The prestigious magazine Sight&Sound conducts a poll every ten years to choose which is the best film in history. To do this, he calls together film critics from all over the world. On this occasion, they invited me to participate. 1,600 of us voted, and the poll results were, in some cases, curious.
Before going on to see which ones have been chosen, let’s remember which titles were the winners of the survey, which had its first edition in 1952.
This year, bike thieves, by Vittorio De Sica, at the head of the list. But in 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2002 the winner was the same: The citizenby Orson Wells. Only in 2012 did he dethrone her Vertigofrom Alfred Hitchcock.
And now?
Now we vote twice as much as in 2012, so a renewal of the list was expected.
The winner, who displaced Vertigo in second place is Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Brusselsby Chantal Akerman, from 1977. Akerman tells the story of a young widowed mother who, while doing housework during the day, works as a prostitute in the afternoon.
It lasts more than three and a half hours and ten years ago it was ranked 35th on the list, there are several films by female directors on the list and three are in the top 15.
And on the third position “fell” The citizen. Y bicycle thief, the first winner? He is now in 41st place, tied with Rashmonone of many that Akira Kurosawa has in the top 100..
An important fact is this there is no Latin American film among the 100 best in history. I don’t know how many critics from South and Central America took the poll, but it’s strange that there isn’t one Leonardo Favioa Glauber Rocha, or a Lucrecia Martel film thrown over there.
And there is only one Spanish film: The spirit of the hiveby Vittorio Erice.
But hey, there’s too much written about tastes, so don’t be surprised when you read the list and find do rightby Spike Lee, in a better position than Taxi driveror that among so many titles by American directors there are none, not even one by Steven Spielberg or Clint Eastwood.
There was talk of curiosity and, for example, in position 63 they drew White Houseby Michael Curtiz; the third manby Carol Reed; Y Good guysby Martin Scorsese.
And in another “group of death”, bound, I am rear windowby Alfred Hitchcock; One Eve and two Adamsby Billy Wilder; Y Breathlessby Jean-Luc Godard, at number 38.
There is nothing by Luis Buñuel either, and parasites, by Bong Joon-ho, ranked 90th. And if we talk about Stanley Kubrick, whatBarry Lyndon It is better than The glow?
And of the films released after the previous survey, from 2012 onwards, the one that positioned itself better is Portrait of a woman on fireby Céline Sciamma, but it is only the 30th.
Here’s the full list, with several films tied for the same position
Rank 95
Flee!USA, Japan, 2017, by Jordan Peele; La General’s driverUSA, 1926, by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman; Black girl1965 Senegal, France, by Ousmane Sembène; Tropical diseaseFrance, Thailand, Germany, 2004, by Apichatpong Weerasethakul; once upon a time in the west, Italy, USA, 1968, by Sergio Leone; Y A man sentenced to death escapesFrance, 1956, by Robert Bresson.
Rank 90
lady of…France and Italy, 1953, by Max Ophuls; the leopardItaly, France, 1963, by Luchino Visconti; Ugetsu MonogatariJapan, 1953, by Kenji Mizoguchi; YiYi, Taiwan, Japan, 1999, by Edward Yang; Y parasitesKorea, 2019, by Bong Joon-ho
Rank 88
Chung King ExpressHong Kong, 1994, by Wong Karwai; The glowUnited States, United Kingdom, 1980, by Stanley Kubrick
Rank 84
History(s) of cinemaFrance, Switzerland, 1988, by Jean-Luc Godard; Pierrot Le FouFrance, Italy, 1965, by Jean-Luc Godard; The spirit of the hive, Spain, 1973, by Víctor Erice; Y blue velvetUSA, 1986, by David Lynch
Rank 78
Céline and Julie go on a boatFrance, 1974, by Jacques Rivette; A matter of life or deathUnited Kingdom, 1946, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger; Modern timesUSA, 1936, by Charles Chaplin; A brighter summer dayTaiwan, 1991, by Edward Yang; satantango Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, 1994, by Béla Tarr; Y twilight of a lifeUSA, 1950, by Billy Wilder
Rank 75
Sansho the bailiffJapan, 1954, by Kenji Mizoguchi; imitation of lifeUSA, 1959, by Douglas Sirk; The enchanted cityJapan, 2001, by Hayao Miyazaki
Rank 72
my neighbor totoroJapan, 1988, by Hayao Miyazaki; I travel to italyItaly, France, 1954, by Roberto Rossellini; The adventureItaly, France, 1960, by Michelangelo Antonioni
Rank 67
metropolisGermany, 1927, by Fritz Lang; The glaneurs and the glaneuseFrance, 2000, by Agnès Varda; the red slippersUnited Kingdom, 1948, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger; La Jetée, France, 1962, by Chris Marker; Y Andrei RublevUSSR, 1966, by Andrei Tarkovsky
position 66
Touki BoukiSenegal, 1973, by Djibril Diop Mambéty
Rank 63
White HouseUSA, 1942, by Michael Curtiz; the third man, UK, 1949, by Carol Reed; Y Good guysUSA, 1990, by Martin Scorsese
rank 60
The Daughters of the DustUnited States, 1991, by Julie Dash; MoonlightUnited States, 2016, by Barry Jenkins; the sweet life, Italy, France; 1960, by Federico Fellini
Rank 59
without sunFrance, 1982, by Chris Marker
Rank 54
Sherlock Jr.USA, 1924, by Buster Keaton; Bachelor apartmentUnited States, 1960, by Billy Wilder; Battleship PotemkinUSSR, 1925, by Sergei M. Eisenstein; Blade RunnerUSA, Hong Kong, 1982, by Ridley Scott; contemptFrance, Italy, 1963, by Jean-Luc Godard
Rank 52
news from homeFrance, Belgium, 1976, by Chantal Akerman, e Anguish corrodes the soulGermany, 1974, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
rank 50
The piano lessonAustralia, France, 1992, by Jane Campion, e the 400 roundsFrance, 1959, by François Truffaut
Rank 48
VandaUSA, 1970, by Barbara Loden, e orderDenmark, 1955, by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Rank 45
international intrigueUSA, 1959, by Alfred Hitchcock; the Algerian battle, Italy, Algeria, 1966, by Gillo Pontecorvo; Y Barry LyndonUnited States, United Kingdom, 1975, by Stanley Kubrick
Rank 43
Sheep killerUSA, 1977, by Charles Burnett, e stalkers, the areaUSSR, 1979, by Andrei Tarkovsky
Rank 41
RashmonJapan, 1950, by Akira Kurosawa, e bicycle thiefItaly, 1948, by Vittorio De Sica
Rank 38
rear windowUSA, 1954, by Alfred Hitchcock; One Eve and two Adams, United States, 1959, by Billy Wilder; Y BreathlessFrance, 1960, by Jean-Luc Godard
position 36
M, the black vampireGermany, 1931, by Fritz Lang, e City lightsUSA, 1931, by Charles Chaplin
Rank 35
Pather Panchali: The small pathIndia, 1955, by Satyajit Ray
Rank 34
The AtalantaFrance, 1934, by Jean Vigo Louis Lefebvre and Michel Simon
31st place
PsychosisUSA, 1960, by Alfred Hitchcock; Mirror, USSR, 1975, by Andrei Tarkovsky; Y 8½Italy, France, 1963, by Federico Fellini
rank 30
Portrait of a woman on fireFrance, 2019, by Céline Sciamma
position 29
Taxi driverUnited States, 1976, by Martin Scorsese
Rank 28
crazy daisiesCzechoslovakia, 1966, by Věra Chytilová
Rank 27
shoahFrance, 1985, by Claude Lanzmann
Rank 25
the night of the hunterUSA, 1955, by Charles Laughton, e Random BalthazarFrance, Sweden, 1966, by Robert Bresson
position 24
do rightUSA, 1989, by Spike Lee
position 23
Game timeFrance, 1967, by Jacques Tati
21st place
late springJapan, 1949, by Yasujirō Ozu, e The Passion of Joan of ArcFrance, 1927, by Carl Theodor Dreyer
rank 20
the seven samuraiJapan, 1954, by Akira Kurosawa
position 19
Apocalypse nowUSA, 1979, by Francis Ford Coppola
position 18
PersonSweden, 1966, by Ingmar Bergman
position 17
First floorIran, 1989, by Abbas Kiarostami
position 16
nets at sunsetUSA, 1943, by Maya Deren and Alexander Hackenschmied
Ranking 15
more heart than hateUSA, 1956, by John Ford
position 14
Cleo from 5 to 7France, Italy, 1962, by Agnès Varda
13th place
the rule of the gameFrance, 1939, by Jean Renoir
position 12
The GodfatherUnited States, 1972, by Francis Ford Coppola
position 11
SunriseUSA, 1927, by FW Murnau
rank 10
Singing in the rainUSA, 1951 by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
position 9
The man with the cameraUSSR, 1929, by Dziga Vertov
rank 8
Mulholland Dr., The Road of DreamsFrance, United States, 2001, by David Lynch
rank 7
nice taskFrance, 1998, by Claire Denis
rank 6
2001: A Space OdysseyUnited States, United Kingdom, 1968, by Stanley Kubrick
rank 5
in the mood to loveHong Kong, France, 2000, by Wong Kar-wai
Ranking 4
Stories of TokyoJapan, 1953, by Yasujiro Ozu
rank 3
The citizenUSA, 1941, by Orson Welles
rank 2
VertigoUSA, 1958, by Alfred Hitchcock
rank 1
Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 BrusselsBelgium, France, 1975, by Chantal Akerman
Source: Clarin
