Making meatloaf, a potential metaphor for what Sight & Sound has done.

So the new decennial Sight & Sound list of the 100 greatest films ever made—as chosen by critics and filmmakers from around the world—has been released, and, surprise surprise, it's been causing a bit of controversy. More than usual, actually.

For most of its history, the S&S list was just a Top 10 list (allowing for ties), and for about half a century its No. 1 movie was “Citizen Kane.” Things began to shift last go-round in 2012. That's when S&S went to 100 films; and that's when Orson Welles' “Kane” was overtaken by Hitchcock's “Vertigo.”

Now “Vertigo” itself has been overtaken. The new greatest film of all time is ... drumroll ... “Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles”! Ta da!!

If you're going, “Wait, what?” you're not alone. A Belgian film released in 1975, “Jeanne Dielman” first made the list in 2012, placing 35th. So how did it get to No. 1 so fast?

Harvey Weinstein, you could argue.

The director of “Jeanne Dielman” is Chantal Akerman, a woman, and between 2012 and 2022 #MeToo happened, along with the scramble to right historic wrongs. Maybe this is one of those. Critics and filmmakers looked for a great film by a woman director, and this was the highest-ranking one on the previous list. And boom. 

The new ranking is rankling (yes) some critics and filmmakers. To them, it stinks of identity politics rather than aesthetics. Welles and Hitchcock may have had the opportunity to do what they did because they were white and male, but nobody voted for either film because of those facts. They voted for them for what the film was, not for what the filmmaker was.

The irony is that without a century of sexism “Jeanne Dielman” almost certainly wouldn't be ranked No. 1. There would be way more competition from other female directors. But there isn't, and so there it is. Claire Denis' “Beau Travail,” 78th in 2012, also made the Top 10.

Here's a comparison of the two most recent Top 10 lists, with newbies highlighted:

Funny (and fun!) seeing “Singin' in the Rain” among the newbies. 

Which top 10ers were displaced? These, and this is where they wound up:

• Sunrise: 11th
• La Regle du jeu: 13th
• The Searchers: 15th
• The Passion of Joan of Arc: 21st
• 8 1/2: 31st

And as for some of my favorites?

• Casablanca: 63rd-T
• The Third Man: 63rd-T
• Seven Samurai: 20th
• The Godfather: 12th
• The Godfather II: Didn't make it (31st in 2012)
• Chinatown: Didn't make it (78th in 2012, but this time no Polanski)
• Jaws: Didn't make it (no Spielberg)
• Annie Hall: Didn't make it (no Allen)
• The Thin Red Line: Didn't make it (no Malick)
• The Insider: Didn't make it (no Mann)
• Un Prophet: Didn't make it (no Audiard)

At least the new list has given me some movies to watch. Maybe.

FURTHER READING:

• The Sight & Sound 2022 list
• The Sight & Sound 2012 list
• A great interactive feature from The New York Times detailing a lot of this history
• How Sight & Sound might've gamed the system