The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘Under The Shadow’ Director Babak Anvari

6. The movie that always makes you cry
I’m a softie and I cry easily, so it doesn’t take much for a movie to make me cry. I love how movies can have that effect on me. It’s great to have that emotional engagement with a film, but not all films can do that. I remember that every time I watched Roberto Benigni‘s “Life Is Beautiful” I cried, and if my father was around, I used to go and hug him. Films with parents putting their lives on the line to protect their children always get me.

7. The movie that always freaks you out/makes you scared
Following up from my answer above, I must add that I’m also a wimp, so I get scared easily. The list of films that scare me is long. But I have this weird curiosity: I really like to watch these types of films even though I know they could scare me. I guess it’s a form of self harm! As a child, Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” used to really scare me! “The Exorcist” and “The Omen” gave me tons of nightmares when I was younger. Recent examples of films that creeped me out are “The Witch” and “Lords of Salem.” They both stayed with me long after watching them. I had to leave my bedside lamp on when I went to bed. I guess that films and stories about witches creep me out and I have no idea why. But these days, I get more creeped out by an eerie atmosphere in a film rather than by seeing monsters or gore.

8. The movie you love that no one would expect you to love 
Because I watch everything from blockbusters to arthouse films, and in every genre, I don’t think I can ever surprise people with the films I love. I don’t think people close to me expect me to only love a certain type of film.

9. The movie that defined your coming-of-age/high school experience 
“The Faculty!” I absolutely hated school, especially high school (that’s why I also love Lindsay Anderson‘s “If…” and the Swedish film “Ondskan,” which means “evil”). When I was growing up in Iran, many teachers were sometimes more of a bully than other kids. So when “The Faculty” came out, I fell in love with it and kept fantasizing that some of my teachers and the principle in my school were aliens. It also helped that I related to Elijah Wood‘s character Casey.

10. The movie that defined your childhood
Hard to answer. Many films define my childhood, but I would say “E.T.,” “Jaws,” “Beetlejuice,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (I wanted to be abducted by aliens after watching it), the ‘Indiana Jones’ films, “Jurassic Park,” “Batman Returns,” and beside Spielberg and Burton films, I’d say “The Sandlot” —I loved that film so much as child.

11. A film that you walked out of
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,” from 2006. Please bear in mind that it is very rare for me to walk out of a film. I always try to find something to appreciate in a film. But when I went to watch it with a friend in London, I reached my boiling point. It wasn’t scary but just ridiculously violent, and I got really annoyed. It didn’t help that I had a horrible pain in my ear because I was recovering from a cold. So after half an hour, I turned to my friend and said, “I can’t watch this. I’ll wait for you in a pub” and I walked out. I don’t recall walking out of any other films. But maybe it was unbearable because of the earache…