The Prestigious Sight & Sound Poll (2022) The 100 Greatest Films Of All Time (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

The Critics’ Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time

1. “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
2. “Vertigo” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
3. “Citizen Kane” (Orson Welles, 1941)
4. “Tokyo Story” (Ozu Yasujiro, 1953)
5. “In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai, 2001)
6. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
7. “Beau travail” (Claire Denis, 1998)
8. “Mulholland Dr.” (David Lynch, 2001)
9. “Man with a Movie Camera” (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
10. “Singin’ in the Rain” (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951)
11. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
12. “The Godfather” (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
13. “La Règle du Jeu” (Jean Renoir, 1939)
14. “Cléo from 5 to 7” (Agnès Varda, 1962)
15. “The Searchers” (John Ford, 1956)
16. “Meshes of the Afternoon” (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
17. “Close-Up” (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989)
18. “Persona” (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
19. “Apocalypse Now” (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
20. “Seven Samurai” (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
21. (TIE) “The Passion of Joan of Arc” (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1927)
21. (TIE) “Late Spring” (Ozu Yasujiro, 1949)
23. “Playtime” (Jacques Tati, 1967)
24. “Do the Right Thing” (Spike Lee, 1989)
25. (TIE) “Au Hasard Balthazar” (Robert Bresson, 1966)
25. (TIE) The Night of the Hunter” (Charles Laughton, 1955)
27. “Shoah” (Claude Lanzmann, 1985)
28. “Daisies” (Věra Chytilová, 1966)
29. “Taxi Driver” (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
30. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Céline Sciamma, 2019)
31. (TIE) “Mirror” (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)
31. (TIE) “8½” (Federico Fellini, 1963)
31. (TIE) “Psycho” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
34. “L’Atalante” (Jean Vigo, 1934)
35. “Pather Panchali” (Satyajit Ray, 1955)
36. (TIE) “City Lights” (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
36. (TIE) “M” (Fritz Lang, 1931)
38. (TIE) “À bout de souffle” (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
38. (TIE) “Some Like It Hot” (Billy Wilder, 1959)
38. (TIE) “Rear Window” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
41. (TIE) “Bicycle Thieves” (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
41. (TIE) “Rashomon” (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
43. (TIE) “Stalker” (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
43. (TIE) “Killer of Sheep” (Charles Burnett, 1977)
45. (TIE) “North by Northwest” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
45. (TIE) “The Battle of Algiers” (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
45. (TIE) “Barry Lyndon” (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
48. (TIE) “Wanda” (Barbara Loden, 1970)
48. (TIE) “Ordet” (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
50. (TIE) “The 400 Blows” (François Truffaut, 1959)
50. (TIE) “The Piano” (Jane Campion, 1992)
52. (TIE) “News from Home” (Chantal Akerman, 1976)
52. (TIE) “Fear Eats the Soul” (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
54. (TIE) “The Apartment” (Billy Wilder, 1960)
54. (TIE) “Battleship Potemkin” (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
54. (TIE) “Sherlock Jr.” (Buster Keaton, 1924)
54. (TIE) “Le Mépris” (Jean-Luc Godard 1963)
54. (TIE) “Blade Runner” (Ridley Scott 1982)
59. “Sans soleil” (Chris Marker 1982)
60. (TIE) “Daughters of the Dust” (Julie Dash 1991)
60. (TIE) “La dolce vita” (Federico Fellini 1960)
60. (TIE) “Moonlight” (Barry Jenkins 2016)
63. (TIE) “Casablanca” (Michael Curtiz 1942)
63. (TIE) “GoodFellas” (Martin Scorsese 1990)
63. (TIE) “The Third Man” (Carol Reed 1949)
66. “Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty 1973)
67. (TIE) “The Gleaners and I” (Agnès Varda 2000)
67. (TIE) “Metropolis” (Fritz Lang 1927)
67. (TIE) “Andrei Rublev” (Andrei Tarkovsky 1966)
67. (TIE) “The Red Shoes” (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger 1948)
67. (TIE) “La Jetée” (Chris Marker 1962)
72. (TIE) “My Neighbour Totoro” (Miyazaki Hayao 1988)
72. (TIE) “Journey to Italy” (Roberto Rossellini 1954)
72. (TIE) “L’avventura” (Michelangelo Antonioni 1960)
75. (TIE) “Imitation of Life” (Douglas Sirk 1959)
75. (TIE) “Sansho the Bailiff” (Mizoguchi Kenji 1954)
75. (TIE) “Spirited Away” (Miyazaki Hayao 2001)
78. (TIE) “A Brighter Summer Day” (Edward Yang 1991)
78. (TIE) “Sátántangó” (Béla Tarr 1994)
78. (TIE) “Céline and Julie Go Boating” (Jacques Rivette 1974)
78. (TIE) “Modern Times “(Charlie Chaplin 1936)
78. (TIE) “Sunset Blvd.” (Billy Wilder 1950)
78. (TIE) “A Matter of Life and Death” (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger 1946)
84. (TIE) “Blue Velvet” (David Lynch 1986)
84. (TIE) “Pierrot le fou” (Jean-Luc Godard 1965)
84. (TIE) “Histoire(s) du cinéma” (Jean-Luc Godard 1988-1998)
84. (TIE) “The Spirit of the Beehive” (Victor Erice, 1973)
88. (TIE) “The Shining” (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
88. (TIE) “Chungking Express” (Wong Kar Wai, 1994)
90. (TIE) “Madame de…” (Max Ophüls, 1953)
90. (TIE) “The Leopard” (Luchino Visconti, 1962)
90. (TIE) “Ugetsu” (Mizoguchi Kenji, 1953)
90. (TIE) “Parasite” (Bong Joon Ho, 2019)
90. (TIE) “Yi Yi” (Edward Yang, 1999)
95. (TIE) “A Man Escaped” (Robert Bresson, 1956)
95. (TIE) “The General” (Buster Keaton, 1926)
95. (TIE) “Once upon a Time in the West” (Sergio Leone, 1968)
95. (TIE) “Get Out” (Jordan Peele, 2017)
95. (TIE) “Black Girl” (Ousmane Sembène, 1965)
95. (TIE) “Tropical Malady” (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)

 

[jayembee]

Hunh. Out of the hundred, there are only 16 I haven't seen.

I really need to watch Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.

 

[Tino]

I’ll say it. Terrible list.

ps. I’ve only seen 33.

 

[Thomas T]

ps. I’ve only seen 33.

I've seen 73.

 

[Thomas T]

I really need to watch Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.

I think it's worthwhile. This is what I wrote about it.

Three days in the structured life of a widow (Delphine Seyrig) and single mother raising her son (Jan Decorte). Running three and a half hours with long stagnant takes and minimal dialogue, there's never been a film quite like it. In meticulous detail and most of the sequences in real time, director Chantal Ackerman documents the mundane daily activities of a housewife. For example, when Seyrig washes dishes, the stationary camera focuses on her back until she washes every dish, when she sits down to eat her supper, Seyrig eats her supper till her plate is clean without the camera cutting away (I hope she didn't have to do more than one take!), she makes veal cutlets and meat loaf before our very eyes, makes beds, knits, takes a bath etc. As the film begins, the tendency is to suspect self indulgence on the part of the film maker but slowly and before you realize it, it becomes compelling cinema. It's a testament to Seyrig's commanding screen presence that she's able to hold the camera for three and a half hours. I suppose some see a profundity of sorts in the film. I'm not sure I do and I'm not sure I'd care to see other film makers usurp this style but there's no denying this is a unique and pioneering film. The film's biggest mystery: Just what is that outside light that strobes the dining room?

 

[Walter Kittel]

39 viewed.

I am reasonably familiar with many of the titles on the 'not seen' list, but I find that a lot of my time is spent revisiting vs. experiencing new (to me) titles.

- Walter.

 

[TravisR]

I know this is a highly respected list but Get Out? That's not even Jordan Peele's best movie let alone one of the best movies in the history of movies.

 

[Tino]

Casablanca #63?? No Jaws??

‘Nuff said!

 

[sleroi]

How did Blade Runner make this list? It took Ridley 5 tries before settling on a final version, and even then he took away any intrigue and mystery by definitively making Deckard a replicant.

The film is beautiful and interestingly presents some thought provoking themes, i.e. is technology turning us into a cold, sterile, robotic society? That only true robots can appreciate humanity?

But the film is also a slog as Scott had little grasp of the story or plot or what he was trying to say. He seemed far more interested in world building and atmosphere.

I applaud his ambition, and I'm not saying the film is horrible, but one of the greatest of all time?

 

[Thomas T]

Casablanca #63?? No Jaws??

‘Nuff said!

Casablanca is one of the most entertaining movie-movies of all time. But the Sight & Sound list is geared to "artistic" films. I love Casablanca but I couldn't in all conscience call it an artistic movie any more than I could call Jaws an art film (and I love Jaws). Personally, I would place E.T. and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind before Jaws on any best list.

But let's face it, there will never ever be a best or greatest list that everyone agrees on. There will always be a "Where's Fill In The Blank?" or "How could they leave off ABC?"

 

[EricSchulz]

I’ve seen 16. Some choices are laughable.

 

[Thomas T]

I know this is a highly respected list but Get Out? That's not even Jordan Peele's best movie let alone one of the best movies in the history of movies.

While I personally prefer Us, almost every review I've read on Peele's post Get Out films, even the favorable ones, have insinuated that's it's just not as Get Out. Like it or not, Get Out is Peele's Citizen Kane, the benchmark on which all his films will be compared to.

 

[Joe Wong]

I don’t see a Spielberg film on the list? Not even one?

 

[Jeffrey D]

I’ve seen 25 on the list. I don’t agree with some of the placings of the films.

 

[TravisR]

I don’t see a Spielberg film on the list? Not even one?

He's no Jordan Peele.

 

[Joe Wong]

He's no Jordan Peele.

I guess not…

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ll say it. Terrible list.

ps. I’ve only seen 33.

I agree - it’s not a great list.

One of the things I’ve come to really dislike about these familiar listings is how backwards looking they are. For the most part, this list suggests that the majority of the best filmmaking happened in the last century, with what, three or four choices from this one? Nearly half of the choices are from 1960 or earlier.

If you ever wonder why the general public at large seems to have moved away from caring about film criticism, look at lists like these, which generally suggest that everything good about cinema has already happened, and which generally suggest that films that are actually enjoyable to watch aren’t worthy of critical respect. This doesn’t seem like a list designed to encourage curiosity; it seems like an attempt at gatekeeping and snobbery.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Seen about 76 of them including the number one film “Jeanne Dielman" which is ok but i prefer Akerman's “News from Home” (#52). The Third Man and The Leopard should be higher on the list and There Will be Blood should have been on the list.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Some random thoughts...

I'd suggest that part of the reason that 'half the choices are from 1960 or earlier' is because earlier films, at least partly due simply to chronology are more influential and ground breaking and serve to inform latter works. This is an inherent advantage that earlier works tend to have in terms of critical opinion.

Happy to see 'Once Upon A Time In The West' make the list, but a bit surprised that 'Unforgiven' did not.

No Spielberg film, particularly Jaws, sort of feels like a 'head scratcher'.

Martin Scorsese has two films in the list, and neither of them is named 'Raging Bull'. Happy to see him represented, but a bit surprised at this result.

Very happy to see 'In The Mood For Love' in the top ten.

- Walter.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'd suggest that part of the reason that 'half the choices are from 1960 or earlier' is because earlier films, at least partly due simply to chronology are more influential and ground breaking and serve to inform latter works. This is an inherent advantage that earlier works tend to have in terms of critical opinion.

I think that’s a very reasonable point.

If you’ll indulge a counterpoint…

The list is “the greatest,” not “most influential” - there are plenty of works that have been enormously influential but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should be considered the greatest by default, in my view.

I don’t love the message this type of selection sends both to film fans and contemporary filmmakers.

For many, many years, “Citizen Kane” topped this and many similar lists. Don’t get me wrong - I love Citizen Kane. I actually find it fun to watch, which I know many people don’t. But it’s just the idea that, what’s the point in anyone trying anymore if the unalterable consensus is that the best film that was ever made is not only that but also the best film that will ever be made, that no one else even has a chance of making a better film? I think that’s how both art and culture become stagnant, when we worship the past at the expense of the present and future.

I think lists like these tend to favor one or two kinds of filmmaking at the expense of all other varieties, which I’m also not convinced is a good thing.

Just one grumpy internet critic’s opinion