The big talk of the week has been Sight & Sound’s once-every-decade greatest films of all time list as determined by critics from around the world. However, the publication also take the temperature from film directors, asking for greatest lists from 358 filmmakers around the world, and collating the votes into a separate top 10. As we reported previously, "Tokyo Story" topped the list, with "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Citizen Kane" just behind (read the full top 10 here).
But the joy of the directors’ top 10 isn’t so much the final list, but the individual ones, giving cinephiles a chance to see what some of the greatest filmmakers in the world consider to be the very finest cinematic achievements. The full ballots will be published online on August 22nd, but in the meantime, we got the new print issue of Sight & Sound which has them all, and have shared some of the more fascinating director lists below, from folks such as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino and more.
As you might expect, some choices are predictable, while others are surprising (Michael Mann loves "Avatar"!), but they are all fascinating. Sight & Sound is on newstands now; check out five lists below. Which filmmaker shares your cinematic taste? And note, there are over 350 directors lists in total, the full ballots of which will be published on August 22nd. The top 50-100 list will be published on August 15. Check out more of Sight And Sound’s "Greatest Films of All Time" list for more.
Woody Allen
"Bicycle Thieves" (1948, dir. Vittorio De Sica)
"The Seventh Seal" (1957, dir. Ingmar Bergman)
"Citizen Kane" (1941, dir. Orson Welles
"Amarcord" (1973, dir. Federico Fellini
"8 1/2" (1963, dir. Federico Fellini)
"The 400 Blows" (1959, dir. Francois Truffaut)
"Rashomon" (1950, dir. Akira Kurosawa)
"La Grande Illusion" (1937, dir. Jean Renoir)
"The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie" (1972, dir. Luis Bunuel)
"Paths Of Glory" (1957, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
Francis Ford Coppola
"Ashes And Diamonds" (1958, dir. Andrzej Wajda)
"The Best Years Of Our Lives" (1946, dir William Wyler)
"I Vitteloni" (1953, dir. Federico Fellini)
"The Bad Sleep Well (1960, dir. Akira Kurosawa)
"Yojimbo" (1961, dir. Akira Kurosawa)
"Singin’ In The Rain (1952, dir. Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly)
"The King Of Comedy" (1983, dir Martin Scorsese)
"Raging Bull" (1980, dir. Martin Scorsese)
"The Apartment" (1960s, dir. Billy Wilder)
"Sunrise" (1927, dir. F.W. Murnau)
Michael Mann
"Apocalypse Now" (1979, dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
"Battleship Potemkin" (1925, dir. Sergei Eisenstein)
"Citizen Kane" (1941, dir. Orson Welles)
"Avatar" (2009, dir. James Cameron)
"Dr. Strangelove" (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
"Biutiful" (2010, dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
"My Darling Clementine" (1946, dir. John Ford)
"The Passion Of Joan Of Arc" (1928, dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer)
"Raging Bull" (1980, dir. Martin Scorsese)
"The Wild Bunch" (1969, dir. Sam Peckinpah)
Martin Scorsese
"8 1/2" (1963, dir. Federico Fellini)
"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
"Ashes And Diamonds" (1958, dir. Andrzej Wajda)
"Citizen Kane" (1941, dir. Orson Welles)
"The Leopard" (1963, dir. Luchino Visconti)
"Paisan" (1946, dir. Roberto Rossellini)
"The Red Shoes" (1948, dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
"The River" (1951, dir. Jean Renoir)
"Salvatore Giuliano" (1962, dir. Francesco Rosi)
"The Searchers" (1956, dir. John Ford)
"Ugetsu Monogatari" (1953, dir. Kenji Mizoguchi)
"Vertigo" (1958, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Quentin Tarantino
"The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" (1966, dir. Sergio Leone)
"Apocalypse Now" (1979, dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
"The Bad News Bears" (1976, dir. Michael Ritchie)
"Carrie" (1976, dir. Brian DePalma)
"Dazed And Confused" (1993, dir. Richard Linklater)
"The Great Escape" (1963, dir. John Sturges)
"His Girl Friday" (1940, dir. Howard Hawks)
"Jaws" (1975, dir. Steven Spielberg)
"Pretty Maids All In A Row (1971, dir. Roger Vadim)
"Rolling Thunder" (1977, dir. John Flynn)
"Sorcerer" (1977, dir. William Friedkin)
"Taxi Driver" (1976, dir. Martin Scorsese)
Lists used courtesy of Sight & Sound.
Tarantino's is the only list that's not completely pretentious.
Here's my 20 favorite films
Anything made by Stanley Kubrick
Eraserhead
Lawrence of Arabia
Pulp Fiction
La Dolce Vita
Blade Runner
Sunset Boulevard
Sunrise
Taxi Driver
Casablanca
Day for Night
The Tree of Life
Memento
The Good, the bad and the ugly
Boogie Nights
8 1/2
Bride of Frankenstein
Videodrome
Goodfellas
The Lion King
Goodfellas
Apocalypse Now
Chinatown
Do The Right Thing
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
Boogie Nights
Blue Velvet
Aliens
Dr. Strangelove
The Big Lebowski
LA Confidential
Precious
Raging Bull
Casablanca
Dr. Strangelove
Taxi Driver
On The Waterfront
Godfather
Vertigo
12 Angry Men
Once Upon A Time in the West
Apocalypse Now
I have my doubts about how real these lists actually are – Tarantino named his production company after Godard's 'Bande a part' and yet it didn't make his top 10?!
Touch of Evil
Paths of Glory
Out of the Past
Sweet Smell of Success
Bringing Up Baby
Miracle in Milan
The Killers
Mean Streets
Chinatown
The Conversation
1. 8 1/2–Federico Fellini
2. The Godfather–Francis Ford Coppola
3. Star Wars–George Lucas
4. Casablanca–Michael Curtiz
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey–Stanley Kubrick
6. Lawrence of Arabia–David Lean
7. Schindler's List–Steven Spielberg
8. The Godfather II–Francis Ford Coppola
9. West Side Story–Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
10. The Wizard of Oz–Victor Fleming
If only 10… and only a current list (things change, as David Mamet sez):
The Godfather/The Godfather Pt. II (tie)
Vertigo
Raging Bull
Brazil
Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of the Dead ('78) (tie)
Eraserhead/Mulholland Drive (tie)
There Will Be Blood
Nosferatu ('22)
Days of Heaven
Barry Lyndon
If only 10… and only a current list (things change, as David Mamet sez):
The Godfather/The Godfather Pt. II (tie)
Vertigo
Raging Bull
Brazil
Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of the Dead ('78) (tie)
Eraserhead/Mulholland Drive (tie)
There Will Be Blood
Nosferatu ('22)
Days of Heaven
Barry Lyndon
If only 10… and only a current list (things change, as David Mamet sez):
The Godfather/The Godfather Pt. II (tie)
Vertigo
Raging Bull
Brazil
Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of the Dead ('78) (tie)
Eraserhead/Mulholland Drive (tie)
There Will Be Blood
Nosferatu ('22)
Days of Heaven
Barry Lyndon
If only 10… and only a current list (things change, as David Mamet sez):
The Godfather/The Godfather Pt. II (tie)
Vertigo
Raging Bull
Brazil
Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of the Dead ('78) (tie)
Eraserhead/Mulholland Drive (tie)
There Will Be Blood
Nosferatu ('22)
Days of Heaven
Barry Lyndon
If only 10… and only a current list (things change, as David Mamet sez):
The Godfather/The Godfather Pt. II (tie)
Vertigo
Raging Bull
Brazil
Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of the Dead ('78) (tie)
Eraserhead/Mulholland Drive (tie)
There Will Be Blood
Nosferatu ('22)
Days of Heaven
Barry Lyndon
If only 10… and only a current list (things change, as David Mamet sez):
The Godfather/The Godfather Pt. II (tie)
Vertigo
Raging Bull
Brazil
Night Of The Living Dead/Dawn Of the Dead ('78) (tie)
Eraserhead/Mulholland Drive (tie)
There Will Be Blood
Nosferatu ('22)
Days of Heaven
Barry Lyndon
My top 20 in no particular order:
The apartment (1960), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Fight club (1999), Harakiri (1962), Cidade de Deus (2002), Toy Story 3 (2010), The Lion King (1994), Gran Torino (2008), Goodfellas (1990), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Cinema Paradiso (1988), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Bin-Jip (2004), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995), Moulin Rouge (2001), On the Waterfront (1954), Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), The Goonies (1985)
Movies that could easily sneek in my top 20: Amadeus (1984), Oldboy (2003), American History X (1998), Princess Mononoke (1997), Million Dollar Baby (2004), The star Wars Thrillogy, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Prove only people dont know anything about movies pick Shawsank Redemption. Cough Cough IMDB top 250
Top Ten: "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), "Raging Bull" (1980), "Citizen Kane" (1941), Playtime (1967), "The Master" (2012), "Greed" (1925), "Intolerance" (1916), "Le Mepris" (1963), The Searchers (1956), "L'Atalante" (1934).
Honorable Mentions: "The Big Sleep" (1946), "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), "La Règle du jeu" (1939), "Ordet" (1956)
Top Ten: Blue Velvet (1986) The Shining (1980) Taxi Driver (1976) No Country For Old Men (2007) Hour of the Wolf (1968) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) The Visitors (1971, Elia Kazan) Zodiac (2007) Memento (2000) Badlands (1973)
I like bicycle thieves or 8 1/2 but where is La strada?
Top 10 in no particular order: Goodfellas
Psycho Citizen Kane There Will Be Blood Fargo Stagecoach A Clockwork Orange The Wizard of Oz Raging Bull Chinatown.
My Top 20 Favorites, in no particular order: Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Drive (2011), In the Mood For Love (2000), Pulp Fiction (1994), Vertigo (1958), City of God (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Taxi Driver (1976), Oldboy (2003), Rashomon (1950), Raging Bull (1980), The Lives of Others (2006), Akira (1988), Before Sunset (2004), Tokyo Story (1953), Wings of Desire (1987), Annie Hall (1977), Solaris (1972).
Well, as everybody on here is making up their lists, I shall make mine, too. Top 30 Favorite Films:
#30. A Clockwork Orange #29. Akira #28. Cidade de Deus #27. Sholay #26. To Kill a Mockingbird #25. Lawrence of Arabia #24. Seven Samurai #23. The Shawshank Redemption #22. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly #21. Taxi Driver #20. Metropolis #19. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest #18. Brazil #17. Casablanca #16. Rear Window #15. Cinema Paradiso #14. NazarÃn #13. 2001: A Space Odyssey #12. Raging Bull #11. Stalker #10. Persona #9. City Lights #8. The Godfather Part II #7. 8 1/2 #6. Battleship Potemkin #5. Tie between "The Mirror" and "Tale of Tales" #4. Goodfellas #3. Citizen Kane #2. Vertigo #1. The Wizard of Oz.
Honorable Mentions: Hamlet (1996), Amadeus, The Dark Knight, Gone with the Wind, The Seventh Seal, Annie Hall, Good Night and Good Luck, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind.
Plus what's with all the obscure movie bullshit? What is it with naming some shit from the 40's that nobody has ever heard of. Citizen Kane is also incredibly boring, may be the worst movie ever
My 20 In no particular order: Children Of Men, Toy story 3, The Dark knight, Heat, Up, American History X, The Prestige, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Die Hard, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Stand By Me, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, The Great Escape, The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Inglorious Basterds, Saving Private Ryan, Memento
I always debate but mine would consist of these 20:
Dumb and Dumber,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Magnolia
Raging Bull
There Will Be Blood
Royal Tenenbaums
Chasing Amy
MASH
Blue Velvet
Dark Knight
Hannaha and Her Sisters
Umberto D
Pulp Fiction
Taxi Driver
Dazed and Confused
Clockwork Orange
Rocky
Goodfellas
Borat
Rudy
Shocked that none of them (especially Scorsese) have included a single Kazan film on their lists would of thought at very least East of Eden made it on to Scorsese's top 12?
I like Woody Allen's list best, though PATHS OF GLORY isn't my favorite Kubrick (2001).
Mr. Mann – AVATAR & BIUTIFUL? They weren't even amongst the Top 10 films released in those particular years!
Scorsese's "Salvatore Giuliano" is perhaps the most obscure choice. It's a very interesting film and the events are the basis for the novel THE SICILIAN (and the Cimino film).
safe to say woody is a criterion fan
"bicycle 'THEIVES?'" pitiful editing.
I can't be the only one positively giddy that Tarantino included the sleazeball, black comedy Pretty Maids All in a Row! Tarantino, once again, proves he is the man!
A lot of people getting confused between the terms Greatest and Favourite … these directors and critics were asked to list the ten greatest films in history, not their personal favourites – which is more subjective. I think Citizen Kane is still the greatest and most important of all time, but it would never make it on to my list of favourite movies. One of those is Stand By Me, but do I think it's one of the greatest films ever made? Not a chance. Big difference between the two terms.
I'm happy that at least one director (Michael Mann) had the bravery to include films past the 80's. I hate how both pretentious and predictable other critics are.
This list is bullsh!t. First of all, Michael Mann doesn't deserve to drink these other directors' bath water. (There are at least 50 other people you could have chosen that would have been more interesting, including Roger Corman.) Second, what's with snubbing Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo?
My faves (at least at the moment, prolly next week there'd be a few different picks):
John Carpenter's The Thing, Hell in the Pacific, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Naked Prey, Papillon, Deep Red, The Roaring Twenties, To Have and Have Not, Rocky II and… hm… The Cincinnati Kid.
1. Blade Runner
2. 2001 Space Odyssey
3. Annie Hall
4. F is for Fake
5. Big Night
6. Welcome to the Dollhouse
7. The Godfather
8. Touch of Evil
9. Apocalypse Now
10. Rocky
Hon Mention: Pulp Fiction, Bambi, Dazed and Confused, The Outsiders, Empire Strikes Back, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Match Point, Manhattan, Waking Life, Rumble Fish, Risky Business, Avatar
My personal top ten no particular order: 1:Boogie Nights (1997), 2:Pulp Fiction (1994), 3:Melvin and Howard (1980), 4:Used Cars (1980), 5:Local Hero (1983), 6:Dazed and Confused (1993), 7:Point Blank (1967), 8:Goodfellas (1990), 9:Risky Business (1983), 10:Blast of Silence (1962).
Honorable Mentions: The Graduate (1967), Annie Hall (1977), Jackie Brown (1997), Something Wild (1986)
Woody Allen
"Bicycle Thieves" (1948, dir. Vittorio De Sica)
PLEASE FIX ME
My top 10 (or 11) would be: (1) The Godfather Part II (1974) (2) Casablanca (1942) (3) The Godfather (1972) (4) The Seven Samurai (1954) (5) Intolerance (1916) (6) Dr. Strangelove (1964) (7) Persona (1966) (8) The Tree of Life (2011) (9) Stage Door (1937) (10) a tie between Breathless (1960) and Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
1. Dead Man (1995)
2. Lost Highway (1997)
3. Heat (1995)
4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
5. No Country For Old Men (2007)
6. Robocop (1987)
7. The Dark Knight (2008)
8. Zodiac (2007)
9. Dazed and Confused (1993)
10. Casino (1995)
Seriously Michael Mann….? Seriously?
Thrilled to see Ashes and Diamonds on two lists. It IS the greatest, frame by frame. I thought I was the only person outside of Europe who was familiar with it. Also, the first in the trilogy, Kanal, about Poles escaping the Germans in the sewers of Warsaw. Amazing films.
I particularly like Scorsese's list. I've seen him talk about films like The Red Shoes, The River, and The Leopard quite a few times, and it's grand to see them finally on a list of his.
And who wouldn't have given anything to see Woody Allen's list? Not as spectacular as I would have imagined, but it's interesting to only see one Bergman.
As for my top ten, they would be (completely ignoring the rule about trilogies and such):
Citizen Kane, The Double Life of Veronique, F for Fake, The Godfather/The Godfather Part II, Grand Illusion, The Leopard, Red (Three Colors), Seven Samurai, Sunrise, The Tree of Life.
Some of my favorites: L'Atalante (Jean Vigo), The Color of Pomegranates (Parajanov), L'Avventura (Antonioni), Jules et Jim and Fahrenheit 451 (Truffaut), La Dolce Vita and Amarcord (Fellini), Persona and Fanny and Alexander (Bergman), The Double Life of Véronique (Kieslowski), Three Times (Hsiao-hsieu-Hou), Schindler's List (Spielberg), Don't Look Now (Roeg), and many more …
If any of you bums think you can do a better job on these, as opposed the easy meaty flicks – then show us: 10 Commandments, Jailhouse Rock, Wizard of Oz, Awara and the Nutty Professor – hah?
Q. The Bad News Bears. Seriously? You know who on a tricycle…
In no real particular order;
1) The Exorcist
2) JFK
3) Star Wars
4) The Empire Strikes Back
5) The Abyss: Special Edition
6) The Shawshank Redemption
7) The Godfather
8) Zodiac
9) The Dark Knight
10) Jaws
Honorary inclusions;
The Matrix
Fight Club
The Iron Giant
The French Connection
The Silence of the Lambs
Superman: The Movie
QT must have fallen out of love a little with Rio Bravo and Blow Out. Or perhaps he was restricting himself to one film per director.
So while on the face of it QT's list is more contemporary, look more closely and 7 of his 10 come from a four year period (and 8 from the 70s). Guess we're all more susceptible to "greatness" in our teens.
Can someone please explain to me why there are 12 films listed for Scorsese and Tarantino? I haven't seen anybody else mention that here.
I didn't think Sight & Sound made exceptions with how many movies are allowed on the ballots.
Oh my god, I want to make out with QT for putting "Carrie" on his list. My favorite movie.
Funny that Woody didn't pick a single comedy. All great classics though. Everyone should see all of his picks.
I love the the "Ashes and Diamonds" love. What an amazing film. I didn't know Marty liked that film that much. Very very happy to see "Biutiful" on Mann's list. That film is severely underrated.
No Country for Old Men (2007, Coen Bros); Persona (1966, Ingmar Bergman); Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock); Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles); 2001: A Spacy Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick); Mirror, The (1975, Andrei Tarkovsky); Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese); Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola); Fargo (1996, Coen Bros); Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski).
My Top Ten:
Citizen Kane
Harakiri
Le Circle Rouge
12 Angry Men
Rear Window
Stalker
Night of The Hunter
Blue Velvet
Wages of Fear
(for this year)
Lovin the love for "Ashes & Diamonds"
So basically Quentin got his Western from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" and fast dialogue from "His Girl Friday"
Cool and a bit shocking to see Linklater on this list.
What is "Palsa" (1946, dir. Roberto Rossellini)? Is that a typo? Don't they mean "Paisan"?
Avatar? Really Micahel Mann?
Very interesting to see Paths of Glory on Woody Allen's list. I wouldn't have expected that. It's also interesting how almost no one had The Godfather on their list. I guess they all just love Raging Bull too much.
Nice lists. Good to see that some people had the guts to name films like "The Goonies" or "Groundhog Day". Quite refreshing. But Michael Mann? I mean I totally respect his decision if he genuinely likes the film. But "Avatar"? Really?