66 Essential British Films To Take Your Mind Off The World Cup

10. The Italian Job (1969)

The Italian Job contains so many iconic elements that it has almost transcended being simply a film and become an institution. "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off", the red, white and blue minis, the cliffhanger ending, all instantly recognisable, and its enduring influence can also be heard at every England match when the most annoying band in the world drone out a version of theme tune The Self-Preservation Society... Ad nauseum.

9. Brazil (1985)

When questioned about the influence of George Orwell's 1984 on his Dystopian vision, Terry Gilliam famously replied that it was an influence but he had never actually read it, terming his film "1984 and a half". Although it is a riff on 1984 Brazil is a completely unique experience, there isn't a film comparable to it made before or since. Equal parts surreal, uplifting, oppressive and hilarious, like all Gilliam's films Brazil is visually awe-inspiring and may even be his masterpiece.

8. If€. (1968)

The most apparent thing when watching If.... forty five years after it first appeared is how incredibly bold and prescient it is, not just in terms of its stark anti-establishment themes, but in its visual audaciousness. Throughout If.... shifts between colour stock and black & white, the changes occur mid-sequence in some instances without rhyme or reason, which gives the film a unique and somewhat unsettling aesthetic. The most remarkable fact about this is that it has no artistic basis and was simply due to director Lindsay Anderson running out of colour film.