Andy Garcia

"Well, you’d have to start with The Godfather. You’d almost have to put Part I and II together, because they were so close together, and they’re so innately tied into one another. Not to exclude Part III as a bad movie, but… I don’t see it that way, but I can’t vote for Godfather III because I’m in it. So I have to group those two together. I think those are joined at the hip, in a way."

"Well, you’d have to start with The Godfather. You’d almost have to put Part I and II together, because they were so close together, and they’re so innately tied into one another. Not to exclude Part III as a bad movie, but… I don’t see it that way, but I can’t vote for Godfather III because I’m in it. So I have to group those two together. I think those are joined at the hip, in a way."

"I would go back to Buster Keaton’s The General. The accomplishment of that movie in those days, you know… First of all, Buster Keaton as an actor — and as a comedian — but as an actor really, was… again, I think the word “sublime” comes across, because of that sort of deadpan quality that he had. When he was still, you felt as though his feet had roots, and they were sort of embedded and grounded into the ground. And, you know, a hurricane could come and it would never push him over. So that sense of stillness that he had, that had this kind of emotional weight inside of it, created juxtaposition to the stuff that he would do. Even if he was moving around, there was always a sense of a “man against the world” kind of thing that was always very compelling. But that movie, what he did with that movie, with that train, and the kind of stunts he was doing on his own, and just running around… I mean, just the accomplishment of that movie from a technical standpoint in those days was quite something. So that’s my list as of today."

"Then I would have to — and it’s hard to pick just one of his — but I would go with Sidney Lumet’s Serpico. Again, a performance-driven film, but there’s a sort of a reality to Sidney Lumet’s movies. I had the great pleasure of working with him, and there’s a reality, a sort of documentary quality to his films, you know? And it’s hard to pick from the lot of his films, whether it be Network or Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico. But there’s something about Serpico that has an emotional depth to it that was very touching. And also, it’s easy to identify with someone who’s trying to fight against the system and rise above it and do well, and the price that he pays for doing that. And Al Pacino’s performance in that movie is quite extraordinary."

"Okay, I’m going to do a hybrid again. Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle and Playtime; I’m going to put those two together. One’s sort of spun off the other, in a way, but you could put either, because it’s really about Tati himself, and the conceptual art of his films. The film that has almost no dialogue, just gibberish and music and human behavior, and staging. Competition is staging, which I found fascinating. They seduce you into paying attention to the simplest of details."

"Okay, I’m going to do a hybrid again. Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle and Playtime; I’m going to put those two together. One’s sort of spun off the other, in a way, but you could put either, because it’s really about Tati himself, and the conceptual art of his films. The film that has almost no dialogue, just gibberish and music and human behavior, and staging. Competition is staging, which I found fascinating. They seduce you into paying attention to the simplest of details."

"Then I would have to go with Hal Ashby’s Being There. I was struck by the tone of the film and the extraordinary performances in it, starting obviously with Peter Sellers. It was one of the most sublime movies I had ever seen."