Film history

Twenty years ago, Ang Lee's drama about the love between two male sheep herders was released after a long battle to get it made. It was a watershed moment for gay representation.

Released 40 years ago this week, The Wizard of Oz sequel Return to Oz was as scary as it was unconventional. It was a box office failure, but has since become a cult classic.

In June 1993, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel brought prehistoric monsters to life. Crichton spoke to the BBC about why dinosaurs continue to fascinate us.

Darren Aronofsky's radical drug-addiction drama was highly acclaimed and angrily slated when it came out in 2000. Today, this Hubert Selby Jr adaptation is no less contentious.

When Midnight Cowboy came out 56 years ago this week, it instantly upended Hollywood's idea of a mainstream hit. In its Academy Award-winning year, the BBC spoke to one of its actors.

Decades before Tom Cruise was making audiences gasp, the Gallic star was getting up to even more hair-raising exploits on screen – sometimes with few safety measures.

Seventy years old this year, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les Diaboliques is a masterclass in macabre dread – and inspired Hitchcock's classic among others.

Fifty years after Monty Python and the Holy Grail redefined comedy, stars Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam look back on the freedoms – and limitations – that shaped the film.