Top Movies

[poliphilo]

Cahiers de Cinema- the prestigious French movie mag- which once published Godard, Truffaut, and the rest of their new wave chums- recently put out a list of the top 100 movies of all time. All such lists are silly, but this list, compiled by the great and good of the French film industry, is less silly than most. I disagree with many of it's choices, but I can see why they're there. And, as a sign that this is a morally serious list made by morally serious people, neither Star Wars nor Lord of the Rings makes the cut.

The British media decided it was all about us- and that the absence from the list of any British film was an insult to the national honour. I wasn't particularly upset.  British cinema has always been overshadowed by Hollywood- and our talent- everyone from Stan Laurel to Simon Pegg- tends to move West as soon as it's established itself.  Besides Charles Laughton (whose Night of the Hunter fills the #2 spot)  was English- and so were Hitchcock and Chaplin.

Still it's a little surprising that Powell and Pressburger were overlooked. Ditto Carol Reed's The Third Man.

All this is leading up to my own top ten. It's not in order of merit and most of the choices are a little provocative. When torn between two titles I've tended to go for the less well know.

1.  Winter Light:  Bergman.

I could have filled the list with Bergman. This represents him at his most concentrated and austere

2.   La Voie Lactee: Bunuel

A road movie about great Christian heresies. I love Bunuel. He's at the top of my list of famous, dead people I'd have liked to have met. It's a very short list. In fact-now I think about it-  there's only one name on it.

3.   La Dolce Vita: Fellini

Fellini at the top of his game, before he got fat and ugly.

4.   Celine et Julie Vont en Bateau: Rivette

Spooky, playful, wholly delightful. Girls just wanna have fun.

5.   F for Fake : Welles

His last film. A masterclass in editing. Every bit as brilliant and original as Citizen Kane.

6.   The Wild Bunch: Peckinpah

The greatest western by the greatest director of westerns. That final shoot out is just amazing.

7.    Being There: Ashby

Because I adore Peter Sellers and this is his best film.

8.    Weekend: Godard

In the movies anything is possible.

9.    A Canterbury Tale: Powell & Pressburger

Poetic, perverted, patriotic. It makes me cry.

10.  Les Enfants de Paradis: Carne

The film Balzac would have made. The French equivalent of Gone with the Wind- only so much better.

And one for the road:

11.  Late Spring: Ozu.

Because Ozu is God

Comments

[ryanstrong.livejournal.com]

Nice list. I've always tended to avoid these things, but this one's not bad at all. My personal favorite, M is pretty high, and that certainly helps my acceptance along.

Also, I agree %100 about F for Fake, easily my favorite Welles film, and so misguidedly overlooked.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't accept the popular view that Welles' career after Kane is a story of waste and decline. I think the later films are never less than fascinating- and several of them are masterpieces.

[ryanstrong.livejournal.com]

A Groucho Marxist might say that F For Fake is the Citizen Kane of Orson Welles films.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I like it!

[internet-sampo.livejournal.com]

F is for Fake is wonderful! Too bad it's so rarely seen.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

At least it's available on disc these days.

[manfalling.livejournal.com]

I watched the Milky Way by Bunuel once- I think cos you mentioned it here- and it just seemed like a bunch of stuff. Perhaps there were deep meanings to be extracted- but all I could think as I watched it was- 'when is something going to happen?' No story I could determine or now remember, seems very easy to make that kind of thing. If you don't mind defending its position: what was good about it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If you like that sort of thing, it's the sort of thing you like.

I just love the open-ended structure, the sense that anything could happen. It's arguably the movie where Bunuel comes closest to the Pythons. It's that sort of movie- a series of sketches- loosely strung together. I also like how it pokes fun at the Church. It's probably not Bunuel's masterpiece- others are tighter and funnier and historically more important- but I was asking myself which of his movies I'd most like to watch again- for fun- and this was it.

Good list

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

The problem with lists are that they are never entirely objective, that's what makes your top 10 your top 10. I once tried listing my top 100, still trying to narrow it down - it's hard to dismiss works by Kurosawa, Bergman, Ford, and such even when not at their very best.

Point in question - I can't agree with you the La Dolce Vita is Fellini at his best (for me La Strada, Nights of Cabiria) but how can you dismiss the piece?

I could rattle on for ages about just the 11 films you have listed, but mercifully won't. Just say that you have listed two of my very favourites;
Les Enfants du Paradis and The Wild Bunch (was Peckinpah the greatest Western director? Love Ride The High Country. Excellent as he was, give me Ford at his best - The Searchers, Stagecoach).

Interesting list.

Re: Good list

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Fellini had a great run through the 50s and 60s. Almost anyhing he made between The White Sheik and Amarcord would be a plausible choice.

I love Ford too. He wasn't far off making the cut. My choice would have been Fort Apache.

[sovay]

All this is leading up to my own top ten. It's not in order of merit and most of the choices are a little provocative.

So noted. Two of them I love and another three have been on my list to see for years; I will take your advice.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I scan the Cahiers list and there are lots of films on it I've not yet seen.

So many great movies, so little time.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

You might like the blog entry here, that talks about Dolce Vita and Bergman:

http://colinmarshall.livejournal.com/283279.html

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. I'm friending Colin Marshall. He's good!

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like his stuff. If you like Japanese movies, you're in for a treat!