Sight & Sound's "Greatest Films of All Time"
British magazine Sight & Sound has unveiled the latest iteration of its once-a-decade list of the "greatest films of all time." The polling this year was opened to an even wider range of participants, which might be one reason why perennial #1 Citizen Kane was bumped down a notch in favor of Vertigo (a move somewhat anticipated by us earlier). The other, less publicized upset: Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin has dropped out of the top 10 completely for the first time in the poll's history, but has been replaced by another Soviet montage silent classic, Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie Camera. A discussion about the list has been raging for over a year in our forum and has peaked with the reveal of the poll's results, and David Hudson at Fandor has rounded up commentary. The full top 10:
1. Vertigo
2. Citizen Kane
3. Tokyo Story
4. The Rules of the Game
5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
7. The Searchers
8. Man with a Movie Camera
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc
10. 8 1/2
Responses
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Fantastic list for this year’s, at last.
My votes for: CITIZEN KANE (1941), 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928), and 8 1/2 (1963) have finally made it to the finals. Although, CITIZEN KANE should have made it at #1 but VERTIGO (1958) deserved it more. I have seen about almost all from the entire list, I still need to watch SUNRISE (1927).
Thanks for the posting of this year’s top 10 for Sight & Sound, Notebook. :)
excited to see vertigo at #1, my personal all-time favorite……
The change of Potemkim’s position totally obeys to political agenda. Film history is slowly leading to comtemplative-apolitical-harmless-uncritical visions of a world that is built more than ever on powers and domination logics.
Well, the so-called “official” film history based on western mass media, poles and festivals.
The Searchers, Man with the Movie Camera, Tokyo Story, Rules of the Game, Citizen Kane…these are apolitical/harmless/uncritical films?
2001: A Space Odyssey is far and away the greatest film ever made. But I am excited to see Vertigo above Citizen Kane. Its always been my favorite Hitchcock film.
Daniel, unfortunately the world now is so geared towards right-wing thinking that even the films you mentioned, by virtue of being so subtle, tend to become anecdotes about the power/authority in small groups in conflict with others or the social behavior of characters in hierarchies where they have slightly a little more power over others. There’s no rigorous questioning in depth on superstructures or systems that, at some point commit even the very way of categorizing cultural status quo, knowledge and cultural products in the same way this pole was built. Reactionary critics who cannot question their own niche and poles that try to impose standards for representation/appreciation, can turn even the most revolutionary work into a reactionary product.
It’s a crime that there’s only one film from Bergman in the list. I think critics should really freshen up their “Sights”. Possibly they couldn’t hear the “Sound” of Cries and Whispers. Or perhaps they’re not still prepared to meet IB Face to Face and yet looking Through a Glass Darkly.
@Scorpio: “Although, CITIZEN KANE should have made it at #1 but VERTIGO (1958) deserved it more.” —Huh?
@javier quintero: Yes, totally, if there’s one thing that defines the film critics of the world, it’s their overwhelming right-wingery.
@Kiarash Anvari: I actually kind of agree with this one.
This pork barrel list of flabby old film industry product looks like something voted on by the Joseph Goebbels art and decency league, not a reputable compendium of film criticism.
Well, at least Kane is not #1 again, and Potemkin didn’t make the top 10.
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