
*The 5hr 20min tv mini-series version is also brilliant.