I have not been invited, but I would have been honored to participate in Sight and Sound magazine's prestigious poll of the greatest films of all time. This poll began in 1952 and is updated every ten years; the newest poll is taking place right now. Basically critics and filmmakers submit their lists of the ten best films, and the lists are tallied for a final consensus list. Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves was #1 in 1952, and Citizen Kane (pictured) has been #1 ever since (will it remain #1 again this year?). Anyway, even though I have not been asked, there's nothing stopping me from at least posting my top ten list. What? No Kubrick, Chaplin, Ford, Kiarostami, Cronenberg? My list changes quite often depending on my mood, or the time of year, what DVDs have been released, or whatever I have seen lately. But this is the top ten list I would submit as of this moment, May 20, 2012.
1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
It's sometimes difficult to explain why I think this is the greatest film I've ever seen. It meets every requirement for greatness; it's personal, artistic, and spiritual. It's daring, and classical. It's frightening and comforting. I've never seen anything quite like it.
2. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Directed by Buster Keaton
Keaton's film is constantly astonishing to me, since it's one of the first comedies that employs the magic of the film medium itself into its humor. Rarely are films so technically inventive, and yet so funny and entertaining at the same time.
3. Chimes at Midnight (1966)
Directed by Orson Welles
Citizen Kane is more polished, of course, and I admit that part of the appeal of Chimes at Midnight is its rarity and underdog status, but regardless, I love it best of all Welles' films. By compiling a supporting character's scenes into a lead role, Welles underlines the comic and tragic dimensions of a great character, perhaps for the first time. Aside from that it contains some the cinema's most strikingly moody, dreamy photography.
4. Rio Bravo (1959)
Directed by Howard Hawks
Hawks was arguably the greatest of all Hollywood directors, and a shockingly high percentage of his movies are good (or at least entertaining), but Rio Bravo more or less embodies all of them: it has humor, romance, action, and even music. Plus, given that I would tend to fill out my list with Westerns, I can feel comfortable in choosing just this one to represent the entire genre.
5. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Directed by Luis Buñuel
I could pick just about any film from Buñuel, but I like this one best for its combination of bizarre comedy and furious commentary, as well as a special dream logic that few filmmakers have ever been able to tap into.
6. Tokyo Story (1953)
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu
I have emerged from very few movies having been convinced that my life was changed, but this was one of them. Having seen more Ozu films since then, my passion for his work has only grown deeper and richer. This one is his best known, and perhaps a good primer for his work, but hardly the only essential film in his canon.
7. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Directed by George A. Romero
Horror films are so primal and emotional that it's no wonder they rarely get the intellectual respect they deserve; but this movie burrows deep into both physical and emotional responses, displaying a sly satirical wit as well as a disturbing vision of pure terror.
8. The Black Cat (1934)
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
One of the greatest of all "B" movie directors infiltrated Hollywood for a short while and came up with something so astonishing that it's hard to believe even today; the first team-up of horror stars Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff is fraught with frightening angles and even more frightening violence.
9. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
Directed by Jacques Rivette
One of the most enchanting films ever made seems more like a long magic trick -- or a poem about magic -- than anything else. Celine and Julie do go boating at one point, but that's hardly the point.
10. Crumb (1995)
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
I tend to think about this, the greatest documentary ever made, each time I see a new documentary about a living person. No other film ever came as close as this to discovering the true damaged soul of its subject, and no other film ever will.
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