In reading the review he acknowledges his own disconnect from religion, and a film like The Ballad of Narayama presents a bleak and terrifying view of death. Ebert writes with great sensitivity, but never hesitates. The harshest reality for them is discovering what’s at the top of the mountain: a mystery that everyone will confront in their own lives. The latter review is a beautifully examined look at a film wherein characters climb a mountain as a transition into the afterlife. It’s impossible not to read his reviews of films like Make Way for Tomorrow or 1958’s The Ballad of Narayama and not notice his focus on films dealing with death and dying, and ultimately gaining an appreciation for life. Probably the biggest theme compiled in Great Movies IV is Ebert’s own self-awareness about his impending demise. The aforementioned Eternal Sunshine looks at the nature of memory, while his essay on Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon confirms how perfectly it fits into the director’s canon while being a story about lack of emotion. Here Ebert finds a unique angle for all 62 titles, opening them up to future critique and exploration by those who watch them. Ebert doesn’t deign to review whether these films are good or bad their presentation in a book praising their greatness is proof of their individual accomplishments. Caligari or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. No matter how ill he was, it’s impossible not to smile while delving into his essays on works like Make Way for Tomorrow, The Cabinet of Dr. What’s left are the 62 reviews culled together and presented in the final installment of his beloved Great Movies series. In a heartfelt foreword written by his wife Chaz, she reveals that Ebert planned to write more essays but his untimely death left so many of his proposed films unexplored. In his lifetime he wrote four tomes highlighting the “great movies,” those essential pieces of cinema anyone with either a deep interest in the subject or who simply wanted a crash course in what’s worth seeing. Noted film critic Roger Ebert has been gone for three years and his voice is still missed by fans of film.

The Great Movies by Roger Ebert