University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

My favorite movie of all time is “Dangerous Beauty.” It is a true story of a Venetian courtesan who stood up to the Inquisition and saved her life. While Hollywood altered the story for the movie, her real life was just as fascinating. She was known as an 'honest courtesan' because, in addition to her courtesan lifestyle, she made herself known through publishing poems and became quite an accomplished poet for a woman and courtesan in 1600s Venice. The movie itself was beautiful, from the costuming to the story line. It was one of those movies that, after I saw it in the theater, I thought about it for days after. The movie and the book based on her life focuses on how education changed and saved this woman's life, and the power a woman has over her own destiny.

Katie Biggie
Program Manager, Civic Pathways
Center for Educational Collaboration

I usually answer “The Leopard” by Visconti, an exquisite film from an exquisite novel. It's set in Sicily at the end of the 19th century and shows the fading of the aristocratic order to modern revolution and politics. It shows the shortcomings of both old and new orders, marking the grace of the old in the figure of Burt Lancaster, the Count, and the energy of the new in luscious Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon. Visconti was an Italian aristocrat and also an avowed Marxist so he translated Lampedusa's novel with astonishing passion. Today, though, I'm tempted to say “Avatar,” which I've only seen once but intend to see again and maybe again. It's wonderfully and fully imagined—a jewel. The sense of nature both renewing and destroying lifts it beyond any film I know. And the unmasking of the brutality of war and greed is breathtaking. Both films ravish with beauty and make me feel better.

Diane Christian
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor
Department of English

My favorite movie of all time is “Sling Blade.” It meets all my criteria: it's an indie, the script is tight, the characters and the actors who play them are unexpected and extraordinary, and, in its own way, the lead character is deeply moral. It also won an Oscar for best original screenplay (I'm a sucker for good writing).

Sara Saldi
Senior Editor
University Communications