After last month kicked off with Sight and Sound unveiling of their once-in-a-decade greatest films of all-time poll, detailing the 100 films that made the cut that were led by Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, they’ve now unveiled the full critics’ top 250. While the discourse up until now has featured many wondering why certain directors were totally absent and why other films that previously made the top 100 were left out, more clarity has arrived with this update.
Check out some highlights we clocked below, the full list here, and return on March 2 when all ballots and comments will be unveiled.
- The films closest to making the top 100 were Rio Bravo, The House Is Black, and Vagabond, which tied for #103.
- Four directors absent in the top 100––Terrence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Jacques Demy––have two films each in the top 250: The Tree of Life (#196) and Days of Heaven (#152); Magnolia (#185) and There Will Be Blood (#122); Flowers of Shanghai (#225) and A City of Sadness (#152); The Young Girls of Rochefort (#185) and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (#185).
- Three films by Lucrecia Martel made the top 250: Zama (#196), The Headless Woman (#196), and La ciénaga (#136).
- Three Indian films are among the new #101-#250 additions: Pyaasa (#185), Charulata (#169), and Meghe Dhaka Tara (#152)
- After getting only three votes in 2012, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is now #221. Twin Peaks: The Return also debuted on the list at #152.
- Only one animated film was in the #101-#250: Grave of the Fireflies at #225.
- No films from Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jia Zhangke, Theo Angelopoulos, Michael Haneke, the Coens, Wes Anderson, or David Fincher made the top 250.
- The most recent release that made the list is Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman at #225.
- Other 21st-century films are Nostalgia for the Light, Syndromes and a Century, L’intrus, Morvern Callar, In Vanda’s Room, and Werckmeister Harmonies, all tied at #243. As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty tied Petite Maman at #225, while Melancholia came in at #211. Zama, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Tree of Life, Uncle Boonmee, and The Headless Woman tied at #196, Under the Skin came in at #169, West of the Tracks was #157, Twin Peaks: The Return was #152, La ciénaga was #136, There Will Be Blood was at #122 and the closest to the top 100 at #108 was Goodbye, Dragon Inn.