Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train
So basically we’re listing our favorite films because as I don’t think there is one and I haven’t seen a reply that really warrants of coming close.
Stalker.I don’t know if it’s the all time greatest movie,but it is surely the closest one in my definition of a perfect movie.First of all,to say that’s “Stalker” is visually stunning,it should be at least 10 times less beatiful and impressive.The cinematography is magnificent,the colours are so rich,these long takes are just breathtaking.And of course,the great change from colour to sepia,when they were entering the Zone,make this one of the most beatiful scenes in history of cinema.As long as cinema is an art of images,“Stalker” is undoubtedly one of the finest pieces of cinematic art.
As for the plot,it is just amazing.I can’t remember of another film that,while having an almost linear plot,is at the same time so deep.It is one of the few films,that even if you ignore all of its symbolisms,his philosophical and existential themes,is still so thrilling and exciting.You can always find out something different,another aspect of the movie,which you didn’t mention the last time you saw it.
A really absurd question. But I’m never one to shy away from absurdity.
CRIES AND WHISPERS
Your question suggests that there is more than one option. I don’t believe there is.
The answer is The Third Man.
In Europe we call Citizen Kane the “Poor Man’s Third Man.”
I’m a journalist, for the past 55 years, and take my word for it when I say that Citizen Kane isn’t a very good film.
Americans like it because it points up their major, and fatal, flaw – greed.
It’s still not a very good movie.
Your question suggests that there is more than one option. I don’t believe there is.
The answer is The Third Man.
In Europe we call Citizen Kane the “Poor Man’s Third Man.”
I’m a journalist, for the past 55 years, and take my word for it when I say that Citizen Kane isn’t a very good film.
Americans like it because it points up their major, and fatal, flaw – greed.
It’s still not a very good movie.
Your question suggests that there is more than one option. I don’t believe there is.
The answer is The Third Man.
In Europe we call Citizen Kane the “Poor Man’s Third Man.”
I’m a journalist, for the past 55 years, and take my word for it when I say that Citizen Kane isn’t a very good film.
Americans like it because it points up their major, and fatal, flaw – greed.
It’s still not a very good movie.
Ugh. Holy pomposity!
1. Do you speak for all of Europe? In an elected or dictatorial capacity?
2. What does your being a journalist for 55 years have to do with the merit of Citizen Kane as a film? Your comment assumes hard-and-fast realism is a criterion for cinematic excellence in all films.
3. Do you speak for all American opinions of Citizen Kane? In a psychoanalytical or sociological capacity?
4. The Third Man? Eh. It’s okay.
My favorite is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The truly greatest, however, is 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Pretty much what David M.K. said. But I want to emphasize that just because you’re a journalist does not make your opinion on any film the last word.
And while I bow to my respect for KANE to no one, the only truly perfect film that I have seen is LA BELLE ET LABETE.
Yea, I really dug The Third Man but I didn’t go ape shit for it.
The truly greatest film, according to this guy right here, is Bergman’s Winter Light. The raw emotional power of the movie is something I’ve seldom seen elsewhere. But that is to say, of course, that there are many, many great films, and this is, as it can only be, purely preference.
Savvy
Apocalypse Now
Tokyo Story
Vertigo
The Elephant Man. It’s a tragedy (someone has said that tragedy is the highest art form). It shows a conflict between the best, high-minded people and the worst people, with good triumphing over bad. It’s a true story. It has great actors and great acting. Anyone who can watch it without tears must have a heart of stone.
I’m glad to see there is someone else that thinks Citizen Kane was a bad (or, at least, not very good) movie. It definitely would not make my top 100 – or even top 1000 – list.
I have seen all Ozu films, and I rank Tokyo story higher for the reason I said, The only son and Late Spring are for sure masterworks, There was a father is another very beautiful film
Chinatown. Godfather. Godfather II. None are perfect. All are great.
For shear joy, nothing matches the energy of Singing in the Rain.
I’m not that bright (which accounts for a lot) but – while watching 2001: A Space Odyssey – I kept thinking, is that all there is? I’ve heard it is supposed to be one of the great films, but not to me. Same holds true for Citizen Kane. I understand Citizen Kane broke the mold for unorthodox camera angles, innovative editing, etc., but not the greatest. Potemkin was revolutionary in the same way, too. I’m voting the pioneering aspect of both puts them pretty high on the list, but not the top.
Barbara I like the way you think
“For shear joy, nothing matches the energy of Singing in the Rain.”
I too love it but what about GiGI, My Fair Lady or Umbrellas of Cherbourg?
I would have to agree with Barbara – for me Singing in the rain is the greatest, or at least my favourite – I can’t separate those two definitions.
Every scene in that movie is gorgeous, and the exuberance of the performances are hard to beat. There are dance scenes that bring tears to my eyes every time I see them – they are just so brilliant.
I’m afraid that Gigi and My Fair Don’t come close – the latter is a very ponderous outing. I haven’t seen Cherbourg though…
Bugsy, hightail it over to wherever to see the Umbrellas of Cherbourg! I had forgotten how luscious that movie is – candy-colored – kinda like the film equivalent of a Jordan almond.
I really like Gigi and My Fair Lady – but, I’m always torn; the music and the costumes (and set design for MFL) are the stars.
Isn’t it funny – how “great” and “favorite” get blurred?
By the way, I have so enjoyed theauteurs.com – bless the hearts of the wonderful people who made it possible. I don’t always understand the movies, but they always make me think, wonder and feel the passion that makes the world wonderful.
Tokyo Twilight is a lot sensationalist for an Ozu (like Hen in the wind). and it has a lot of plot, Tokyo Story really goes beyond in cinematographic tempo (or time). The Only Son is the other great masterpiece of melancholic time image.
I don’t know abou the greatest film, I know my favorite all time movie, is CasaBlanca. A lot of great lines in that movie and some great acting.
If I could compare Citizen Kane with Tokyo Story ..
I always have found the cinema of Ozu very radical and less conventional. Orson Welles made a cake of references from Murnau to Renoir (the deep focus of Greg Tolland is overrated, Jean Renoir did an amazing use of deep focus in the Rules of the Game and Murnau was a great master of light and shadows, using them in a more artistic and beautiful way). Ozu gets his style from nothing, none reference, neither japanese. The virtuosity is not always related to abundant and flamboyant grammar, it can be something very delicate and simple like watching the flow of life. But simple doesnt mean simplistic, And Ozu style is modernist and complex, the use of patterns and the abstractions of the image are beyond anyone could make.
Shame by Bergman is the greatest film, it is not my favorite but the greatest.
Gordon Ackerman I suggest you go back and watch Kane again. Lot more to it than greed. Study up on William Randolph Hearst first if you have not already.
That would be weird if you haven’t being a journalist and all.
Take care peeps
My favorite is pulp fiction. I know ill catch fire for thsi but i believe star wars is the greatest movie ever.
Jason: “Citizen Kane is better than Tokyo Story.”
Agreed. I was a bit disappointed after watching “Tokyo Story”. I blind bought it because of so much hype and how it’s regarded as Ozu’s best. I thought it was good but nothing special at all. And yes, I see the different layers, patterns, etc. in the movie but I’m still unimpressed. I just don’t think anything in the film is profound, especially when it’s been called one of the greatest movies ever made.
I would say the greatest movie of all time is “2001: A Space Odyssey”. It’s pretty much perfect to me. The visuals are beyond amazing and the story deals with pretty much the biggest themes you could ever get into…the evolution of life and how we fit in the universe, both physically and in time. You can’t really get much bigger than that. Not to mention the story is top notch, iconic even.
this is why threads like these suck: you see more similar replies than the daily dejavus in your environment.
Tokyo Story may very well be the greatest movie of all time. It will grow on you after your first viewing and the more you watch it the more rewarding it is.
At the moment I feel that Jack Smith’s Normal Love is the greatest film, because of how it was made, and shown piece by piece; how it remained “unfinished” and of course for the great beauty of the results. At other times I’ve considered Mr. Arkadin by Orson Welles the finest, and then there were also Jean Vigo’s Zero for Conduct and Dreyer’s Vampyr. There can never really be one greatest film.
Sabata
what an insane question, I love it but my brain hurts too much. Maybe: The Ninth Configuration