The only real issue I have is Once Upon a Time in America. For one, I’ve never liked the movie. Two, there are so many better Leone films to choose from. Hell, just change one word in that title and you’ve got one of my 100 Greatest films of all time.
Other than that, it’s a pretty solid, extremely predictable list of films.
Is there a film that is Post – 1975 on the list ?
I find that odd.
Out of the 100 listed I’d most likley include the following on my own list (If I excluded a film, it is because I have either not seen it or disagree):
Citizen Kane – Orson Welles
Vertigo – Alfred Hitchcock
The Searchers – John Ford
Nosferatu the Vampire – Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
North by Northwest – Alfred Hitchcock
The Deer Hunter – Michael Cimino
Battleship Potemkin – Sergei M. Eisenstein
The Godfather – Francis Ford Coppola
8 1/2 – Federico Fellini
King Kong – Ernst Shoedsack & Merian J. Cooper
The Seven Samurai – Akira Kurosawa
La Dolce Vita – Federico Fellini
Apocalypse Now – Francis Ford Coppola
Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick
I particularly like these picks:
11. Greed
12. Rio Bravo
67. Barry Lyndon (Of course)
I cringe looking at #100 though. Big Stan Kubrick is rolling over in his grave on that one.
I couldn’t believe they added FREAKS to the list.
Bizarre choice.
A few refreshing choices here, but “The Party?” Is Blake Edwards the new Jerry Lewis? And no “Lawrence of Arabia.” Ouch.
No, that would be Jim Carrey.
The Party is what I like to call, The Fluke.
Edwards never made a movie as good.
Besides, it’s all Sellers.
Stagecoach needs to replace The Searchers… on every list that the latter finds itself on.
I find that The Searchers is… let’s say… racially sensitive.
A pretty solid list, fairly conservative both with a few strong inclusions that are too often neglected. It was nice to see Jean Eustache on the list, but where is the Rivette? Come on Cashiers, he was one of your greatest critics, and went on to be one of the countries greatest directors!
Good to see Nick Ray so high on the list (he should be even higher), although there are a few films I would pick before I got to “Johnny Guitar”, despite its excellence.
I’d like to counter Iliveinfear by saying that I am in full support of the inclusion of “The Barefoot Countessa”. A film that should be viewed infinitely more, Mankiewitz’s masterpiece.
I have no idea why Freaks is on that list. I don’t think it’s a “great” film, there’s nothing special about it.
And I can’t believe that they didn’t include Casablanca on there anywhere! As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the greatest films ever made, I don’t know how it didn’t make their list.
I’d say it’s a decent list, I don’t agree with everything, but it’s nice to see a list that includes foreign films.
I forgot to mention, how could they leave Rear Window off of the list?
Citizen Kane?!! I would have thought the French could have picked a better number one. And, The Night of the Hunter is a fine film, but it doesn’t belong anywhere near the top ten. Number three would probably be a good place to put The Rules of the Game, except that it’s far better than either of the top two.
The rest of the list is refreshing, though. I particularly love that Tokyo Story and Contempt placed fourteenth and fifteenth respectively.
Oh, and you’re right, JR, Freaks is a surprising, if not welcome, addition.
Still, I’m not sure how a film like Bicycle Thieves can fall to number ninety-nine on a list that includes so many iffy selections ahead of it.
I think the addition of Freaks makes it more interesting. Nothing interesting about Freaks? Have you seen the film? It’s one of the most interesting on that list and deserves it’s place as much as any other. In terms of “greatest of all-time” list this one is interesting in its use of some contemporary and interesting choices along with the classic staples. I would’ve put Last Year at Marienbad on it, but, hey, it’s not my list and overall it seems to be a good one.
The Deer Hunter, Fanny and Alexander, Apocalypse Now, Once Upon a Time in America, Manhattan, Talk To Her, and Mulholland Drive are all post-1975. Those are what I notice just glancing through. It is a very old list, though.
I’ve only seen 38 of those. I suck.
great to see pierrot le fou on there. in terms of modern films lacking, its a shame that they couldnt find a place for eyes wide shut, especially considering it was their film of the year in 1999. i adore cahier du cinema tho, when in paris i made a point of picking up a copy on the champs elysees, alongside a copy of the new york herald tribune of course!
i will use this double post edit to make a small point – where on earth is a matter of life or death?! madness.
Wow, of all the Bunuel they pick “El.” Great movie, but surprising. No “L’Age d’Or,” “Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” or even ""Un Chien Andalou"?
The thing about these lists is that it’s such a subjective thing. I get the sense that many of the films are on the list are based on reviews solely made by Cahier du Cinema. I mean, does anyone actually believe that Moonfleet, by Fritz Lang, belongs on that list? I’ve seen it. It’s alright but to suggest it’s greater than 8 1/2 or Touch of Evil is a little absurd.
I guess since 400 Blows was on the list, it helped that Francois Truffaut was a contributor to Cahiers du Cinema.
The 400 Blows is on most “Greatest Movies Ever Made” lists, so I don’t think it matters that Truffaut once wrote for it. It couldn’t hurt, though, of course.
wow. i’ve never even heard of “moonfleet”! but i’ll go out on a limb and say that it’s probably not as good as “m”. so yeah, for me that’s an interesting choice indeed, even if its number #100.
This is quite a nice list, but what the hell is the Deer Hunter doing here?…..I also don’t understand the acclaim that is designated to “Talk To Her”. But otherwise is the preferable to any A.F.I/B.F.I list.
To JP Belmondo, yes, I have seen Freaks. Aside from the characters, which some would consider interesting, I found it to be an incredibly boring film. How can you say that it deserves its spot just as much as any other on that list? It’s ranked higher than 8 1/2, Breathless, and Bicycle Thieves. How do some of the most important films in cinema history get beat out by a mediocre midnight movie?
“freaks” is only interesting as an early tod browning film, as an early example of the horror genre. it’s by no means a great film in my mind. it’s a cult film, and only a mildly-interesting one at that. even on a list 100 films long, i can’t really justify it being there.
While I agree with your sentiments on The Deer Hunter, Kifah, you can count me among those designating acclaim to Talk To Her. I think it’s possibly Pedro Almodóvar’s best film, and that’s saying quite a lot. I’m not going to argue for it’s merits, I just think this sort of illustrates how subjective these lists are; I mean, I’m sure a lot of people would take exception to our shared distaste for the The Deer Hunter.
I disagree with those who are so blasé about Freaks. To me this film is a sort of progenitor for works like Herzog’s Even Dwarfs Started Small. It’s not merely that the characters are “interesting,” they’re utterly compelling. The film wouldn’t make my top 100, and I completely agree with Ryan, who wonders how Freaks was selected above 8 1/2 and Bicycle Thieves. Still, it I think it is a remarkable film that’s too often dismissed as a mere novelty.
One other thing: Where is Wages of Fear? For whatever reason, this omission stands out for me more than any others. It’s a French poll, after all.
I don’t doubt that it’s one of the earliest examples of a “horror” film, or that it’s influential, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good film. Kevin, you said that you found the characters “uttely compelling”. While I don’t doubt that you did, I found that I was more interested in when it would be over than I was with any of the characters or the story.
I don’t doubt that it’s one of the earliest examples of a “horror” film, or that it’s influential, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good film. Kevin, you said that you found the characters “uttely compelling”. While I don’t doubt that you did, I found that I was more interested in when it would be over than I was with any of the characters or the story.
Wages of Fear was good, but Diaboliques was much better to me.
Intriguing list. Still hangs close to the usual expected canon, but it does appear that there was at least a small effort towards unpredictability, a big plus in these sorts of things.
Iliveinfear
I just found this. I’ve seen about 80 of these films. While any list has to be taken with a grain of salt, I can’t get over The Barefoot Contessa and An Affair to Remember making it. I have a lot of other problems with the list too.
http://www.filmdetail.com/archives/2008/11/23/cahiers-du-cinemas-100-greatest-films/