It’s been less than 24 hours since the announcement of Sight and Sound’s greatest films of all-time polls. While we have a decade more of discourse, the first reactions were expectedly divisive when certain 21st-century films make the list and other venerated classics are dropped. As interesting as the top 100 is to discuss, we wanted to look a bit deeper to see how the reception of certain films shifted over the last decade, with a rundown of the films that were added and those removed.
As one can see below, about a quarter of the list switched up this time, with major showings for a number of women filmmakers—Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman, Julie Dash, Jane Campion, Barbara Loden, Céline Sciamma, Maya Daren, and Věra Chytilová. Wong Kar-wai, Hayao Miyazaki, Charles Burnett, Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Barry Jenkins, and Bong Joon-ho were also well-represented.
The films that were dropped represent some odd dichotomies: Goodfellas made its way onto the list, Raging Bull fell off. The Godfather leaped forward, while its sequel left—alongside Lawrence of Arabia, Chinatown, The Magnificent Ambersons, Fanny and Alexander, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Seventh Seal, L’eclisse, The Mother and the Whore (though the new restoration getting a wider bow in 2023 could mean its return in a decade’s time), and more.
Looking deeper into the lists, it’s also fascinating to see which films had major leaps forward: Claire Denis’ Beau travail went from #78 in 2012 to #7 this year, while In the Mood for Love and Mulholland Dr. (the top 10’s only 21st-century titles) jumped around twenty spots, respectively. Jeanne Dielman, 2022’s #1 pick, vaulted from #36 a decade prior.
We’ll be curious to see how the top 250 and individual ballots play out when they are released next month, but in the meantime, check out the updates below, with a hat tip to Edo Choi.
New Additions (see the 2022 list)
=95. Get Out
=95. Black Girl
=95. Tropical Malady
=90. Parasite
=88. Chungking Express
=88. The Shining
=78. Céline and Julie Go Boating
=75. Spirited Away
=72. My Neighbor Totoro
=67. The Gleaners and I
=67. The Red Shoes
=63. Goodfellas
=60. Daughters of the Dust
=60. Moonlight
=54. The Apartment
=52. News from Home
=50. The Piano
=48. Wanda
=43. Killer of Sheep
30. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
28. Daisies
24. Do the Right Thing
16. Meshes of the Afternoon
14. Cléo from 5 to 7
Dropped (see the 2012 list)
=93. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
=93. The Seventh Seal
=93. Un chien andalou
=93. Intolerance
=90. A Day in the Country
=90. Aguirre, the Wrath of God
=84. Greed
=84. The Wild Bunch
=84. Fanny and Alexander
=84. The Color of Pomegranates
=81. Lawrence of Arabia
=81. The Magnificent Ambersons
=78. Chinatown
=73. Nashville
=73. Le grande illusion
=73. Les enfants du paradise
=73. L’eclisse
=63. Wild Strawberries
=63. Rio Bravo
=63. Pickpocket
=59. The Mother and the Whore
=57. Touch of Evil
=53. Raging Bull
=43. Gertrud
=21. The Godfather Part II