4. The 400 Blows
One of the most prominent works of the French New Wave movement, Francois Truffaut's seminal work The 400 Blows, depicting the difficult childhood of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), who struggles to clutch at joy while the various institutions around him - largely parental and legal - fall to pieces around him. Unquestionably a personal film for Truffaut, it is surely partly biographical in nature, yet has a greater universal quality with regard to the essence of lost childhood we all reach for as we get older. The final shot, of Antoine glaring into the camera after having fled reform school, is simply unforgettable, and a high-point of resonant, thought-provoking cinema.