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Michael Kerpan wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:08 am Does anyone (should anyone) view lists of this sort as "useful"?

I think it's useful for anyone venturing out into the world of cinema for the first time.

Probably one of the more "out-there" lists I've seen comes from Christopher Petit but I respect it a lot:

Spoiler

Mia Hansen-Love's great list:

Spoiler

We still need a blu for Pialat's La Maison des Bois.

Michael Kerpan wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:08 am Does anyone (should anyone) view lists of this sort as "useful"?

I remember first encountering films like Marienbad and Madame de... (prior to Criterion releasing them) because of an older list like this. It gave them kind of a mythic holy grail status that I felt were earned when I finally managed to see them, and I'm grateful they were brought to my attention

The ballot that everyone has been waiting for, with a characteristic appreciation of Robert Wise:

Spoiler

Michael Kerpan wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:08 amDoes anyone (should anyone) view lists of this sort as "useful"?

I'd say the S+S list has been a pretty good guide as crowdsourced lists go. Just today I realized that I had never seen Meshes of the Afternoon, which took all of 14 minutes to correct and proved well worth the time

I don't know that I even knew about the list until I was well into watching movies. I learned by a combination of watching movies Godard and Cahiers du Cinema liked plus following my own interests from the curriculum of my film classes. I wouldn't be surprised if I hadn't encountered this list until after I joined this board. That said, the lists I used served the same function, more or less, except mine had better movies on them

Michael Kerpan wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:08 am Does anyone (should anyone) view lists of this sort as "useful"?

Yes.

Because this thread.

Here is a list of directors sorted by the number of their films that received votes. Sight & Sound used to give us a list like that, but has stopped. The caveat of this list is that some directors may have lots of films that rank lowly in the top 100, whereas some may have only 1-2, but highly-ranked films.

This list only includes titles in both top 100 lists only. Until the full vote count comes out, we don't know which films that didn't make the top 100 but also received votes.


Directors with 4 films in 2022 Sight & Sound Top 100:
Akira Kurosawa:
Ikiru (1952) - voted #72 by directors
Rashomon (1950) - voted #41 by critics, #20 by directors
Seven Samurai (1954) - voted #20 by critics, #14 by directors
Throne of Blood (1957) - voted #93 by directors

Alfred Hitchcock:
North by Northwest (1959) - voted #45 by critics
Psycho (1960) - voted #31 by critics, #46 by directors
Rear Window (1954) - voted #38 by critics
Vertigo (1958) - voted #2 by critics, #6 by directors

Francis Ford Coppola:
Apocalypse Now (1979) - voted #19 by critics, #18 by directors
The Conversation (1974) - voted #72 by directors
The Godfather (1972) - voted #12 by critics, #3 by directors
The Godfather Part II (1974) - voted #26 by directors

Ingmar Bergman:
Fanny and Alexander (1982) - voted #53 by directors
Persona (1966) - voted #18 by critics, #9 by directors
The Seventh Seal (1957) - voted #72 by directors
Wild Strawberries (1957) - voted #72 by directors

Jean-Luc Godard:
À bout de souffle (1960) - voted #38 by critics, #14 by directors
Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988) - voted #84 by critics
Le Mépris (1963) - voted #54 by critics, #46 by directors
Pierrot le fou (1965) - voted #84 by critics

Robert Bresson:
A Man Escaped (1956) - voted #95 by critics, #41 by directors
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) - voted #25 by critics, #37 by directors
L'Argent (1983) - voted #72 by directors
Pickpocket (1959) - voted #93 by directors

Stanley Kubrick:
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - voted #6 by critics, #1 by directors
Barry Lyndon (1975) - voted #45 by critics, #12 by directors
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963) - voted #46 by directors
The Shining (1980) - voted #88 by critics


Directors with 3 films in 2022 Sight & Sound Top 100:
Abbas Kiarostami:
Close-Up (1989) - voted #17 by critics, #9 by directors
Taste of Cherry (1997) - voted #93 by directors
Where is the Friend's House? (1987) - voted #72 by directors

Agnès Varda:
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) - voted #14 by critics, #53 by directors
The Gleaners and I (2000) - voted #67 by critics
Vagabond (1985) - voted #41 by directors

Andrei Tarkovsky:
Andrei Rublev (1966) - voted #67 by critics, #26 by directors
Mirror (1975) - voted #31 by critics, #8 by directors
Stalker (1979) - voted #43 by critics, #14 by directors

Billy Wilder:
Some Like It Hot (1959) - voted #38 by critics, #62 by directors
Sunset Blvd. (1950) - voted #78 by critics, #62 by directors
The Apartment (1960) - voted #54 by critics

David Lynch:
Blue Velvet (1986) - voted #84 by critics, #72 by directors
Eraserhead (1976) - voted #53 by directors
Mulholland Dr. (2001) - voted #8 by critics, #22 by directors

Federico Fellini:
8½ (1963) - voted #31 by critics, #6 by directors
La dolce vita (1960) - voted #60 by critics, #34 by directors
La strada (1954) - voted #38 by directors

Martin Scorsese:
GoodFellas (1990) - voted #63 by critics, #28 by directors
Raging Bull (1980) - voted #22 by directors
Taxi Driver (1976) - voted #29 by critics, #12 by directors


Directors with 2 films in 2022 Sight & Sound Top 100:
Buster Keaton:
Sherlock Jr. (1924) - voted #54 by critics
The General (1926) - voted #95 by critics

Carl Th. Dreyer:
Ordet (1955) - voted #48 by critics, #30 by directors
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927) - voted #21 by critics, #30 by directors

Chantal Akerman:
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) - voted #1 by critics, #4 by directors
News from Home (1976) - voted #52 by critics, #72 by directors

Charlie Chaplin:
City Lights (1931) - voted #36 by critics, #46 by directors
Modern Times (1936) - voted #78 by critics, #72 by directors

Chris Marker:
La Jetée (1962) - voted #67 by critics, #34 by directors
Sans soleil (1982) - voted #59 by critics, #72 by directors

Edward Yang:
A Brighter Summer Day (1991) - voted #78 by critics, #72 by directors
Yi Yi (1999) - voted #90 by critics, #93 by directors

Fritz Lang:
M (1931) - voted #36 by critics
Metropolis (1927) - voted #67 by critics

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - voted #78 by critics
The Red Shoes (1948) - voted #67 by critics, #72 by directors

Michelangelo Antonioni:
L’avventura (1960) - voted #72 by critics, #38 by directors
La notte (1961) - voted #53 by directors

Miyazaki Hayao:
My Neighbour Totoro (1988) - voted #72 by critics
Spirited Away (2001) - voted #75 by critics

Mizoguchi Kenji:
Sansho the Bailiff (1954) - voted #75 by critics
Ugetsu (1953) - voted #90 by critics

Ozu Yasujiro:
Late Spring (1949) - voted #21 by critics, #62 by directors
Tokyo Story (1953) - voted #4 by critics, #4 by directors

Wong Kar-wai:
Chungking Express (1994) - voted #88 by critics
In the Mood for Love (2001) - voted #5 by critics, #9 by directors


Directors with 1 film in 2022 Sight & Sound Top 100:
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Tropical Malady (2004) - voted #95 by critics, #62 by directors
Asghar Farhadi: A Separation (2011) - voted #72 by directors
Barbara Loden: Wanda (1970) - voted #48 by critics, #93 by directors
Barry Jenkins: Moonlight (2016) - voted #60 by critics, #93 by directors
Béla Tarr: Sátántangó (1994) - voted #78 by critics, #62 by directors
Bernardo Bertolucci: The Conformist (1970) - voted #93 by directors
Bong Joon-ho: Parasite (2019) - voted #90 by critics, #93 by directors
Carol Reed: The Third Man (1949) - voted #63 by critics
Céline Sciamma: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) - voted #30 by critics
Charles Burnett: Killer of Sheep (1977) - voted #43 by critics
Charles Laughton: The Night of the Hunter (1955) - voted #25 by critics, #41 by directors
Claire Denis: Beau travail (1998) - voted #7 by critics, #14 by directors
Claude Lanzmann: Shoah (1985) - voted #27 by critics, #72 by directors
David Lean: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - voted #62 by directors
Djibril Diop Mambéty: Touki Bouki (1973) - voted #66 by critics, #72 by directors
Douglas Sirk: Imitation of Life (1959) - voted #75 by critics
Dziga Vertov: Man with a Movie Camera (1929) - voted #9 by critics, #30 by directors
Elem Klimov: Come and See (1985) - voted #41 by directors
F.W. Murnau: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) - voted #11 by critics, #33 by directors
François Truffaut: The 400 Blows (1959) - voted #50 by critics, #34 by directors
Gillo Pontecorvo: The Battle of Algiers (1966) - voted #45 by critics, #22 by directors
Jacques Rivette: Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) - voted #78 by critics
Jacques Tati: Playtime (1967) - voted #23 by critics, #41 by directors
Jane Campion: The Piano (1992) - voted #50 by critics, #53 by directors
Jean Eustache: La Maman et la Putain (1973) - voted #53 by directors
Jean Renoir: La Règle du Jeu (1939) - voted #13 by critics, #38 by directors
Jean Vigo: L’Atalante (1934) - voted #34 by critics, #46 by directors
John Cassavetes: A Woman under the Influence (1974) - voted #19 by directors
John Ford: The Searchers (1956) - voted #15 by critics, #72 by directors
Jordan Peele: Get Out (2017) - voted #95 by critics
Julie Dash: Daughters of the Dust (1991) - voted #60 by critics
Ken Loach: Kes (1969) - voted #72 by directors
Larissa Shepitko: The Ascent (1976) - voted #72 by directors
Luchino Visconti: The Leopard (1962) - voted #90 by critics
Lucrecia Martel: La ciénaga (2001) - voted #62 by directors
Luis Buñuel: Viridiana (1961) - voted #53 by directors
Max Ophüls: Madame de… (1953) - voted #90 by critics
Maya Deren, Alexandr Hackenschmied: Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) - voted #16 by critics, #62 by directors
Michael Curtiz: Casablanca (1942) - voted #63 by critics
Michael Haneke: Hidden (2004) - voted #93 by directors
Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - voted #93 by directors
Nicolas Roeg: Don't Look Now (1973) - voted #46 by directors
Orson Welles: Citizen Kane (1941) - voted #3 by critics, #2 by directors
Ousmane Sembène: Black Girl (1965) - voted #95 by critics
Pier Paolo Pasolini: Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - voted #72 by directors
Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) - voted #52 by critics, #53 by directors
Ridley Scott: Blade Runner (1982) - voted #54 by critics, #62 by directors
Roberto Rossellini: Journey to Italy (1954) - voted #72 by critics
Roman Polanski: Chinatown (1974) - voted #72 by directors
Satyajit Ray: Pather Panchali (1955) - voted #35 by critics, #22 by directors
Sergei Eisenstein: Battleship Potemkin (1925) - voted #54 by critics, #93 by directors
Sergei Paradjanov: The Colour of Pomegranates (1968) - voted #93 by directors
Sergio Leone: Once upon a Time in the West (1968) - voted #95 by critics, #46 by directors
Spike Lee: Do the Right Thing (1989) - voted #24 by critics, #29 by directors
Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly: Singin’ in the Rain (1951) - voted #10 by critics, #53 by directors
Steven Spielberg: Jaws (1975) - voted #62 by directors
Vera Chytilová: Daisies (1966) - voted #28 by critics
Víctor Erice: The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) - voted #84 by critics, #72 by directors
Vittorio De Sica: Bicycle Thieves (1948) - voted #41 by critics, #20 by directors

domino harvey wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:54 am I don't know that I even knew about the list until I was well into watching movies. I learned by a combination of watching movies Godard and Cahiers du Cinema liked plus following my own interests from the curriculum of my film classes. I wouldn't be surprised if I hadn't encountered this list until after I joined this board. That said, the lists I used served the same function, more or less, except mine had better movies on them

I never encountered the Sight and Sound list until well after joining some version of this board, too. For me, it was actually Criterion that served the same function. For a teenager just getting into world and art cinema, their catalogue was a great way to orient myself. It can be overwhelming at first to grasp the canon and the different movements and schools and such and where they all fit together. Lists like Sight and Sound's and Boutique Lable catalogues like Criterion's are great for orienting you when you're first starting out and don't even know what you're looking for.

1986: Top Gun. Wow. What a great film.

A few weeks later my friend and I were completely stuck on what to do on a Friday night. Blue Velvet? Well, whatever.

That night changed my fucking life.

My life is divided into - before Blue Velvet, and after Blue Velvet.

I never watched Top Fucking Gun ever again.

My life now became all about Films That Matter. And Sight And Sound became a big part of that search. I'm thrilled that I found the lists and discovered the films. I don't always "get" every recommendation (Ozu has never hit me....sue me!) but my life has been very enhanced by the journey that Sight And Sound helped me with.

And later it led me to The Criterion Collection, and this forum. I know that you are all happy for that. Thank you.

I'm sure I'm not the only bored teenager who once googled "Best film of all time" and got sent to this list. Citizen Kane was something like the 3rd film I ever pirated. Never cared for movies before, I was still mostly into whatever cartoons were on TV! I'm not sure what teenager me would have made of Jeanne Dielman.

I've concluded that I love S+S even more now: It takes BALLS (see what I did there?) to put Jeanne Dielman at number 1.

Maltic wrote:

zedz wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:44 pm

Spoiler

rde wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:27 pm

No, just that the films before 2009 were that much better. (Though the switch from film stock to digital as the go-to medium was a serious blow to filmmaking for me.) It's only 100 spots.

So will you be maintaining your inane 2009 deadline in thirty or fifty years' time, or will all the films you ignorantly dismissed have got magically better by then?

Some people might say classical music peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries, cinema and jazz in the 20th, and so on. Not saying I agree, but I wouldn't call it ignorant.

That’s a false equivalence. If those same people were claiming that MUSIC peaked in the 19th century, and no music worthy of being considered “the best” had been made since, it would be just as asinine.

people have different opinions about things! it's a thing.

zedz wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:23 am

Maltic wrote:

zedz wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:44 pm

Spoiler

So will you be maintaining your inane 2009 deadline in thirty or fifty years' time, or will all the films you ignorantly dismissed have got magically better by then?

Some people might say classical music peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries, cinema and jazz in the 20th, and so on. Not saying I agree, but I wouldn't call it ignorant.

That’s a false equivalence. If those same people were claiming that MUSIC peaked in the 19th century, and no music worthy of being considered “the best” had been made since, it would be just as asinine.

What are these films that I have missed? There were good films. Great films. But better than all that came before 2009 when competing for 100 spots? I don't think so.

Phantom Thread? Dunkirk? Mad Max: Fury Road? The Master? Upstream Color? Tree of Life? The Lighthouse? Blue is the Warmer Color? One of Malick's more recent ramblers? One of Wes Anderson's? Goodbye to Language? Blade Runner 2049? I saw what people were excited about. I'm talking about movies I could see in theaters in a major city including during festivals. I didn't watch very many new films at home.

What's the short list of great directors (in their prime) working right now? Bong Joon-ho? Apichatpong Weerasethakul? I don't buy it.

What can we expect from the average annual festival? A stray Werner Herzog, an Aronofsky, a Lanthimos, maybe a Refn, a Chan-wook, a late Cronenberg, a Malick, a Denis, none of whom are at the top of their game anymore. I like Kelly Reichardt a lot, she's not on the decline. But top 100, her recent stuff? No.

The short cut of Voyage of Time might deserve to make the Top 100. I forgot about that one. That film is remarkable, but the fighting between the producers killed its chance at a timely release. (There are Japanese blu rays for sale now.) I remember that having a huge effect on me, in IMAX. It felt new.

I'm not crazy. What's up with your tone?

There are plenty of worthy contenders from 2000–2009 (many of which made the list).

Are you genuinely soliciting recommendations or just looking for more things to hit with a fly swatter?

swo17 wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 6:33 am Are you genuinely soliciting recommendations or just looking for more things to hit with a fly swatter?

I was being a lot less rude than him?

And I like all those films and directors I just listed. But 100 spots is not that many.

And I saw the post-2009 nominations by Sight & Sound, and I just don't agree.

I mean, go ahead, shoot, man! Let's hear them. I don't understand why this is being met with hostility. I didn't like the last ten odd years at the movies very much! Digital cameras becoming standard has a lot to do with that — so there's one underlying reason that my opinion is sweeping. The movie industry has been consolidating as well and killing the mid-budget movie (at least with creative freedom for non-established directors).

Who are the best directors working now? What were the best films?

I mean, everyone will have completely different favorites, but here are mine. I'd rate these favorites about as high as my favorites from any other decade

swo17 wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 6:50 am I mean, everyone will have different favorites, but here are mine. I'd rate the decade about as high as any other

I haven't seen the Act of Killing. Heard about it. That one interests me.

What's Post tenebras lux about, exactly, lol?

I adore Carax but I didn't really enjoy Holy Motors. I've been putting off Annette because I don't like musicals but recently found out that Sparks is actually a pretty amazing band.

Certain Women, The Lobster: again, I like these films, a lot actually, but Wendy and Lucy and Dogtooth and even the texture of Alps was better. Even the liveliest directors today aren't doing their best work at the moment.

I'm really bothered I didn't see Long Day's Journey into Night when it was playing in 3D near me. I'm a sucker for single-take gimmicks.

Oh, god, I loved Leviathan. And Sweetgrass. And forgot about the former. For some reason, when it comes to including newer films, I want them to feel more unlike anything I've seen in decades past — and that one fits the bill.

And coming to the end of your list: I'm just not into this new Scandinavian wave.

Thanks, by the way, for the link.

I would recommend Voyage of Time, the shorter cut, if you can get your hands on it. Maybe I was swept away by the screen (it was this crazy inside-of-an-eyeball shaped IMAX screen), but that felt like recent digital technology finally being a necessary part of a film, rather than an inferior shortcut. Like I said, it felt new.

Rde what have you thought of Lav Diaz’s last few films? Which ones did you love and which did you hate?

There are many interesting directors out there making great cinema right now… Your list of recently acclaimed films is fairly mainstream: Anderson, Nolan, Miller, a Godard, Malick etc. I think the frustration from other forum members is coming from the fact you are making a definitive statement about modern cinema… without having seen much of it.

Peacock wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:04 am Rde what have you thought of Lav Diaz’s last few films? Which ones did you love and which did you hate?

There are many interesting directors out there making great cinema right now… Your list of recently acclaimed films is fairly mainstream: Anderson, Nolan, Miller, a Godard, Malick etc. I think the frustration from other forum members is coming from the fact you are making a definitive statement about modern cinema… without having seen much of it.

Quite open to seeing your list?

I haven't seen any of Lav Diaz's films.

The tone of a few of the people replying to me (not you) is like I insulted them directly? It's a little excessive. I said I didn't like some movies. Well, actually, I said I just like other movies more.

Whenever I read — from Sight & Sound, other forum members — lists of the best since 2009, a lot include other 'mainstream' arthouse films near the top, and I've seen some of those — and I just like the even more mainstream films I listed above more.

Get Out? Moonlight? Portrait of a Lady on Fire? The Square or films by Andersson? Parasite? Weerasethakul? They're not my thing. If I'm 'mainstream', then a lot of critics, some users here, are too. I'm not disputing the mainstream thing, especially not recently. For sure I pretty much only saw new movies over the past 10 years if I could see them in theaters. But whenever I see films that are put at the top of top 10s, I try to use them as a proxy for the quality of the best that's available. I can't see everything, or even a fraction of everything. And judging by proxy, I just don't get it.

Though now that he reminds me of Leviathan, that's a contender for me.

My interest in film became serious when one Christmas in my early/mid-teens my dad gave me Hitchcock/Truffaut and I grew out of kids films and learned that there can be themes and subtext to film. After that I became determined to track down every Hitchcock movie. I was also aware which films were considered the greatest then (Citizen Kane, The Rules of the Game, Battleship Potemkin being the top three) but growing up in Germany and barely speaking English, I'm not sure I knew that it was specifically down to Sight & Sound.

Vertigo has been my favourite movie since I was 17, when I caught a secret screening of it at the Filmmuseum in Munich in 1981 during a Hitchcock retrospective as it had been impossible to see since 1968. It was a life changing event for me, Vertigo shaped my aesthetics, my politics and my idea of what a movie can do, I was obsessed with a film about obsession. As Vertigo went back into distribution in 1983 it went from (almost) lost film to classic and I greatly enjoyed the books and writing which came out on it, especially a lot of the feminist film theory.

I wasn't happy when it made the S&S top spot because it inevitably provoked a backlash which had long been brewing. This piece of art, which had been so central to my life had now become officially sanctioned and a seemingly unoriginal choice for favourite film, like I parroting a consensus. So whatever I think about the 2022 poll, at least I'm glad Vertigo isn't at the top anymore and doesn't have to bear the pressure of officially being the greatest film ever made. It's too idiosyncratic for that and even I would admit that it has flaws, which don't change my love for it at all. It hasn't been as influential as Citizen Kane, which though not even my favourite Welles, always struck me as a perfect consensus choice.

The Curious Sofa wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:33 am My interest in film became serious when one Christmas in my early/mid-teens my dad gave me Hitchcock/Truffaut and I grew out of kids films and learned that there can be themes and subtext to film. After that I became determined to track down every Hitchcock movie. I was also aware which films were considered the greatest then (Citizen Kane, The Rules of the Game, Battleship Potemkin being the top three) but growing up in Germany and barely speaking English, I'm not sure I knew that it was specifically down to Sight & Sound.

Vertigo has been my favourite movie since I was 17, when I caught a secret screening of it at the Filmmuseum in Munich in 1981 during a Hitchcock retrospective as it had been impossible to see since 1968. It was a life changing event for me, Vertigo shaped my aesthetics, my politics and my idea of what a movie can do, I was obsessed with a film about obsession. As Vertigo went back into distribution in 1983 it went from (almost) lost film to classic and I greatly enjoyed the books and writing which came out on it, especially a lot of the feminist film theory.

I wasn't happy when it made the S&S top spot because it inevitably provoked a backlash which had long been brewing. This piece of art, which had been so central to my life had now become officially sanctioned and a seemingly unoriginal choice for favourite film, like I parroting a consensus. So whatever I think about the 2022 poll, at least I'm glad Vertigo isn't at the top anymore and doesn't have to bear the pressure of officially being the greatest film ever made. It's much too idiosyncratic for that and even I would admit that it has flaws, which don't change my love for it at all.

So do you think that the theory of the 'male gaze' makes that movie any better? If so, can you explain why? If not, sorry to have bothered you, haha. You did mention feminist film theory.

Also your English is impeccable (of course).

rde wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:19 am Quite open to seeing your list?

In case your perusal of the board hasn't turned it up yet, we did a 2010s list in 2021, so you'll find most of the regular posters' and quite a few others' favorites of the decade listed there, as well as the board's aggregate list of movies I expect a lot of us would say might warrant a spot somewhere in the top 100.

Feels apt to point out that Sciamma's Portrait... is at the very top of that list, with a significant margin of 125 points between 1 and 2, which feels doubly significant when you notice that 125 points covers the spread from 2 to 16.

And for whatever it's worth, count me as another of those folks who finds Jeanne Dielman absolutely enthralling. I think you said up thread, rde, that no one can pretend it isn't difficult, and I easily can: I don't find it so in the least. That doesn't mean I don't recognize others will—I personally find Seven Samurai anything but zippy; for me, it's a very good, admirable slog that, after 8 Kurosawa films have failed to do much for me, I doubt I'll ever sit through for a third time. So I'm absolutely delighted to see JD top the S&S list, even to see it sail past the three other top 10 titles that would have a reasonable shot at my list (Donen/Kelly, Denis, Hitchcock)—backlash be damned, I'm excited for the folks who otherwise wouldn't, but now will seek it out, and will be receptive to it.

rde wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:49 am

So do you think that the theory of the 'male gaze' makes that movie any better? If so, can you explain why? If not, sorry to have bothered you, haha. You did mention feminist film theory.

Also your English is impeccable (of course).

The entire movie is about the 'male gaze' and the self-aware way Hitchcock deals with it, is exactly why I find Vertigo so profound. When I studied film theory in the late 80s I wrote my dissertation on Vertigo and I devoted a large section to Laura Mulvey (she was a visiting lecturer at Central St. Martins, where I studied film btw.), who I respectfully disagree with, as I'm neither a Freudian nor an essentialist. A lot of feminist film theory has been written on Vertigo since it came back into distribution in 1983 and and many of those voices disagree with Mulvey. Her essay is the foundation to a lot of feminist film theory and absolutely essential but that makes it the first word and not the last.

Anyways, I'm not going to devote a lot of writing on Vertigo here and will keep it to my feelings of what it's doing in the 2022 poll. Thanks for your compliment on my English, I've lived and worked in the U.K. and in the USA for most of my adult life (though now that I live back in Germany it's getting worse again)