Chantal Akerman’s masterpiece of slow cinema Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is the new title holder as Greatest Film of All Time. That is according to the 2022 Sight & Sound Magazine poll, a survey of critics and filmmakers from around the world held every 10 years since 1952. This year’s poll included the top 10 lists of 1,639 film luminaries, the largest sampling ever conducted. It was bound to lead to shake-ups on the list, but even in that context, Akerman’s film is a true avant garde coup.
For 59 years, Citizen Kane ruled as the undisputed king of cinema, topping every list from 1962 until 2012, when it dropped to No. 2 and lost its crown to Alfred Hitckcock’s Vertigo. This time around, Orson Welles’ debut fell another spot to third place, and Vertigo held on in second place. Yasujriō Ozu’s beloved family drama Tokyo Story slipped one spot to No. 4; it has not fallen farther than fifth since 1992. Rounding out the top 5 is Wong Kar Wai’s sensorial romance In the Mood for Love.
Also in the top 10 are Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey at No. 6, Claire Denis’ Beau Travail at No. 7, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive at No. 8, Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera at No. 9, and Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain at No. 10. Dropping out of the top 10 are The Rules of the Game (formerly No. 5, now No. 13), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (was No. 6, now No. 11), The Searchers (was No. 7, now No. 15), The Passion of Joan of Arc (was No. 9, now No. 21), and 8 ½ (was No. 10, now No. 31).
A Brief Editorial Aside: I wrote the above Dec. 1 in the immediate aftermath of the announcement with every intention of publishing my instant thoughts, reactions, and analyses. However, the release of the list coincided with my coming down with a rather severe flu. Cogent analysis would not have been my strong suit under those circumstances. In waiting several days to finish this piece, I am now painfully aware of the “discourse” around the selected titles. So, the rest of this piece will combine my personal thoughts on the list with my reactions to the ever-disappointing online film discourse. I am also feeling much better now; thanks for asking.
The primary goal in expanding the voting pool for this year’s edition of the list was to expand the canon. As the unofficial “official” ranking of the greatest films of all time, the Sight & Sound poll goes a long way toward determining what films are considered historically important, culturally significant, and worthy of preservation and study. As regards expansion, frankly, it is about damn time.
I love the classical film canon. Though I grew up on action flicks and ‘90s comedies, my true love of film came through discovering films like Casablanca and Citizen Kane and artists like Billy Wilder and Gene Kelly. I found Truffaut and Godard, Fellini, Bergman, and all the traditionally revered greats. But, now, I look at all those names, among many other wonderful filmmakers, and I see a lot of white, European men. That has been the film canon for too long, and the previous versions of the S&S poll reflected that.
The 2012 top 10 included no films by women and just one film by a non-white director (Ozu). The highest ranking film directed by a woman was Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, which came in at No. 35 last time around. Denis’ Beau Travail was the only other woman-directed film in the top 100 (No. 78). Worse still, just one film by a black filmmaker made the top 100 – Djibril Diop Mambety’s Touki Bouki at No. 93. This is to say nothing of the general lack of Latin American films.
This lack of diversity derives from many places, but a major factor has always been in polls like this. White male critics and filmmakers, who learned from and admired critics and filmmakers who looked like them, pass on their opinions to the next generation and so on. This is how perceived wisdom becomes so ingrained in evaluating culture. It was necessary for Sight & Sound to invite diverse voices to the party or risk irrelevance.
To a degree, the effort worked. We have Akerman as the new queen of cinema. Denis is in the top 10. Brilliant female filmmakers such as Agnès Varda, Maya Deren, Věra Chytilová, and Céline Sciamma all reside near the top of the list now. Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing sits comfortably at No. 24 (we’ll get my personal rankings a little later on), followed farther down the list by Killer of Sheep, Moonlight, Daughters of the Dust, and yes, Touki Bouki, all by tremendous black artists.
There are still no films in the top 100 by Latin American directors. The top 10 is still nine white people along with Ozu and Wai. Satiyajit Ray, whose Pather Panchali clocks in at No. 35, has long been the only Indian filmmaker deemed worthy of serious critical consideration in Western circles. And on and on. There is work to be done, but with that being said, the 2022 edition is a far better representation of cinematic history than ever previously documented by this list.
It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: These films are all worthy of consideration for this list. No list of 100 will ever be perfect, but there is not a “token” choice among these. Of course, any time there are fewer seats at the table for white men, the hand wringing – almost exclusively by white men – begins. No matter the specific gripes, which I will not bother delineating here, it always breaks down to some version of that racist bromide, “They will not replace us.” As if any film not included in the top 100 is immediately removed from the history books, all copies destroyed, and further discussion banned.
If you love Raging Bull or Touch of Evil – and I love both those films and think they are great – continue to love them. Those films and many more just like them will remain in our hearts and minds and history books for as long as we are studying the history of film. To consider other films their equal does nothing to lessen their value. The pantheon should always be growing. It’s a constant debate in baseball circles: Are you a Small Hall or a Big Hall person, referring to how many players you believe are Hall of Fame worthy? I’m a Big Hall person. The long story of cinema will be better told when told from diverse points of view.
And now, I have spent more than 1,000 words on this list without actually talking about the movies themselves. So, here are some brief thoughts on the top 10 before I close out with my would-be selections:
10. Singin’ in the Rain, directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
A gorgeous tribute to old Hollywood, just stunning set piece after stunning set piece, some of the greatest dance choreography ever put to celluloid, and one of the single most iconic moments in the history of the medium.
9. Man with a Movie Camera, directed by Dziga Vertov
The crowning achievement of the Soviet montage movement, an experimental collage of images and motion and machinery, life unfolding before our very eyes like it had never been captured before and has rarely been captured since.
8. Mulholland Dr., directed by David Lynch
Not my favorite Lynch, but I have seen it only once and not since college, so it would not be fair for me to judge. I have not always taken to the director’s film work, but Twin Peaks: The Return is one of the crowning television achievements of the new millennium.
7. Beau Travail, directed by Claire Denis
A movie I have seen just once and did not care for; I find Denis’ films icy and stubbornly oblique. There is certainly an artfulness to her filmmaking style, and I appreciate the audacity of this film’s famous ending, but at first blush, it was not for me.
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick
A perfect film. One of my favorites of all time and one of the best ever made. An immersive cinematic achievement that is without equal, almost incomprehensibly beautiful, and singularly thought-provoking. Often imitated, referenced, and homaged, but never matched.
5. In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar Wai
It has been too long since I have watched this, but what sticks with me every time is the elegance – of the story, of the compositions, of the performances, all of it. Wai uses silence like a symphony, imbuing every furtive glance and pregnant pause with meaning and melancholy.
4. Tokyo Story, directed by Yasujirō Ozu
A director famed for his stillness and the way he orchestrates his action within the frame, Ozu pulls off one of the most stunning camera moves in history toward the tail end of this quietly tragic family drama. A heartbreaking study of honor, duty, aging, and the small joys we all take for granted.
3. Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles
We will get to this below, but this is my pick. Eighty years later, it has not been topped. A 25-year-old radio and theater prodigy came out to Hollywood and perfected the form. It’s the storytelling, it’s the acting, it’s the artistry, it’s the way Welles brings all of it together in ways no one had ever seen and few understood. Like the title character’s second wife, ill-fated opera singer Susan Alexander, we stare at this film like a puzzle, wondering how all these pieces fit, baffled by its complexity, marveling at its intricacy, in awe of its perfection.
2. Vertigo, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Despite its placement here, it is not exactly a rare opinion to say Vertigo is not my favorite Hitchcock. I did not care for it much the first time I saw it, though subsequent rewatches have revealed more of its appeal. Still, I find it distractingly over-directed with a tone so arch it borders on camp. Happy to see it unseated from the top spot.
1. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, directed by Chantal Akerman
The new champion is bold, beguiling, and brilliant. Maybe it is not the movie I would pick, but it is an inspired choice nonetheless. A deeply fascinating experiment in building tension through repetition. As the main character goes through her routine, over and over, a sense of unease and disquiet builds until the film erupts in its glorious climax. Some have called the film plotless. This is incorrect. The structure is unconventional, sure. The story requires our patience and attention, yes. But, the plot is there, plain as day and perfect as a circle.
The 24-year-old Akerman was already a rising star by the time she unleashed this feminist screed on the world, and this is not her only film on the Sight & Sound list. News from Home, her documentary followup to Jeanne Dielman, clocks in at No. 52. Not many filmmakers’ legacies could support having the “greatest film of all time” on their resumés. However, like De Sica, Welles, and Hitchcock before her, Akerman’s legacy will hold up just fine, and in the coming years, this selection will feel less and less out of left field. We will call Jeanne Dielman the best film ever made, and it will feel just right.
My list
Here are my top 10 films of all time, as of today. Ask me again next week, a couple of these might be different, but the ones at the top would remain the same. I think all of these are unimpeachable, the finest works in the artform’s history. These are “Water Lilies” by Monet, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the examples without equal. They define the medium. Someday, I will put together my definitive list and write out big, long explanations for my choices. Not today. Just 10 films and a lifetime of cinematic memories.
10. Pather Panchali, directed by Satiyajit Ray
9. The Battle of Algiers, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
8. Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorsese
7. The Wild Bunch, directed by Sam Peckinpah
6. Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee
5. The Exterminating Angel, directed by Luis Buñuel
4. Army of Shadows, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
3. 8½, directed by Federico Fellini
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick
1. Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles
