Sight and Sound list of the 250 greatest films of all time

Being in a strong Sunday mood, I sat down to dig up the infamous Sight and Sound list of the 250 greatest films of all time, as voted by 1639 critics/curators/academics etc., which just a few weeks ago the historical magazine of the British Film Institute uploaded to its site

source

I won't say anything about the promotion of Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman to No. 1, from where it displaced the usual suspects Vertigo and Citizen Kane, after we had said it on various occasions about the wave of male cinephile defense (even hysteria) against breaking news last December.
At the time, cool backlash said the vote was "skewed" (lol) by including more young film professionals, as well as more women, queer people and non-whites. Of course, the logical fallacy here is that the reactionaries took the differences of the recent list from that of 2012 as the result of a deliberate change in the demographic composition of voters, failing to see that this new, more diverse composition is itself the result of a (positive obviously) historical process that has brought about wider changes in the film industry over the past decade.
What for them was presented as a scandal, is in fact only a symptom, nothing more. And indeed, it was only natural that it should happen. Young professionals in the field have different characteristics than the white male monopoly that characterized the industry for decades, and it was unfortunate that this was reflected in some of the choices on the list.
In some ways, then, it is indeed quite a millennial list. But while Jeanne Dielman's debut has an element of capturing a political-cultural shift, it would be a mistake to assume that the list as a whole is a presumption of youthful impudence, audacity and questioning of the cinematic status quo.
There are of course some choices that emerge from a genealogical reading of the list, but overall, looking at the entire top-250 now, I'd say the poll is pretty traditional as a whole, and most of the medium's sacred cows were left untouched.
In other words, the cinematic canon doesn't seem to be in much danger, you can continue to sleep easy. It's just interspersed with some diverse options. The significant difference from 2012 to 2022 is that in this decade the pace at which these options have entered has been breakneck. In this sense, do not tell you that I expected an even more iconoclastic mood.
Anyway, all that matters little now, because these kinds of scandals are usually forgotten as quickly as they break out, moving at the digital speed of the cultural movement they otherwise denounce, sadly leaving nothing behind in terms of meaningful dialogue. and analysis in the public sphere.
So let's get to the movies, because basically I'm here to say a few things about the content of the list itself:
Something that made a particularly positive impression on me, and I think it was a result of the millennial vote, is the increase in sci-fi and horror titles. I was very happy that we had two Cronenbergs (Videodrome at 243 and Crash at 225), and I was happy with Suspiria (211), The Thing (118), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (118), Don't Look Now (114) and Matrix (122 ). Come on and next time in the top 100 I hope.
I was also impressed with the very high number that Powell and Pressburger's films maintained on this list as well. Six of their films in total within 250: Canterbury Tale (243), Colonel Blimp (196), Red Shoes (67), Black Narcissus (169), I Know Where I'm Going (196), A Matter of Life and Death ( 78). If I counted correctly, they have the most entries on the list, tied with Hitchcock. We are of course talking about great movies, A Matter of Life and Death is also in my personal top-100, and certainly the British nature of the magazine favors them, but I was still impressed.
Another millennial influence on the list I believe is the upgrade in appreciation for Lynch, who appears with 4 titles on the list: Mulholland Drive (8), Blue Velvet (84), Twin Peaks: The Return (152), and Twin Peaks : Fire Walk with Me (211). I'm sad that Lost Highway, a personal favorite of mine, is missing, but I'm happy with the preference for the underrated Fire Walk with Me.
I was also impressed by the inclusion of three Lucrecia Martel films in the top-250. I love her a lot as a director, but I sure didn't expect to find Zama (196) and Headless Woman (196) and La Cienaga (136) in there. Given how few filmmakers have three of their films on the list, I definitely find that an exaggeration but oh well.
A more substantial objection, and I'm certainly not alone in this, I have with Sampariliview of extremely recent films, i.e. titles that have been released in the last 5-6 years. I don't necessarily object to their content, as the likes of Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (30) and Petite Maman (225) are certainly among my personal favorites of the 21st century so far, but I feel it is necessary a little more time to appreciate their value. I'm even more concerned about Parasite (90) and Get Out (95), which were certainly instrumental in shaping the modern film climate, but I find their inclusion on the list too hasty.
The top-250 has two Cassavetes films: Love Streams (185) and A Woman Under the Influence (114), which makes me happy. This. I wish it had a little more Herzog, Fassbinder and Visconti, out of personal preference. In the positive surprises I definitely also put Pink Flamingos (211), Born in Flames (243) and Orlando (157).
Were there any bad movies on the list? There are certainly some that don't mean anything to me personally, I think the only one I found absurd to be there was Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, a film quite superficial in my opinion, post-adolescent in the sense of pretending to be deep, and by a director who has a masterpiece like The Master on his hands, which very well could and should be on the list instead of Magnolia.
Obviously I, like any of us, would make a very different top-250, but the absences that really struck me and seem unjustified beyond personal taste are: firstly Huston and Lumet, secondly Wajda and by Kalatozov, and in a third by Coen and Haneke.

https://www.bfi.org.uk