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1 year ago
Lists of Greatness
I have to admit it, I’m obsessed with movies. I’ve seen at least 400 of them in my short lifetime and know trivia facts about almost all of them. The definition of a movie buff, I will correct wrong quotes, comment on various knowledge while watching films, and immediately understand references both in and out of films.
The question remains, then, how do I find new movies to watch? Generally, I tend to enjoy classic and modern “masterpieces” the best – films that have, for some reason or another, been added to a list of “the best” in various categories. And here in lies my question: who decides what movies are the “best,” why, and (most importantly) are these decisions accurate or even pertinent?
Perhaps the largest offender of listing greatness is the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest American films. This list was released twice, the second having some deletions and some additions. Overall there are 123 films movie buffs could dedicate their lives to seeing (as of this writing I had seen 35). In looking over the list it seems like an accurate snapshot of film, until you read the requirements films must meet to even be considered for the list.
To be considered, films must be at least 40 minutes long, must be in the English language, must have received formal commendation in print, must have won a major award, must have high monetary income, and must have strong historical and cultural impact. What? How can you even judge films on these criteria? Many amazing films never won any awards, or never did well in the box office. Still more are never formally recognized. Even further, granted this is a list of the best American films, but is it even pertinent to make a list which eliminates all foreign or alternative language films?
For many of these reasons (and rightly so) the AFI lists have been heavily criticized. Even past the stringent criteria, critics have pointed out that not all the films are even American (for example, Lawrence of Arabia, which is British), and that almost all the films were directed by white males, regardless of the actual proportion of female and ethnically colored directors who have made important or fascinating films. As a result, many of these critics have made their own lists of the “best” films of all time. Even these lists are skewed, however, as many of them disregard foreign films and less than mainstream masterpieces.
The AFI list and its competitors are the most prestigious of lists, but people across the globe have attempted to list other films worthy of viewing by a vast proportion of people. Summaries of cult classics are other popular lists, mentioning the films many consider classic despite their underground status. Along with this list often comes lists of genres: the best Zombie films (dominated by George A. Romero), The best Slasher films (dominated by the 1980s) or the best Gangster films (dominated by the Godfather series). These films hone in on what might interest a viewer, allowing fanaticism to reign. Lists of the best foreign films, often extensive and unbelievably long, are also made. Yet each of these lists still fall short, still managing to leave out films many would consider “best” of all time.
In the end, many would say that it is the combination of all these films that allow a full bodied appreciation of films. This is perhaps the most accurate way to approach lists of anything, in fact. One list alone can never be sufficient in any category, whether it be literature, music, film, or anything else.
And so, in my constant search for more and better films to see, I rely on these lists, no matter how flawed they are. In a world so vast as film, it is near impossible to choose from the pool of millions. True, lists are flawed and sometimes plain inaccurate, but by approaching them as a blueprint meant only to create jumping point for a multitude of masterpieces, any viewer can become well versed in the land of film.
-mother-
PS: here’s the AFI original list, if you were interested:
1 Citizen Kane
2 Casablanca
3 The Godfather
4 Gone With the Wind
5 Lawrence of Arabia
6 The Wizard of Oz
7 The Graduate
8 On the Waterfront
9 Schindler’s List
10 Singin’ in the Rain
11 It’s a Wonderful Life
12 Sunset Boulevard
13 The Bridge On River Kwai
14 Some Like it Hot
15 Star Wars
16 All About Eve
17 The African Queen
18 Psycho
19 Chinatown
20 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
21 The Grapes of Wrath
22 2001: A Space Odyssey
23 The Maltese Falcon
24 Raging Bull
25 E.T the Extra Terrestrial
26 Dr. Strangelove
27 Bonnie and Clyde
28 Apocalypse Now
29 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
30 The Treasure of Sierra Madre
31 Annie Hall
32 The Godfather Part II
33 High Noon
34 To Kill a Mockingbird
35 It Happened One Night
36 Midnight Cowboy
37 The Best Years of Our Lives
38 Double Idemntity
39 Doctor Zhivago
40 North by Northwest
41 West Side Story
42 Rear Window
43 King Kong
44 The Birth of a Nation
45 A Streetcar Named Desire
46 A Clockwork Orange
47 Taxi Driver
48 Jaws
49 Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
50 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
51 The Philadelphia Story
52 From Here to Eternity
53 Amadeus
54 All Quiet on the Western Front
55 The Sound of Music
56 M*A*S*H
57 The Third Man
58 Fantasia
59 Rebel Without a Cause
60 Raiders of the Lost Ark
61 Vertigo
62 Tootsie
63 Stagecoach
64 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
65 The Silence of the Lambs
66 Network
67 The Manchurian Candidate
68 An American in Paris
69 Shane
70 The French Connection
71 Forrest Gump
72 Ben-Hur
73 Wuthering Heights
74 The Gold Rush
75 Dances With Wolves
76 City Lights
77 American Graffiti
78 Rocky
79 The Deer Hunter
80 The Wild Bunch
81 Modern Times
82 Giant
83 Platoon
84 Fargo
85 Duck Soup
86 Mutiny on the Bounty
87 Frankenstein
88 Easy Rider
89 Patton
90 The Jazz Singer
91 My Fair lady
92 A Place in the Sun
93 The Apartment
94 Goodfellas
95 Pulp Fiction
96 The Searchers
97 Bringing Up Baby
98 Unforgiven
99 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
100 Yankee Doodle Dandy
Notes
Simply call me mother. I'll teach you well.
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