Each year They Shoot Pictures Don’t They? updates their colossal 1,000 Greatest Films section, building their list using hundreds of ballots from places like Sight & Sound, The Village Voice, and rankings from critics and filmmakers (3,349 in total). The result is a comprehensive overview of notable cinema spanning countries and decades that will have completists working for a while.
The top 10 is comprised of the usual suspects, though a few titles have shuffled positions since last year – you’ll find Citizen Kane at number one followed by Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Tokyo Story (second consecutive bump in the past two years), and The Rules of the Game.
It’s this year’s new additions, however, that will probably generate the most discussion. James Cameron‘s Titanic has surfaced at number 661. The blockbuster dethroned as the highest-grossing film of all time by Cameron’s most recent film, Avatar (not on the list), but both these works experienced a similar trajectory. They had an initial profound effect on global audiences but their reputations diminished among critics and scholars in subsequent years; the reason for Titanic‘s resurgence may remain a mystery even as Avatar‘s reported sequels loom nearer.
Another oddity of this year’s new entries is Richard Linklater‘s Before trilogy has been represented by the middle installment, Before Sunset. Linklater’s decades-spanning tale of Celine and Jesse may have reached its most critically celebrated peak last year with the latest chapter, Before Midnight, so it’s slightly peculiar that it wasn’t that film or the first, Before Sunrise, to have made the cut.
Some other celebrated works of contemporary cinema, including Wong Kar-Wai‘s 2046 and David Cronenberg‘s Crash have made it on, with both of these filmmakers now have five titles each on the list. Below one can see a rundown of this year’s big moves, including the top 10, as well as all new additions. Be sure to check out the full list on their site, as it’s our yearly reminder we still have a lot of watching to do.
Top 10 Greatest Films
1. Citizen Kane (1)
2. Vertigo (2)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (3)
4. Tokyo Story (5)
5. The Rules of the Game (4)
6. 8½ (6)
7. The Godfather (8)
8. Sunrise (7)
9. The Searchers (9)
10. The Seven Samurai (10)
The Winners – Top Climbers within the 1,000
Plácido (1961) 917 to 638 (up 279 spots)
And Life Goes On… (1992) 909 to 728 (up 181)
Funny Games (1997) 728 to 598 (up 130)
Brokeback Mountain (2005) 870 to 741 (up 129)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 567 to 443 (up 124)
The Winners – Highest Entrants into the 1,000
Titanic (1997), ranked 661
Arrebato (1980), ranked 708
Blue (1983), ranked 740
The Piano Teacher (2001), ranked 783
L’Arrivée d’un train à la Ciotat (1895), ranked 834
The Losers – Biggest Fallers within the 1,000
By the Bluest of Seas (1936) 515 to 684 (down 169)
JFK (1991) 759 to 860 (down 101)
Gilda (1946) 853 to 930 (down 77)
Fat City (1972) 678 to 754 (down 76)
Dumbo (1941) 674 to 746 (down 72)
Ballad of Narayama (1983) 758 to 830 (down 72)
The Losers – Biggest Fallers from the 1,000
Empire (1964), formerly ranked 619
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987), formerly ranked 711
El Topo (1970), formerly ranked 768
Das Boot (1981), formerly ranked 794
Grin Without a Cat (1977), formerly ranked 800
New Additions
661. Titanic (James Cameron)
708. Arrebato (Ivan Zulueta)
740. Blue (Derek Jarman)
783. The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke)
834. L’ Arrivee d’un train a la Ciotat (Lumiere Brothers)
844. Swing Time (George Stevens)
852. The Wings of Eagles (John Ford)
873. Malcolm X (Spike Lee)
875. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
878. Alice (Jan Svankmajer)
882. Out of Africa (Sydney Pollack)
886. A Page of Madness (Teinosuke Kinugasa)
890. Crash (David Cronenberg)
894. The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann)
903. Wings (Larisa Shepitko)
909. Gregory’s Girl (Bill Forsyth)
912. Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski)
918. Goodbye South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
924. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
933. The Verdict (Sidney Lumet)
942. Haxan (Benjamin Christensen)
943. The Man in the White Suit (Alexander Mackendrick)
952. Female Trouble (John Waters)
953. 2046 (Wong Kar-wai)
956. Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
958. News from Home (Chantal Akerman)
961. Winchester ’73 (Anthony Mann)
965. Ride Lonesome (Budd Boetticher)
979. Portrait of Jennie (William Dieterle)
980. Limite (Mario Peixoto)
981. Yesterday Girl (Alexander Kluge)
990. Bienvenido Mister Marshall (Luis Garcia Berlanga)
993. They Died with Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh)
997. There’s Always Tomorrow (Douglas Sirk)
See the full list on the official site.
What do you think of the 2014 update? Which films deserve more recognition?