Dish of the Day
Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:
Friday, February 17, 2023
In December of last year I posted my thoughts on Sight and Sound’s once in a decade announcement of The 100 Greatest Films of All Time poll. My article’s introduction reads as follows:
“Every 10 years, Sight and Sound announces the results of its greatest films of all time poll. This year, a new survey was conducted with 1,639 adjudicating (approximately double the participants from the 2012 survey) critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics each submitting their Top 10 ballot. The films gathering the most votes from these submissions are then tabulated to form The Greatest Films of All Time.”
At the time I posted my rather lengthy considerations, only the top 100 vote getters were listed for which I made the following observations:
“100 is not that many, especially considering cinema is such a complex art form and therefore open to a vast number of interpretive qualities. Added to that, each critic determines his/her greatest 10 from world cinema with no ranking. Afterward, the votes are tallied to form 100 of the greatest films, comprised of those titles most often named on the ballots submitted.”
And later, these comments:
“Unlike the AFI, which only has to contend with American films, Sight and Sound, by including all of world cinema’s vast history, provides each participant, able to choose only 10, with a potentially daunting task (depending on his/her experience). It might be helpful to see more (i.e. say, the next hundred or so films that just missed out).”
Now it seems my wish has been granted. Recently, Sight and Sound has added to their list another 150 or so entries to their Top 100 so that now we have a Top 250 forming a greater Greatest Films of All Time. This additional set of films, more than double the number previously listed, has quite a few notable entries added, some I specifically found fault for not being mentioned originally and from directors I also criticised the Sight and Sound team for being absent altogether.
Some of the important additions include:
Pandora’s Box (1928) #243
Sullivan’s Travels (1941) #243
My Darling Clementine (1946) #243
Harlan County USA (1976) #225
Intolerance (1916) #225
The Green Ray (1986) #225
Duck Soup (1933) #211
All About Eve (1950) #211
Brief Encounter (1945) #211
In a Lonely Place (1950) #211
Double Indemnity (1944) #196
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963) #196
An Autumn Afternoon (1965) #185
Greed (1923) #185
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) #169
Black Narcissus (1947) #169
The Exterminating Angel (1962) #169
Los olvidados (1950) #157
Ikiru (1952) #157
Out of the Past (1947) #157
La Grande Illusion (1937) #146
Pickpocket (1959) #136
Trouble in Paradise (1932) #136
The Wild Bunch (1969) #136
Les Enfants du paradis (1945) #136
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) #133
His Girl Friday (1939) #129
The Ascent (1976) #128
The Conformist (1970) #118
Nashville (1975) #114
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) #114
To Be or Not to Be (1942) #114
Bringing Up Baby (1938) #108
Touch of Evil (1958) #108
Wild Strawberries (1957) #108
The Godfather Part II (1974) #104
Come and See (1985) #104
Rio Bravo (1958) #101
I so welcome these additional titles and others. For although these “runner ups” did not get as many votes as the original 100 motion pictures, at least they have the distinction of being recognised as important films to see, and we now know were considered.
With all of these additional entries, it leaves me even more baffled as to how some of what I would determine as highly accomplished films are still M.I.A., i.e. Diary of a Country Priest (1951), Forbidden Games (1952), Nazarin (1959), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967), Fires on the Plain (1959), Le Trou (1960), Mädchen in Uniform (1931), The Fifth Seal a.k.a. Az ötödik pecsét (1976), The Seedling a.k.a. Ankur (1974), Devil’s Doorway (1950), The Pearl a.k.a. La perla (1947), The Lacemaker a.k.a. La dentellière (1977), The Aviator's Wife a.k.a. La femme de l'aviateur (1981), Boy a.k.a. Shonen (1969), The Fire Within a.k.a. Le Feu Follet (1963), When a Woman Ascends the Stairs a.k.a. Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki (1960), Black Rain a.k.a. Kuroi ame (1960), Diamonds of the Night a.k.a. Démanty noci (1964) The Invitation a.k.a. L'invitation (1973), Broken Blossoms (1919), Ride the High Country (1962), Red River (1948), It’s a Gift (1934), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Ninotchka (1939), It Happened One Night (1934), Roman Holiday (1953), I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), White Heat (1949), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Paths of Glory (1957), The Hill (1965), Ace in the Hole (1951), Try and Get Me! (1950), Le Jour Se Leve (1939), Le Deuxième Souffle (1966), Cría Cuervos (1976), Brighton Rock (1948), Odd Man Out (1947), and The Innocents (1961).
Still, having so many films previously unmentioned, outweighs, at least for myself, those titles that are still not included.
My original article (again, written after only the first 100 were made available) can be read here.
The revised list can be seen by clicking on the Sight and Sound Image above.
All responses are not only welcomed but encouraged in the comments section below.
Hope to see you tomorrow.
A.G.