Sight and Sound 2022 Greatest Films of All Time

In the Top 10 I've seen 4. Never even heard of #1.

So I had to read up on it...why #1?

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On the side of content, the film charts the breakdown of a bourgeois Belgian housewife, mother and part-time prostitute over the course of three days; on the side of form, it rigorously records her domestic routine in extended time and from a fixed camera position. In a film that, agonisingly, depicts women’s oppression, Akerman transforms cinema, itself so often an instrument of women’s oppression, into a liberating force.

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And there we go...

It's a film whose reputation has been growing steadily this century, since more and more people have had access to watching it. It's a seminal film from the French New wave. It's narratively innovative. It's also a very academic top film on a list of that shows some pretty academic tastes, made by a very international voting base.

But sure, make it part of the same bullshite you guys always do.


You could also get on criterion channel and watch it.

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It's a film whose reputation has been growing steadily this century, since more and more people have had access to watching it. It's a seminal film from the French New wave. It's narratively innovative. It's also a very academic top film on a list of that shows some pretty academic tastes, made by a very international voting base.

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Good points and thanks for the insight since most of us haven’t seen it. As I said originally, I can only speculate since I’ve never seen it. Do you think it deserves being #1? Would love to get your opinion.

I’m a Criterion subscriber too so I will definitely check it out.

By the way, I love Stalker. It’s a masterpiece, one of my all time favorites!

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Mulholland Dr. isn't even the best Lynch movie

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Wow, I would disagree with that. Which one of his do you think is his best?

Jeanne Dielman is neither French nor contemporaneous with the French New Wave. Chantal Akerman is Belgian.

The choice is surprising, but logical. The most prominent film from Akerman, whose star rose throughout the decade, with her suicide in 2015 inviting reappraisals of her oeuvre; the expanded voting poll and cultural climate were obviously going to catapult women directors into the spotlight, but she’s a major talent and a deserving beneficiary. Crucially, for the sake of consensus, Akerman isn’t going to split votes across her filmography, but she has other great works. If I were introducing someone from this board I would begin with her Conrad adaptation, Almayer’s Folly. I think her follow-ups to Dielman, Rendezvous with Anna and Toute une Nuit, are my favorites.

Without getting bogged down in the underrated/overrated game, some general observations. A dearth of studio era; no Hawks, Lubitsch, or Sternberg, each likely splitting votes amongst their masterworks (but three Wilder’s?!). The individual lists, next week, will tell the tale. Along with Dielman, the appearance of Mulholland Dr, Beau Travail, and In the Mood for Love in the top 10, and the continued persistence of Ozu, Vertov, and Donen, with the slippage of Coppola, Ford, and Kurosawa, suggests a sort of (pop) formalism winning the decade.

Great insight. Thanks for the information about Akerman. I’m looking forward to checking out her work. That’s one thing I love about this type of poll, combining a wide range of critics from across the world. There are going to be surprises on this list and films many have never even heard of. But if you keep an open mind and check some of them out, you’re going to be exposed to some amazing films. Take Au hasard Balthazar for example. I had never heard of it until I saw it on the 2012 list. I decided to give it a chance and watch it and was very touched by it. It’s become one of my favorite films as a result. Without the Sight and Sound poll, I would have probably never heard of it.

No Godfathers, Shawshank, el Lawrence, etc.

This list is Idiocracy at best. An art house listing of movies to fall asleep during.

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I've only seen 9 of those from beginning to end.

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15 and I consider myself an aficionado. Not that we should only consider American film but I’m lost on a lot of those.

Where is the avengers ranked