# What is the best Julian Schnabel film of all time?

> Seven pictures from a painter who came to cinema sideways, each one built on somebody's real life.

*By YPB Team · Published September 4, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-julian-schnabel-film-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Miral** — score 1000/1000
   A 2010 drama following four Palestinian women across five decades, adapted from Rula Jebreal's novel.
2. **In the Hand of Dante** — score 698/1000
   Schnabel's 2025 adaptation of Nick Tosches's novel about a stolen manuscript of the Divine Comedy.
3. **At Eternity's Gate** — score 523/1000
   A 2018 portrait of Vincent van Gogh's final years, with Willem Dafoe as the painter.
4. **Basquiat** — score 407/1000
   Schnabel's 1996 debut, a first-hand account of Jean-Michel Basquiat's rise in the New York art world.
5. **The Diving Bell and the Butterfly** — score 262/1000
   Schnabel's 2007 adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir, shot largely from inside a paralysed man's single working eye.
6. **Before Night Falls** — score 262/1000
   A 2000 biopic of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, with Javier Bardem in his first Oscar-nominated role.
7. **Lou Reed's Berlin** — score 262/1000
   A 2007 concert film of Lou Reed performing his 1973 album Berlin in full.

Tags: movies, 2000s, directors, indie