How the directors and critics voted

Manohla Dargis
Los Angeles Times
US

Top Ten

  1. Au hasard Balthazar (Bresson)
  2. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
  3. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II (Coppola)
  4. La Grande Illusion (Renoir)
  5. Masculin Féminin (Godard)
  6. The Puppetmaster (Hou)
  7. Scenes from under Childhood (Brakhage)
  8. Some Like It Hot (Wilder)
  9. Tokyo Story (Ozu)
  10. Touch of Evil (Welles)

Comments

In picking these ten, I have tried to be as honest as I can, choosing movies that I feel are 'perfect', at least for me. Almost all of my top ten have made me cry, sometimes a lot; one has even made me cry laughing (Some Like It Hot, naturally). I've seen most of them at least several times (a few I've seen far more times), and I could watch all of them again and again. Two, three, four minutes earlier my list included Belle de jour, Sauve qui peut (la vie), Flowers of Shanghai, His Girl Friday, Killer of Sheep, Little Stabs at Happiness, The Wizard of Oz, La Règle du jeu, Sátántangó, Sunrise and Way Down East.

Last Updated: 03 Aug 2011