Classic films of the 1980s

They said that greed was good...

Paris, Texas

The late, great Harry Dean Stanton's finest role came as the near-mute Travis, on a journey across America to reunite his family, in Wim Wenders' moving tale of loss and redemption.

Drama
1984
145 mins
Wim Wenders

Christiane F.

David Bowie’s image and music gives brooding energy to this tale of a junkie sex-worker in 70s Berlin.

Drama
1981
131 mins
Uli Edel

Body Double

An unemployed actor is drawn into a world of voyeurism, seduction, mystery and murder, in Brian De Palma's playful and satirical homage to Hitchcock.

Thriller
1984
114 mins
Brian De Palma

Burning an Illusion

Menelik Shabazz’s pioneering first feature traces the emotional and political growth of a young black couple in Thatcher’s London.

Drama
1982
102 mins
Menelik Shabazz

Rouge

Gorgeous romantic melodrama from queer cinema master Stanley Kwan about the haunting power of lost love starring the late Cantopop singer Anita Mui.

Drama
1987
98 mins
Stanley Kwan Kam-pang

Maurice

Merchant Ivory’s landmark adaptation of E M Forster’s classic LGBTQ+ novel and a precursor to the James Ivory-scripted Call Me By Your Name.

Drama
1987
140 mins
James Ivory

Available in 4K

Gregory's Girl

The ultimate depiction of coming-of-age awkwardness, Bill Forsyth’s comedy about a teen who falls for the new female footballer on the school team.

Comedy
Romance
1981
92 mins
Bill Forsyth

Chocolat

Claire Denis' fully formed debut offers a child’s-eye-view of racial and sexual tension that bubbles with unspoken desires.

Drama
1988
100 mins
Claire Denis

Betty Blue

Jean-Jacques Beineix’s story of a volatile, highly sexual relationship was one of the most successful French films of the 1980s.

Drama
Romance
1986
185 mins
Jean-Jacques Beineix

Police Story

Jackie Chan's mind-blowing, high-octane extravaganza of death-defying stunts and action comedy.

Martial arts
Thriller
1985
101 mins
Jackie Chan

Fanny and Alexander

Bergman’s magisterial and sumptuous portrait of a 20th-century Swedish family, presented in its full-length TV version.

Drama
1982
311 mins
Ingmar Bergman

Querelle

Jeanne Moreau plays a jaded brothel madam caught up in the violent sexual awakening of Brad Davis' naïve young sailor.

Drama
1982
109 mins
Rainer Werner Fassbinder

El Sur

Victor Erice’s second masterpiece, following The Spirit of the Beehive, is a meditation on memory, deception and Spain’s 20th-century history.

Drama
1983
94 mins
Víctor Erice

BFI Restoration

Caravaggio

Derek Jarman’s biopic of the artist Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality and art.

Biopic
Historical drama
1986
93 mins
Derek Jarman

BFI Restoration

The Draughtsman's Contract

Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery.

Period drama
1982
107 mins
Peter Greenaway

Babylon

A young Rastafarian toaster (rapper) aims for success at a Reggae Sound System competition.

Drama
1980
95 mins
Franco Rosso

L'Argent

Bresson’s superb final film and Cannes winner is a Tolstoy adaptation relating how a prank with a forged bank note leads to tragedy.

Crime
1983
84 mins
Robert Bresson

Mona Lisa

An ungainly cockney chauffeur navigates the seedy streets of London, gradually falling for the elegant and mysterious prostitute who is his passenger.

Gangster
Drama
1986
100 mins
Neil Jordan

BFI Restoration

The Passion of Remembrance

A key film of the Black Film Workshop movement - this London-set visual mosaic captures the richness and complexity of 1980s Black British life.

Historical drama
Animation & Artists Moving Image
1986
83 mins
Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien

BFI Restoration

Distant Voices, Still Lives

Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory.

Biopic
Historical drama
1988
84 mins
Terence Davies

Wings of Desire

In director Wim Wenders' (Paris, Texas) most metaphysical work, a guardian angel desires nothing more than to be human.

Fantasy
Romance
1987
128 mins
Wim Wenders

BFI Restoration

Dance Craze

Legendary film that brilliantly captures the cultural phenomenon that was the 2 Tone movement, and showcases the very best of the British Ska revival.

Documentary
Performance
1981
89 mins
Joe Massot

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Paris, Texas

Christiane F.

Body Double

Burning an Illusion

Rouge

Maurice

Gregory's Girl

Chocolat

Betty Blue

Police Story

Fanny and Alexander

Querelle

El Sur

Caravaggio

The Draughtsman's Contract

Babylon

L'Argent

Mona Lisa

The Passion of Remembrance

Distant Voices, Still Lives

Wings of Desire

Dance Craze