The history of the ensemble film dates back to Intolerance (1916), a silent picture that eventually achieved a place among the most significant cinematic works ever made. The narrative spans nearly two millennia and includes prominent performers from the era. Ensemble movies have grown in popularity rapidly since Intolerance, reaching their peak in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

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Many superhero flicks fall in this category, especially those that lack a lead character like The X-Men and The Avengers franchises. Similarly, there are quite a few ensemble films that remain anchored to a single protagonist. In other words, there is no precise definition for ensemble cinema — the only rule is that the movie has multiple important characters, preferably played by famous actors.

10 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) Contains Some Truly Inimitable Performances

The Hoover family running alongside their yellow VW bus in Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is a bittersweet story that seamlessly flickers between tragedy and comedy without even trying. The movie was a financial triumph and garnered multiple nominations and awards. Its acerbically witty screenplay is the framework through which its characters reveal themselves, "a winning blend of sophistication and silliness."

Little Miss Sunshine contains some truly stellar performances from Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, Paula Newsome, Alan Arkin, and the inimitable Abigail Breslin — the latter earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at only ten years old.

9 Love Actually (2003) Was Designed To Be An Ensemble Film From The Outset

Alan Rickman as Harry in Love Actually

Love Actually was designed to be an ensemble film from the outset. It includes a wide range of talented actors, such as Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Denise Richards, Martin Freeman, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bill Nighy, and so on.

Love Actually's narrative is broken into 10 individual sub-plots, some of which crossover into each other, creating a warm tapestry of Christmassy affection. Although some critics called it "a sugary tale overstuffed with too many stories," Love Actually works because it demonstrates acts of love "in all of their messy, often surprising, glory."

8 I’m Not There (2007) Involves Six Individual Actors Playing Bob Dylan's Various Personas

I'm Not There

Making a movie that fully encapsulates Bob Dylan, a pop-cultural iconoclast whose life can best be described as wildly kaleidoscopic, is by no means an easy feat. Todd Haynes' I'm Not There splits Dylan's personality into individual aspects, each interpreted by different performers.

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Marcus Carl Franklin, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Ben Whishaw, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett portrayed unique, yet interrelated, versions of Dylan. The film also incorporates non-Dylan characters, played by Julianne Moore, Craig Thomas, and Richi Havens. I'm Not There might be occasionally inscrutable, but its mystical tone perfectly reflects its titular subject.

7 Gosford Park's (2001) Intriguing Narrative Is Anchored By Its Glittering Cast

Gosford Park

Robert Altman's Gosford Park was thematically inspired by La Règle du jeu, Jean Renoir's 1939 masterpiece and a cinematic landmark. Gosford Park, a murder-mystery told from two radically different viewpoints, won the Oscar for Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Director & Best Picture.

The intriguing narrative is anchored by its glittering cast, including Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Ryan Phillippe, Clive Owen, Michael Gambon, and Maggie Smith. Interestingly, the film's screenwriter Julian Fellowes is better known for creating Downton Abbey, which was intended as a Gosford Park spin-off.

6 Dazed And Confused (1993) Catapulted Many Of Its Cast Members To Stardom

Dazed and Confused's Ron, Don and Pink making faces at the camera

Director Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused was a box office failure that eventually found its voice as a cult classic movie. Several of its cast members weren't well known in Hollywood circles before appearing in the film, such as Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, and Cole Hauser.

Dazed and Confused was praised for its "excellent ensemble cast," with critic Roger Ebert calling the movie "art crossed with anthropology." Further, Linklater gained recognition for "captur[ing] the comic goofiness" of the era while "also evok[ing] its liberating spirit."

5 Pulp Fiction's (1994) Star-Studded Cast Contains Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, And Several Others

PULP FICTION TRAVOLTA THURMAN DANCE

Quentin Tarantino's trademark style of labyrinthine storytelling reached its peak with Pulp Fiction, synthesizing a variety of filmmaking approaches into an implausibly coherent narrative. This movie has been studied by cinema scholars, critics, and fans for nearly three decades, with a focus on its unorthodox screenplay.

Pulp Fiction failed to win a single Oscar from seven nominations, but it was awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Its star-studded cast contains Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames, Samuel L. Jackson, Eric Stoltz, and Harvey Keitel.

4 The Main Character Arcs In A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Intersect, Often With Devastatingly Hilarious Results

A Fish Called Wanda cast

The hilarious synergy that emerges between Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin, John Cleese, and Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda is a thing of beauty. In general, campy scripts allow ensemble casts to shine brighter than usual, especially in movies where all major character arcs intersect, often with devastatingly hilarious results.

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A Fish Called Wanda, "a brainy comedy with widespread appeal," established the foundations of the Brit-com genre on a global scale. Kevin Kline went on to win the Best Supporting Actor at the 61st Academy Awards, while Charles Crichton obtained a nomination for Best Director.

3 12 Years A Slave (2013) Includes Riveting Performances From Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, And Michael Fassbender

12-years-a-slave-2000

Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave is a gutwrenching film about Solomon Northrup, a free African-American who was abducted and forced into a life of bondage in Louisiana, where slavery hadn't yet been abolished.

The movie was released to universal acclaim and earned a massive profit at the box office, not to mention winning Best Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. 12 Years a Slave includes riveting performances from Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Adepero Oduye, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, and Michael Fassbender.

2 Apocalypse Now (1979) Owes The Bulk Of Its Success To Its Outstanding Cast

apocalypse now

Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now differs from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in terms of setting and characters, but both stories can be distilled into the same theme — a harshly ironic critique of colonialism.

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Although contemporary reviewers complained that the film's message wasn't compelling enough, current critics have the exact opposite opinion. Cinematography and screenplay aside, Apocalypse Now's success is undoubtedly the outcome of its outstanding cast: Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford,

1 The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy — Several Cast Members Are Virtually Synonymous With Their Respective Characters

The Fellowship of the Ring head towards Mordor

The Lord of the Rings manages to summarize the lush density of J.R.R. Tolkien's high fantasy epic novels without losing an iota of narrative intensity. In other words, Peter Jackson's world building skills are on par with one of the greatest English language writers of the 20th century.

The Lord of the Rings redefined the very meaning of cinema, from special effects to set design and everything in between. Many among the trilogy's cast are practically interchangeable with their respective characters, including Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Liv Tyler, Brad Dourif, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, and Orlando Bloom.