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Movie Talk / Re: Sight and Sound 2022 Poll (The Greatest Films of All Time)
« Last post by matbezlima on Today at 05:01:57 PM »The director's poll is way better. There's a trend with Sight & Sound Critics to avoid the usual suspects because S&S posts everyone’s lists, so they use it as an opportunity to show how distinct they are with idiosyncratic choices. Why waste a spot on Casablanca when you can be the one who stands out by selecting Mandy.
They are both completely unrelated with what I would call a great film.
Both lists are fine. It's impossible to fit all tastes.
Art is very subjective, not objective, and a lot of art, including some I love, is made for very specific niches and don't appeal to the mainstream (nothing wrong with niche and mainstream, obviously). I never understand such outrage over any list, it feels arrogant. These lists are good as an example of the sheer breadth of diversity in world cinema across its history, not as an absolute measure of greatest films because that doesn't make sense with how subjective and diverse artistic visions and different interests are. With an open mind, one can explore what interests and intrigues them the most, and slowly figure out their own preferences, though without ever burning bridges with things outside their interests, and always being respectful and appreciative of the films and fans outside the sphere of one's own interests and passions. All of this is also one of the reasons why nothing is overrated or underrated.
I carry to life Anton Ego's philosophy from Ratatouille: "even the worst piece of junk may be more meaningful than our criticism designating it so". I always advocate for maximum diversity and artistic expression in this world! I really like the 1973 french sci-fi animated film Fantastic Planet, but it's definitely not for everyone, and there is nothing wrong with that (as if there was art that is truly for everyone).
Maybe recent politics affected too much the decisions of some people (like Get Out being in the Top 100 due to BLM perhaps), but this is impossible to quantify. Besides, it's not like S&S has very rigorous criteria: they say that the 10 films you vote are the ten greatest films for you, and what this even means is also entirely up to you. Some people might vote for what they see as "objective" greatest. Others for their personal favorites. And every possible in-between case. Narrowing down favorite films to just 10 is an impossible task.
I've seen people saying that directors like Howard Hawks are, among the group of most acclaimed directors in cinema history, the ones that bite the bullet the hardest because they are from having a consensual masterpiece, they have many different films that many fans would make the case as their favorite by Hawks, so they all bite the bullet. By the way, Rio Bravo was in 101st place, Hawks missed the Top 100 by so little.
I think it's a testament to how much Hitchcock is beloved that even with such a vast filmography that also splits fans among many different films, he still manages to always put four films in the Top 100!
With The Godfather by Coppola being in the Top 20, while Part 2 isn't even in the Top 100, I think it's possible that many voters tried to prevent a scenario of both films splitting votes, and they might have made the safe vote for The Godfather even if they prefer Part 2.
Just as there are many people who complain about recency bias in some films in the list, there are just as many people, if not more, who have complained for ages how conservative S&S lists are. Historically, not much more than 100 people were allowed. In 2012, the number jumped to over 800. And in the 2022 poll, it's now over 1600! There are many people hailing the current list as exciting for finally introducing more recent films, 21st century films.
Ultimately, this goes to show how taking any list as an objective measure of greatness in art, specially in something like art, which is much more subjective than objective, is a futile and frustrating effort, it only leads to anger. Let's take these lists as a celebration of the sheer diversity of the artform in its history, regardless if they are all my favorites or not.
I would never be able to choose just 10 films to submit to this poll. This whole poll should be seen as a fun exercise and celebration of the medium's diversity. "Greatest" is so subjective. People are often moved by different things.
What I take away from this poll is happiness at finally seeing animated films in the Top 100!
