Every ten years since 1952, the British magazine Sight & Sound has polled critics from around the world for their choices of the ten greatest films of all-time; in 1992, they began to poll directors as well. When you put together the two polls, they can give you tremendous insight into the way critics and filmmakers see movies similarly, and where they diverge. On December 1, we once again had these lists unveiled, and they gave us further insight- namely, how the inclusion of a more diverse selection group can shake things up.
No, I was not asked to contribute my picks this year, but several people I’ve met and come to know on Twitter were, and it was exciting to see them share their picks. Back in 2012, I wrote my thoughts on the lists, as well as presented my own list of 10 I would have voted for. This year, I would like to do the same thing.
Critics Top 10- 2022
1. “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
2. “Vertigo” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
3. “Citizen Kane” (Orson Welles, 1941)
4. “Tokyo Story” (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
5. “In the Mood for Love” (Wong Kar-wai, 2001)
6. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
7. “Beau travail” (Claire Denis, 1998)
8. “Mulholland Dr.” (David Lynch, 2001)
9. “Man with a Movie Camera” (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
10. “Singin’ in the Rain” (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951)
One thing that stands out in this Top 10 is…quite a bit. With a wider variety of critics and experiences being included, the list is much more contemporary. Previously, the most recent film was from 1968; this year, we get two from 2001. A new #1 is crowned, the second in two polls; the era of one film dominating the top of the list seems to be over. I have never seen Akerman’s film, but I definitely want to watch it now. Yes, we get more contemporary films here, but several of the old standbys are here- “Vertigo” and “Citizen Kane” didn’t drop far from the top. When you go further down the list, you see a redefinition of the canonical notion of “greatness,” and a chance to expand our own cinematic awareness and literacy.
Director’s Top 10- 2022
1. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
2. “Citizen Kane” (Orson Welles, 1941)
3. “The Godfather” (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
4. “Tokyo Story” (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
=”Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
6. “Vertigo” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
=“8 1/2” (Federico Fellini, 1963)
8. “Mirror” (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974)
9. “Persona” (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
=”In the Mood for Love” (Wong Kar-wai, 2001)
=”Close-Up” (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989)
On the whole, not a lot appears to have changed from the 2012 list. Replacing “Taxi Driver,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Bicycle Thieves” are “Jeanne Dielman” and “Persona,” “In the Mood for Love” and “Close-Up,” an Iranian film that is now on my radar. One thing you can discern from this is that filmmakers love when the filmmaker signs a film distinctly- all of the films on here I’ve seen are “director’s movies,” whether it’s a personal work or something that requires the direction to be visible. I love that “2001” is at the top of this list, because it is arguably the most staggering directorial achievement in film history- where the way a filmmaker communicates information visually rather than verbally is at its purest.
So, those are the official lists- what about mine? When I made my 2012 list, I didn’t want to just do my 10 Best because honestly, I had great favorites that I wanted to represent, as well. In considering my 10 this year, I wanted to show deference to some films that, for one reason or another, have only enhanced in my mind over the years. Much of the list is the same, but as I’ve started to really dig into what matters to me over the past few years, some movies have stood out as something worth consideration for the canon. Changes in a list like this are fine, because- as Roger Ebert mused in making his 2012 list- once a film has been on one’s Sight & Sound list, it is part of the canon.
With that said, here we go.
If I Voted: Brian’s 2022 Best Films Ballot
1. “Vertigo” (1958; Alfred Hitchcock)- In a film where Hitchcock is playing with audience expectations and film technique all the time, the sequence that always stands out to me in his 1958 masterpiece is the one where Scottie is following Madeline for the first time. It is hypnotic, alluring and dangerous, with Bernard Herrmann’s score doing as much to cement Scottie’s obsession as Hitchcock’s direction. As the film unfolds, everything comes back to that moment of manipulation, and how the director makes us complicit in the character’s downfalls.
2. “Sherlock Jr.” (1924; Buster Keaton)- Keaton’s playful, surreal romantic comedy isn’t his funniest film, but it’s the one that has him at his most adventurous as a filmmaker and a storyteller as his projectionist dreams himself into the movie he’s showing.
3. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968; Stanley Kubrick)- No list of cinema’s best from me can be complete without this visionary epic, which has inspired me more as a moviewatcher, and a musician, more than any other work of art.
4. “Andrei Rublev” (1966; Andrei Tarkovsky)- My first film experience with Tarkovsky- 1979’s “Stalker”- remains my favorite of his, but his epic about the Russian icon painter captivates me every time, from its never-explained prologue with the balloon to the audacious bell casting at the end. Tarkovsky is exploring the artist’s responsibility to his society, and how sometimes, great achievements fall, while others inspire others to create.
5. “Ran” (1985; Akira Kurosawa)- The final, great battle epic from one of cinema’s masters, Kurosawa’s adaptation of King Lear is breathtakingly beautiful as it takes us into the pits of Hell as an old King hopes to leave his son’s their kingdom in peace, but only causes more strife.
6. “Touch of Evil” (1958; Orson Welles)- Welles’s final film within the studio system is a seedy film noir about corruption and bigotry on the border, but it’s also one of the great examples of challenging cinematic style in how he uses the camera as a creepy onlooker as Charlton Heston and Welles face off to solve a murder. “Touch of Evil” is also one of the greatest examples of using a soundtrack as a character within the world of the film in how he mixes Henry Mancini’s score into the action.
7. “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988; Martin Scorsese)- Scorsese’s controversial adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’s novel is a film that moves me every time, and one where- as I’ve taken it in- only feels more connected to my own ideas on faith. This is a profoundly relatable look at how faith does not just happen, but is a process, and what responsibility a religious leader has to guide his flock in exploring their own faith, rather than just telling them what to believe.
8. “Seconds” (1966; John Frankenheimer)- This was one of my first real forays into taking a chance on classic films when I was in college. Throughout the years, there was something about this paranoid thriller from Frankenheimer that stuck with me. When I watched it again in 2020, almost a quarter of a century- and a lifetime of living- later, this film’s story of an old man being given the opportunity to live a different life, in a younger visage, fascinates me. That Frankenheimer can create something so nerve racking, but also so thematically rich, it’s no wonder he was one of the great masters when given the chance.
9. “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001; Steven Spielberg)- This film collision in the sensibilities of Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick is as messy as that idea implies, but there are haunting things about this story of a Mecha child (Haley Joel Osment) who longs to be a real boy for his “mother” Monica (Frances O’Connor) that stick with meas the great directorial showman of all-time looks at humanity’s responsibility to the things we create, and the bonds we form.
10. “The Crow” (1994; Alex Proyas)- Alex Proyas’s adaptation of James O’Barr’s graphic novel is a film of dark beauty, as Brandon Lee’s Eric Draven exacts revenge on the gang that killed he and his fiance. Lee’s tragic death hangs over the film, but it’s the way Proyas takes that tragedy, his style and a great soundtrack and makes it something that is a brutal, heartfelt tribute to love never dying, much like its source material was.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
