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''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
published by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
(BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time.


History and content

''Sight and Sound'' was first published in Spring 1932 as "A quarterly review of modern aids to learning published under the auspices of the British Institute of Adult Education". In 1934, management of the magazine was handed to the nascent
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
(BFI), which still publishes the magazine today. ''Sight and Sound'' was published quarterly for most of its history until the early 1990s, apart from a brief run as a monthly publication in the early 1950s, but in 1991 it merged with another BFI publication, the ''
Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...
'', and started to appear monthly. In 1949, Gavin Lambert, co-founder of film journal ''
Sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...
'', was hired as the editor, and also brought with him ''Sequence'' editor Penelope Houston as assistant editor as well as co-founders and future film directors
Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered fo ...
and
Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Satur ...
. Lambert edited the journal until 1956, with Houston taking over as editor until 1990. Philip Dodd became the editor following the merging of ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' with Nick James taking over in 1997. James was editor until August 2019. It is currently edited by Mike Williams. The magazine reviews all film releases each month, including those with a limited ( art house) release, as opposed to most film magazines which concentrate on those films with a general release. ''Sight and Sound'' has in the past been the subject of criticism, notably from Raymond Durgnat, who often accused it of elitism, puritanism and snobbery, although he did write for it in the 1950s, and again in the 1990s. Until 2020, the magazine's American counterpart was ''
Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film ...
'', a magazine that was published by the
Film Society of Lincoln Center Film at Lincoln Center (FLC), previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a nonprofit organization based in New York Cit ...
in New York City.


The ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time

Since 1952, ''Sight and Sound'' has conducted a decennial poll to determine the
greatest films of all time This is a list of films voted the best in national and international Opinion poll, surveys of Film criticism, critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Electoral system, Voti ...
. Until 1992, the votes of the invited critics and directors were compiled in one list; since 1992, directors have been invited to participate in a separate poll. The ''Sight and Sound'' poll has come to be regarded as the most important of the "greatest ever film" lists. The critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies—the only one most serious movie people take seriously." ''Sight and Sound'' first ran the poll in 1952 following publication earlier in the year of a list of the Top Ten Films, headed by '' Battleship Potemkin'', based on a poll of mostly directors conducted by the committee of the Festival Mondial du Film et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. Following publication of that poll, ''Sight and Sound'' decided to poll film critics for their choices and announced the results in their next issue. 85 critics from Britain, France, the United States, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were asked but only 63 responded including
Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered fo ...
, Lotte H. Eisner,
Curtis Harrington Gene Curtis Harrington (September 17, 1926 – May 6, 2007) was an American film and television director whose work included experimental films and horror films. He is considered one of the forerunners of New Queer Cinema. Life and career ...
,
Henri Langlois Henri Langlois (; 13 November 1914 – 13 January 1977) was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema. His film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often ...
, Friedrich Luft, Claude Mauriac, Dilys Powell, Jean Queval,
Terry Ramsaye Terry Ramsaye (November 2, 1885, Tonganoxie, Kansas – August 19, 1954, Norwalk, Connecticut) was a journalist, film producer and film historian, the author of ''A Million and One Nights: A History of the Motion Picture hrough 1925' (New Yor ...
,
Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Satur ...
, G. W. Stonier (under the name William Whitebait) and Archer Winsten. Most critics found the question unfair. The first poll was topped by ''
Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' (), also known as ''The Bicycle Thief'', is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which h ...
'' with 25 out of 63 votes and contained six
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s. The five subsequent polls (1962–2002) were won by ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'' (which finished 13th in 1952). For the 2012 poll, ''Sight and Sound'' listened to decades of criticism about the lack of diversity of its poll participants and made a huge effort to invite a much wider variety of critics and filmmakers from around the world to participate, taking into account gender, ethnicity, race, geographical region, socioeconomic status, and other kinds of underrepresentation. The list of people polled for the critics' poll expanded significantly from 145 to 846 and also included programmers, curators, archivists, film historians and other academics for the first time. Following the change, ''Citizen Kane'' only received the second highest number of votes, with ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
'' receiving the most. The directors' poll also expanded from 108 to 358 directors and ''
Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...
'' received the most votes with ''Citizen Kane'' receiving the joint second-most together with '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. In 2022, the number of people polled for the critics' poll increased even further from 846 to 1,639 and ''
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, and f ...
'' received the most votes, the first film to be directed by a woman to top the list. ''Vertigo'' received the second most and ''Citizen Kane'' third. Nearly 4,000 different films received at least one mention. ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' topped the directors' poll for the first time in 2022 with ''Citizen Kane'' in second place and ''Tokyo Story'' in joint fourth together with ''Jeanne Dielman''. Among the directors that participated were
Julie Dash Julie Ethel Dash (born October 22, 1952) is an American filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author, and website producer. Dash received her Master of Fine Arts, MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmm ...
,
Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Inde ...
, Lynne Ramsay,
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
and
Apichatpong Weerasethakul Apichatpong Weerasethakul (; ; , born 16 July 1970) is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, film producer and Professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Apichatpong h ...
. ''La Règle du Jeu ( The Rules of the Game)'' appeared in the first seven of the magazine's decennial polls; ''Citizen Kane'' has appeared in the last seven.


Critics' Top Ten Poll


1952

  1. ''
    Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' (), also known as ''The Bicycle Thief'', is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which h ...
    '' (25 mentions)
  2. ''
    City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American synchronized sound film, sound romance film, romantic comedy drama, comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a ...
    '' and ''
    The Gold Rush ''The Gold Rush'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his The Tramp, Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray (actor), Tom Murray, Henry Ber ...
    '' (19 mentions)
  3. '' Battleship Potemkin'' (16 mentions)
  4. ''
    Intolerance Intolerance may refer to: * Hypersensitivity or intolerance, undesirable reactions produced by the immune system * ''Intolerance'' (film), a 1916 film by D. W. Griffith * ''Intolerance'' (album), the first solo album from Grant Hart, formerly ...
    '' and '' Louisiana Story'' (12 mentions)
  5. ''
    Greed Greed (or avarice, ) is an insatiable desire for material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions) or social value, such as status or power. Nature of greed The initial motivation for (or purpose of) greed and a ...
    '', '' The Passion of Joan of Arc'' and ''
    Le Jour Se Lève ''Le jour se lève'' (, "The day rises"; also known as ''Daybreak'') is a 1939 French film directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert, based on a story by Jacques Viot. It is considered one of the principal examples of the French ...
    '' (11 mentions)
  6. '' Le Million'', '' The Rules of the Game'' and ''
    Brief Encounter ''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British Romance film#Romantic drama, romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life (play), Still Life''. The film stars Celia Johnson and ...
    '' (10 mentions)
Closest runners-up: ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'', ''
La Grande Illusion ''La Grande Illusion'' (French for "The Grand Illusion") is a 1937 French war drama film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who ...
'', and ''
The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
''. (9 mentions apiece)


1962

  1. ''Citizen Kane'' (22 mentions)
  2. ''
    L'Avventura ''L'Avventura'' () is a 1960 drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Developed from a story by Antonioni with co-writers Elio Bartolini and Tonino Guerra, the film is about the disappearance of a young woman ( Lea Massari) during a boat ...
    '' (20 mentions)
  3. ''The Rules of the Game'' (19 mentions)
  4. ''Greed'' and '' Ugetsu'' (17 mentions)
  5. ''Battleship Potemkin'', ''
    Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...
    '' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (16 mentions)
  6. '' La Terra Trema'' (14 mentions)
  7. ''
    L'Atalante ''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon. After the difficult release of his controversial sho ...
    '' (13 mentions)
Closest runners-up: '' Hiroshima mon amour'', and '' Zero for Conduct''. (11 mentions apiece) The number of silent films on the list dropped from six to two. Films directed by
Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...
received the most votes with 46, followed by
Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered ...
with 43 and
Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...
with 35.


1972

  1. ''Citizen Kane'' (32 mentions)
  2. ''The Rules of the Game'' (28 mentions)
  3. ''Battleship Potemkin'' (16 mentions)
  4. ''
    8½ ''8½'' ( ) is a 1963 Italian avant-garde arthouse comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on famous Italian film director Guido Anselmi ( Marcello Mastroianni) who suffers from writer ...
    '' (15 mentions)
  5. ''L'Avventura'' and ''
    Persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
    '' (12 mentions)
  6. ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'' (11 mentions)
  7. '' The General'' and ''
    The Magnificent Ambersons ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington, the second in his ''Growth'' trilogy after '' The Turmoil'' (1915) and before ''The Midlander'' (1923, retitled ''National Avenue'' in 1927). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fict ...
    '' (10 mentions)
  8. ''Ugetsu'' and ''Wild Strawberries'' (9 mentions)
Closest runners-up: ''The Gold Rush'', ''Hiroshima mon amour'', '' Ikiru'', ''Ivan the Terrible'', '' Pierrot le Fou'', and ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
''. (8 mentions apiece) Films directed by
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
received the most votes with 46 votes followed by
Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...
with 41 and
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
with 37.


1982

  1. ''Citizen Kane'' (45 mentions)
  2. ''The Rules of the Game'' (31 mentions)
  3. ''
    Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai action film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Taking place in 1586 in the Sengoku period of Japanese history, it follows the story of a villag ...
    '' and ''
    Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...
    '' (15 mentions)
  4. ''8½'' (14 mentions)
  5. ''Battleship Potemkin'' (13 mentions)
  6. ''L'Avventura'', ''The Magnificent Ambersons'', and ''Vertigo'' (12 mentions)
  7. ''The General'' and ''
    The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...
    '' (11 mentions)
Closest runners-up: '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and ''
Andrei Rublev Andrei Rublev (, ; ) was a Russian artist considered to be one of the greatest medieval Russian painters of Orthodox Christian icons and frescoes. He is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 29 January. Ear ...
''. (10 mentions apiece)


1992

  1. ''Citizen Kane'' (43 mentions)
  2. ''The Rules of the Game'' (32 mentions)
  3. ''
    Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...
    '' (22 mentions)
  4. ''Vertigo'' (18 mentions)
  5. ''The Searchers'' (17 mentions)
  6. ''Battleship Potemkin'', ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'', ''L'Atalante'' and (15 mentions)
  7. ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (14 mentions)
Closest runners-up: ''Bicycle Thieves'' and ''Singin' in the Rain''. (10 mentions apiece)


2002

  1. ''Citizen Kane'' (46 mentions)
  2. ''Vertigo'' (41 mentions)
  3. ''The Rules of the Game'' (30 mentions)
  4. ''
    The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
    '' and ''
    The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic film, epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cop ...
    '' (23 mentions)
  5. ''Tokyo Story'' (22 mentions)
  6. ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (21 mentions)
  7. ''Battleship Potemkin'' and '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' (19 mentions)
  8. ''8½'' (18 mentions)
  9. ''Singin' in the Rain'' (17 mentions)
Closest runners-up: ''Seven Samurai'' and ''The Searchers''. (15 mentions apiece)


2012

A new rule was imposed for this ballot: related films that are considered part of a larger whole (e.g. ''The Godfather'' and ''The Godfather Part II'',
Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...
's '' Three Colors trilogy'' and ''
Dekalog ''Dekalog'' (, also known as ''Dekalog: The Ten Commandments'' and ''The Decalogue'') is a 1989 Polish drama television miniseries directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbigni ...
'', or
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...
's ''
The Apu Trilogy ''The Apu Trilogy'' is a celebrated series of three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: ''Pather Panchali'' (1955), ''Aparajito'' (1956) and ''The World of Apu'' (1959). The trilogy's evocative score was composed by Rav ...
'') were to be treated as separate films for voting purposes.
  1. ''Vertigo'' (191 mentions)
  2. ''Citizen Kane'' (157 mentions)
  3. ''Tokyo Story'' (107 mentions)
  4. ''The Rules of the Game'' (100 mentions)
  5. ''Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' (93 mentions)
  6. ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (90 mentions)
  7. ''The Searchers'' (78 mentions)
  8. '' Man with a Movie Camera'' (68 mentions)
  9. ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'' (65 mentions)
  10. ''8½'' (64 mentions)
Closest runner-up: ''Battleship Potemkin''. (63 mentions)


2022

The participants in this poll nearly doubled to 1,639. Chantal Akerman became the first woman director to top the poll with her 1975 film ''
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, and f ...
''. The poll reflected greater diversity than previously, with films by black filmmakers increasing from one in 2012 to seven in 2022, and from two to eleven, by female filmmakers.
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' topped the directors' poll, in which 480 directors took part.
  1. ''
    Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, and f ...
    '' (215 votes)
  2. ''Vertigo'' (208 votes)
  3. ''Citizen Kane'' (163 votes)
  4. ''Tokyo Story'' (144 votes)
  5. ''
    In the Mood for Love ''In the Mood for Love'' () is a 2000 romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Wong Kar-wai. A co-production between Hong Kong and France, the film follows a man ( Tony Leung) and a woman ( Maggie Cheung) in 1962 who discover tha ...
    '' (141 votes)
  6. ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (130 votes)
  7. ''
    Beau Travail ''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Jean-Pol Fargeau, an adaptation of the novella ''Billy Budd'' by Herman Melville. The story is set in Djibouti, wh ...
    '' (106 votes)
  8. '' Mulholland Drive'' (105 votes)
  9. ''Man with a Movie Camera'' (100 votes)
  10. ''Singin' in the Rain'' (99 votes)
Closest runner-up: ''Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans''


Directors' Top Ten Poll


1992

  1. ''
    Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
    '' (30 votes)
  2. ''
    8½ ''8½'' ( ) is a 1963 Italian avant-garde arthouse comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on famous Italian film director Guido Anselmi ( Marcello Mastroianni) who suffers from writer ...
    '', ''
    Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto (in his final film role). The film ...
    '' (16 votes)
  3. ''
    La Strada ''La Strada'', also translated into English as ''The Road'', is a 1954 Italian Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomin ...
    '' (12)
  4. ''
    L'Atalante ''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon. After the difficult release of his controversial sho ...
    '' (11)
  5. ''
    The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
    '', ''Modern Times'', ''Vertigo'' (10 votes)
  6. ''
    The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic film, epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cop ...
    '', '' The Passion of Joan of Arc'', ''
    Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura, it follows various people who describe how a ...
    '', ''
    Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai action film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Taking place in 1586 in the Sengoku period of Japanese history, it follows the story of a villag ...
    '' (9 votes)


2002

  1. ''Citizen Kane'' (42 mentions)
  2. ''The Godfather'' and ''The Godfather Part II'' (28 mentions)
  3. ''8½'' (19 mentions)
  4. '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (16 mentions)
  5. '' Dr. Strangelove'' (14 mentions)
  6. ''
    Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' (), also known as ''The Bicycle Thief'', is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which h ...
    '', ''
    Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto (in his final film role). The film ...
    '', ''Vertigo'' (13 mentions)
  7. ''Rashomon'', '' The Rules of the Game'', ''Seven Samurai'' (12 mentions)


2012

  1. ''
    Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...
    '' (48 mentions)
  2. '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (42 mentions)
  3. ''
    Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
    '' (42 mentions)
  4. ''
    8½ ''8½'' ( ) is a 1963 Italian avant-garde arthouse comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on famous Italian film director Guido Anselmi ( Marcello Mastroianni) who suffers from writer ...
    '' (40 mentions)
  5. ''
    Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
    '' (34 mentions)
  6. ''
    Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
    '' (33 mentions)
  7. ''
    The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
    '', ''Vertigo'' (31 mentions)
  8. ''
    Mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...
    '' (30 mentions)
  9. ''
    Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' (), also known as ''The Bicycle Thief'', is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which h ...
    '' (29 mentions)


2022

  1. ''2001: A Space Odyssey''
  2. ''Citizen Kane''
  3. ''The Godfather''
  4. ''Tokyo Story''; ''
    Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, and f ...
    ''
  5. ''Vertigo'', ''8½''
  6. ''Mirror''
  7. ''
    Persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
    '', ''
    In the Mood for Love ''In the Mood for Love'' () is a 2000 romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Wong Kar-wai. A co-production between Hong Kong and France, the film follows a man ( Tony Leung) and a woman ( Maggie Cheung) in 1962 who discover tha ...
    '', ''
    Close-Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...
    ''


The Greatest Directors of All Time

This list was put together by assembling the directors of the individual films that the critics and the directors polled voted for. 2002 was the only year ''Sight & Sound'' compiled the list.


Critics' Top Ten Poll


2002

  1. Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
  2. Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
  3. Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
  4. Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...
  5. Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
  6. Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
  7. Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...
  8. John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
  9. Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...
  10. Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
  11. Yasujiro Ozu


Directors' Top Ten Poll


2002

  1. Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
  2. Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...
  3. Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
  4. Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
  5. Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
  6. Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
  7. Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...
  8. Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
  9. David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...
  10. Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...
  11. Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...


Greatest Documentaries of All Time


2014

  1. '' Man with a Movie Camera'' (100 votes)
  2. ''
    Shoah The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
    '' (68 votes)
  3. ''
    Sans Soleil ''Sans Soleil'' (; "Sunless") is a 1983 French documentary film directed by Chris Marker. It is a meditation on the nature of human memory, showing the inability to recall the context and nuances of memory, and how, as a result, the perception of ...
    '' (62 votes)
  4. '' Night and Fog'' (56 votes)
  5. '' The Thin Blue Line'' (49 votes)
  6. ''
    Chronique d'un été ''Chronicle of a Summer'' (French original title: ''Chronique d'un été'') is a 1961 French documentary film shot during the summer of 1960 by sociologist Edgar Morin and anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch, with the technical and aesthetic c ...
    '' (32 votes)
  7. '' Nanook of the North'' (31 votes)
  8. '' The Gleaners and I'' (27 votes)
  9. '' Dont Look Back'' (25 votes)
  10. '' Grey Gardens'' (25 mentions)


Greatest film books

In 2010, ''Sight and Sound'' conducted a poll to find the greatest book written on film. *First place: David Thomson's '' The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'' (1975)'' *Second place:
Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...
's '' Notes on the Cinematographer'' (1975),
Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...
's ''The American Cinema'' (1968), and
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
's '' Hitchcock/Truffaut'' (1966) *Fifth place:
André Bazin André Bazin (; 18 April 1918 – 11 November 1958) was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist. He started to write about movies in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951 ...
's ''What is Cinema?'' (1958–1962)


See also

* ''Cahiers du Cinéma''s Annual Top Ten Films * ''Empire'' magazine * ''The Film Daily'' annual critics' poll *
List of film periodicals Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...
*
List of films considered the best This is a list of films voted the best in national and international Opinion poll, surveys of Film criticism, critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Electoral system, Voti ...


References


Further reading

*Pam Cook and Philip Dodd (eds): ''Women and Film. A Sight and Sound Reader'', London: Scarlet Press, 1994, 287 pp. *Jacqueline Louviot: ''Le regard de ''Sight and Sound'' sur le cinéma britannique des années 50 et 60'' (What ''Sight and Sound'' Saw: ''Sight and Sound'' on British Cinema during the Fifties and Sixties), French doctoral thesis,
University of Strasbourg II The University Marc Bloch, also known as Strasbourg II or UMB, was a university in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. As of 2006, it had around 13,000 students. Its name used to be ''Université des Sciences Humaines'' (University of Social Sciences), bu ...
, 1997, 980 pp. *David Wilson (ed): ''Sight and Sound. A Fiftieth Anniversary Selection'', London:
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
in association with BFI Publishing, 1982, 327 pp.


External links


Official website

''Sight & Sound'' 1932–1995
at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

"Listomania! Why we love best-films lists"
BFI, July 2012
"The Greatest Films of All Time" results
September 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sight and Sound 1932 establishments in the United Kingdom British Film Institute Film magazines published in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1932 Magazines published in London Lists of films