Sight and Sound Poll 2012: Ain't no more Kane

[Harold]

The British film magazine Sight and Sound has finally begun releasing the results of the 2012 edition of its every-ten-years Greatest Films of All Time poll. This time around, they received top ten lists from a record 846 "critics, programmers, academics and distributors," and for the first time since 1962, Citizen Kane is not the #1 film. The new critics' champion: Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece Vertigo.

(The magazine polled 358 directors as well in a separate poll, and Kane fell out of the top spot on that poll too: the directors' new #1 is Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 drama Tokyo Story.)

S&S is going to be parceling out the full poll results over the next few weeks, and they've started by posting the critics' top 50:

1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) - 191 lists
2. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) - 157
3. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953) - 107
4. La Regle de Jeu [The Rules of the Game] (Jean Renoir, 1939) - 100
5. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927) - 93
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) - 90
7. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) - 78
8. The Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) - 68
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) - 65
10. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963) - 64
11. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) - 63
12. L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934) - 58
13. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) - 57
14. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979) - 53
15. Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu, 1949) - 50
16. Au hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966) - 49
17. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954) - 48
17. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) - 48
19. Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975) - 47
20. Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly, 1952) - 46
21. L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960) - 43
21. Le Mepris [Contempt] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) - 43
21. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) - 43
24. Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955) - 42
24. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2001) - 42
26. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) - 41
26. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966) - 41
28. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001) - 40
29. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979) - 39
29. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985) - 39
31. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) - 38
31. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) - 38
33. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) - 37
34. The General (Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman, 1926) - 35
35. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) - 34
35. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) - 34
35. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975) - 34
35. Satantango (Bela Tarr, 1994) - 34
39. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959) - 33
39. La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) - 33
41. Journey to Italy (Roberto Rossellini, 1953) - 32
42. Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955) - 31
42. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) - 31
42. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1964) - 31
42. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965) - 31
42. Play Time (Jacques Tati, 1967) - 31
42. Close-up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990) - 31
48. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965) - 30
48. Histoire(s) du cinema (Jean-Luc Godard, 1998) - 30
50. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931) - 29
50. Ugetsu monogatari (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953) - 29
50. La Jetee (Chris Marker, 1962) - 29

[Barry]

Oh boy... That whole "Kane ain't cool" fashion which has started way back through the '00s seems like it paid off. Not that I am complaining concerning that an equally masterful motion picture has replaced it (though not my favorite Hitchcock-and since we are at it, where the hell is "Rear Window"??) and that they are both among my all time favorites, but if there are very few films from the '40s that have aged so well, their narration creativity remains groundbreaking and their use of mise-en-scene, editing and camera movement fits the story but also adds to it (the montage of the scattered moments between the Kane couple through the years, sitting in the same table, though distancing themselves and talking less and less as time goes by, the jump-cut from the moment Kane first sees the editorial staff he wants for his newspaper to the time he throws a party for having gained them all, the image of the burning "Rosebud", the flash-back from his childhood years) "Kane" is definitely among them and it's sad that the only argument about the film not being first is something like "Oh, come on, it's been like seventy years since it was first released" or "It really has not aged that well". All fine and acceptable arguments, sure, but the way this list has shaped up, making "2001" the "most recent" film in the top 10 (and the only one by Kubrick), adding 3 films of the mute era in it and throwing out "The Godfather" (yeah chap, congratulations for not making something similar to the AFI, only you put a masterpiece out of the top 10) and overall with only 1 film from the '80s, 2 from the '90s and 2 from the '00s (and Mulholland Dr.? Really?) make these arguments quite contradictory. Still, at least the Top 2 remains fantastic. Also happy for "Apocalypse Now" rising, still at the expense of the other two Coppola masterpieces in this list falling down.

[Greg]

never thought i'd see the day!

[Harold]

The top ten films from the directors' poll, all of which are in the critics' top 50:

1. Tokyo Story - 48 votes
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey - 42
3. Citizen Kane - 41
4. 8 1/2 - 40
5. Taxi Driver - 34
6. Apocalypse Now - 33
7. The Godfather - 31
7. Vertigo - 31
9. Mirror - 30
10. Bicycle Thieves - 29

[Harold]

Someone on another forum posted (from the print edition, released today in the U.K.) the remainder of the critics' top 100. It looks legit, based on mentions of a couple of the films in the preliminary articles on the S&S website:

53. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) - 28 lists
53. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959) - 28
53. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) - 28
56. M (Fritz Lang, 1931) - 26
56. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) - 26
56. The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963) - 26
59. Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924) - 25
59. Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954) - 25
59. La Maman et la putain [The Mother and the Whore] (Jean Eustache, 1973) - 25
59. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975) - 25
63. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936) - 24
63. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950) - 24
63. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955) - 24
63. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) - 24
63. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) - 24
63. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959) - 24
69. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956) - 23
69. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) - 23
69. Sans soleil (Chris Marker, 1983) - 23
69. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986) - 23
73. La Grande illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937) - 22
73. Les Enfants du Paradis [Children of Paradise] (Marcel Carne, 1945) - 22
73. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) - 22
73. L'eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962) - 22
73. Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975) - 22
78. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968) - 21
78. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974) - 21
78. Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1999) - 21
81. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942) - 20
81. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962) - 20
81. The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973) - 20
84. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) - 19
84. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) - 19
84. The Colour of Pomegranate (Sergei Parajanov, 1968) - 19
84. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969) - 19
84. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982) - 19
84. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991) - 19
90. Partie de campagne [A Day in the Country] (Jean Renoir, 1936) - 18
90. A Matter of Life and Death [Stairway to Heaven] (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1945) - 18
90. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) - 18
93. Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, 1916) - 17
93. Un chien andalou (Luis Bunuel, 1928) - 17
93. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1943) - 17
93. Madame de... [The Earrings of Madame de...] (Max Ophuls, 1953) - 17
93. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1956) - 17
93. Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959) - 17
93. Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambety, 1973) - 17
93. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000) - 17

[Gillingham]

never thought i'd see the day!

Same here. Although I think it won't happen any time soon in the 'They Shoot Pictures Don't They' top 100.

It's a pity there is such a great bias towards older films.

[John]

Citizen Kane is a film geek movie, for people who enjoy watching movies and don't get into what the movie actually achieved, it's just a good movie. Plotwise, it edges on slow and boring, but to me it was still decent. Even a casual viewer can appreciate the camera work, but a film geek knows how special it was at the time and what it did for cinema. But, I prefer all-time lists to voice how a work stands up in 2012 rather than what it's influence is/was. the other movies on the list seem to hold true to how it stands up. 8 1/2's cinematography is amazing, but it's also still amazing as a film as well. It's not just about what it did for the medium. Hitchcock movies still stand the test of time. To me, Citizen Kane still gets by on what it did instead of what it is.

[Barry]

Citizen Kane is a film geek movie, for people who enjoy watching movies and don't get into what the movie actually achieved, it's just a good movie. Plotwise, it edges on slow and boring, but to me it was still decent. Even a casual viewer can appreciate the camera work, but a film geek knows how special it was at the time and what it did for cinema. But, I prefer all-time lists to voice how a work stands up in 2012 rather than what it's influence is/was. the other movies on the list seem to hold true to how it stands up. 8 1/2's cinematography is amazing, but it's also still amazing as a film as well. It's not just about what it did for the medium. Hitchcock movies still stand the test of time. To me, Citizen Kane still gets by on what it did instead of what it is.

I can't actually say I agree. "Citizen Kane" can strongly appeal to a casual viewer too especially because of its plot and central character. The narration, while complex it still stands as remarkably original and accessible, since every little jigsaw piece every character puts with his/her contribution to the big puzzle of the character of Charles Foster Kane reveals gradually more layers to a story which is as emotionally involving as it gets: Child innocence lost, young ambition, rivalry, relationships gone wrong, loss of family, loneliness, subjects than can stil appeal today and if I dare say in the next decades as well, especially with the sensibility (not sentimentality-a rare achievement indeed) which are told, monumental film-making aside. Instead, "8 1/2" gives me the exact opposite reaction: while it is superbly shot and evokes many emotions too, it's far less accesible than "Kane" due to its chaotic non-linear narration, including also a lot of dream sequences which sometimes cannot be easily diverted from the film's "reality", therefore its (admittedly rich) emotional core might not be visible to many people being startled by some things in the movie's structure which possibly confuse them.

[John]

It has complex elements, but as a story it feels very simple.... and while that might hold up as a nostalgic favorite, when choosing the best of all-time I'd prefer to choose films that told a story in a way that no other could, with images that really stick with a viewer. Not that Citizen Kane's story is garbage, it's a fine story, but hardly one of the best ever told on film.

[Barry]

It has complex elements, but as a story it feels very simple.... and while that might hold up as a nostalgic favorite, when choosing the best of all-time I'd prefer to choose films that told a story in a way that no other could, with images that really stick with a viewer. Not that Citizen Kane's story is garbage, it's a fine story, but hardly one of the best ever told on film.

Personally I don't consider any nostalgia factor if there's any regarding "Citizen Kane" and in terms of novelty in narrative techniques and imagery (especially imagery) it's certainly, IMO of course, one of the best films ever made... well, whatever, it's somewhat pointless to argue about such subjects, since personal opinions will always be... personal opinions (counting me in too, obviously)

[Jirin]

Kane would make my top 100 but wouldn't contend for the top spot. It's an excellently shot film but, in my opinion, derails a bit in the segment about the second wife. I think Vertigo is better than Kane, but I think a weak ending removes it from '#1 all time' contention.

Kane might make the top of my 'Most influential' list, but those aren't as fun.

I agree with Mulholland Drive being one of the top films of the 00s. I also think I like the directors' list better than the critics list because they put Mirror and Bicycle Thieves higher.