Move over, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, there’s a new director at the top of BFI‘s “Greatest Films Of All Time” critics’ poll. And it’s none other than Chantal Akerman, whose 1975 “Jean Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” now sits atop the esteemed list. Conducted only once a decade, the poll is the largest of its kind, with many considering its results an authoritative canon since it first started in 1952. More than 1,600 critics, scholars, distributors, curators, and archivists conducted the latest version of the list.
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Akerman’s victory marks the second time in a row a new film has topped the latest critics’ poll list. In 2012, Hitchock’s “Vertigo‘ bested “Citizen Kane” after Welles’ film held the top spot for over fifty years. Now “Vertigo” sits at #2 on the list, with “Citizen Kane” at #3. For context, “Jeanne Dielman” tied for #36 in the 2012 poll, one of only two films on that list directed by women (the other being Claire Denis’s 1998 classic “Beau Travail“). Now, the 2022 list boasts 11 films directed by women, including “Beau Travail,” which now ranks at #7. Other notable additions from female filmmakers include Agnés Varda‘s 1962 film “Cléo From 5 To 7” at #14 and Céline Sciamma‘s 2019 film “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” at #30.
Other shake-ups on the latest version of the BFI list include the addition of several Black-directed films. 2012’s list had only Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty‘s 1973 “Touki Bouki” on the list at #93. Now, the 2022 list has seven Black directors, including Spike Lee‘s “Do The Right Thing” at #24 and “Charles Burnett‘s “Killer Of Sheep” tied for #43. Also of note: Julie Dash‘s 1991 film “Daughter Of The Dust” at #60. This year’s list also marks the first time animated films make the critics’ poll, both from the same director. Hayao Miyazaki‘s films, 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro” and 2001’s “Spirited Away,” sit tied at #72 and #75, respectively.
It’s also noteworthy that four films from the past decade make the latest BFI critics’ poll list. No movies released in the previous 10 years made the 2012 list. Along with the aforementioned “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire,” the other films are Barry Jenkin‘s “Moonlight,” tied at #60, Bong Joon Ho‘s “Parasite,” tied at #90, and Jordan Peele‘s “Get Out,” tied at #95. And with the addition of more contemporary films, older movies, long respected as medium landmarks, move off the list. David Lean‘s “Lawrence Of Arabia,” Sam Peckinpah‘s “The Wild Bunch,” and Roman Polanski‘s “Chinatown” no longer have a spot on the 2022 list.
With “Jeanne Dielman” now at the top of the list, Chantal Akerman’s reputation grows even more. Unfortunately, the director passed away in 2015 at age 65. “Jeanne Dielman,” perhaps Akerman’s best-known film, meticulously follows the daily routine of a middle-aged widow as the film builds toward an unexpected climax. Akerman’s 1976 film “News From Home,” about the director’s move to New York City, also made the most recent BFI critics’ poll list, tied at the #52 spot.
Check out the full Sight And Sound list on the BFI’s website. In the meantime, here’s the top 20 films from the new 2022 list:
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 Drive” (David Lynch, 2001)
9. “Man With a Movie Camera” (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
10. “Singin’ in the Rain” (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951)
11. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
12. “The Godfather” (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
13. “The Rules of the Game” (Jean Renoir, 1939)
14. “Cléo From 5 to 7” (Agnès Varda, 1962)
15. “The Searchers” (John Ford, 1956)
16. “Meshes of the Afternoon” (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
17. “Close-Up” (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989)
18. “Persona” (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
19. “Apocalypse Now” (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
20. “Seven Samurai” (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)