I recently re-watched The Immigrant, which must be one of the most beautiful films ever made. I also recently revisited Barry Lyndon (on Blu-ray) and Flowers of Shanghai (on film as part of the Cinematheque's Hou Hsiao-hsien retrospective), my favorite films by Kubrick and Hou respectively, and I really think James Gray's movie is in that same superlative territory, at least in terms of exquisite, overwhelming beauty. Who else working today approaches such rapture? Malick, of course. Godard sometimes: In Praise of Love for sure, and parts of Goodbye to Language. And Terence Davies once or twice per decade. After that...
