On Lists

[Note: I know I said in the midweek update that this article would focus on Spielberg, but I want to take some time to rewatch Munich and The Fabelmans before I tackle that one. Also, not enough of you have seen The Fabelmans. Go see The Fabelmans.]

Last week, Sight & Sound released the results of its much-anticipated Greatest Films of All Time poll. For those who don’t know, Sight & Sound, a monthly magazine published by the British Film Institute since 1932, polls critics and directors for their Top 10 greatest movies of all time. These are then compiled into two lists: The Greatest Films of All Time and Directors’ 100 Greatest Films of All Time. The results are notable because not only are they pulled from a respectable list of contributors (it means something when BFI invites you to contribute your Top 10, and not every major director gets to participate), but also because they only do this once every ten years. Furthermore, as the years have gone on, Sight & Sound has endeavored to expand the voting pool, which means adding new voices and new perspectives.

The big surprise in 2022 was Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) jumping from #35 in 2012 all the way to #1 in 2022, marking the first time a film from a woman has ever made its way into the Top 10 let alone grab the #1 slot (Claire Denis also made the Top 10 in 2022 with her 1998 film Beau travail coming in at #7). Given that the Internet is built for conflict, people immediately started arguing over the results. Oscar-nominated screenwriter and noted curmudgeon Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) had this to say on Facebook:

This is a foolish argument (hey Paul you think maybe films are rising not only because of a more diverse electorate but also because it’s easier to find movies in 2022 than it was in 1972 when you yourself voted in the poll as a critic?), but even if it wasn’t, it misses the point of what this list accomplishes.

For my part, I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with ranking art. To take something as subjective as art and try to force it into an objective metric seems besides the point. One of the articles I’m most proud of from my time at Collider was our Essential 100 list. It wasn’t perfect, but we consciously left it unranked so that it would better serve as a guide for burgeoning cinephiles. It wasn’t meant to set art in competition with other art, but rather a starting point. The world of cinema can be daunting, but its diversity is its strength, and you can see how Sight & Sound has endeavored to further that diversity in the list.

When I was teenager, my guide was the AFI 100 Years 100 Movies list. In retrospect, it’s a limited selection as it largely pulls from Hollywood and while it makes sense that the American Film Institute would only choose American movies, it doesn’t even really explore indie or underground films. It is a list by the establishment of establishment pictures, but film fan has to start somewhere.

The biggest mistake anyone could make when looking at Sight & Sound’s ranking is to see it as an indictment of their own taste and not as an invitation to grow and seek out new corners of an ever-shifting canon. Films like Parasite (2019), Get Out (2017), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), and Moonlight (2016) didn’t even exist when the 2012 list came out, and now they’re in the Top 100. If you don’t think they deserve to be on the list, that’s fine! You’d be hard pressed to find a critic whose personal Top 10 list lines up perfectly with the final results of the poll.

What this list does (and what every kind of list by knowledgable participants should endeavor to do) is encourage viewing and discussion. For my part, I had Jeanne Dielman in my IMDb watchlist, but I have like 350 movies in there. It wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. And it’s not an “easy” movie. It’s 200 minutes, it’s slow, and it’s monotonous by design. But it’s brilliant in how it tells the story of Dielman (inspired by Akerman’s mother) and invites the viewer to sit with a woman who seeks iron-fisted control over the small rooms and unglamorous tasks the world has allowed her. It is not “entertaining”, but we then must ask, “Should cinema always be entertaining? Is entertainment—diversion, escapism, amusement—the highest value for this art form? And why do we ascribe that value here when we don’t require of it other art forms like paintings or novels?” In this way, Jeanne Dielman pushes the neophyte cinephile out of his or her comfort zone to reconsider the art form itself.

Some may not want cinema to do that. For some, the greatest achievement a film can achieve is both entertaining its audience while also making them think. That’s not an unfair request, but when you look at the Sight & Sound poll in its totality, you see how much cinema can be. I would even go further and argue that the good/bad, liked/disliked dichotomy weakens our appreciation for cinema. To apprise films on that level limits their value, and also runs into areas that diminishes what movies can be. If you love a movie and I explain to you all the reasons that it’s bad, what have I accomplished? Some might say that if we talk down enough “bad” movies then they’ll stop being made or elevate cultural taste, but I see no historical evidence for that.

Furthermore, I don’t see how groupthink with regards to art helps anyone. We’re not obliged to agree with anyone else’s taste on art; but we should find it in ourselves to at least give other perspectives a fair shake. To dismiss any change as “politically correct” and “woke” is a comfortable mind bristling at the notion that the world changes. The 2012 top selection, Vertigo (1958), is now at #2 and the top selection from 1962 - 2002, Citizen Kane (1941), now sits at #3. These movies have not been erased. They haven’t even been removed from the canon. Also, it’s not like Laura Mulvey is going to come to your house and beat you up if you think Jeanne Dielman is ranked too highly. A new canon has emerged and we should find that cause for excitement and enlightenment, not consternation and conflict.

And what would I pick as my Top 10? Well, if Sight & Sound ever invites me to participate, I’ll be sure to let you know…