Lars Ole Kristiansen

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To me “the greatest films of all time” is to be understood as “the most artistically impressive”, “influential” and “lasting”. Composing a list of the ten “greatest” is an impossible task for me. Perhaps it was easier in 1962, when the first lists appeared, but today film history is twice as long and rich. I have been preoccupied by the Sight & Sound polls for years, consulting the various lists for inspiration. I have realised that the critics and film-makers who are voting chiefly follow two approaches. Some attempt to compress canon, while others present their personal favourites. As soon as I was invited to participate in the new poll, I knew I had to deliver a list of ten "favourite films".

I also enclose a list of directors I regard as truly great and my favourites from each one's filmographies:

Flaherty: Nanook of the North

Eisenstein: Stachka

Keaton: The General

Murnau: Sunrise

Lang: Metropolis

Chaplin: City Lights

Arzner: Merrily We Go to Hell

Riefenstahl: Olympia

Disney: Pinocchio

Welles: Citizen Kane

Curtiz: Casablanca

Dreyer: Vredens Dag

Hawks: The Big Sleep

Capra: It's a Wonderful Life

Rossellini: Germania Anno Zero

De Sica: Ladri Di Biciclette

Huston: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Powell/Pressburger: The Red Shoes

Ozu: Banshun

Wyler: The Heiress

Mankiewicz: All About Eve

Wilder: Sunset Blvd.

Renoir: The River

Donen: Singing in the Rain

Mizoguchi: Sanshô Dayû

Ray: Pather Panchali

Ophüls: Lola Montès

Laughton: The Night of the Hunter

Ford: The Searchers

Ray: Bigger Than Life

Sirk: Imitation of Life

Resnais: L'année Dernière À Marienbad

Antonioni: L'eclisse

Hitchcock: Marnie

Kurosawa: Tengoku to Jigoku

Godard: Vivre Sa Vie: Film en Douze Tableaux

Naruse: Midareru

Varda: Le Bonheur

Straub/Huillet: Chronik Der Anna Magdalena Bach

Visconti: La Caduta Degli Dei (Götterdammerung)

Parajanov: Sayat Nova

Bertolucci: Il Conformista

Chabrol: Le Boucher

Melville: Le Cercle Rouge

Martino: Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh

Troell: Utvandrarna

Fulci: Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna

Malle: Le Souffle Au Coeur

Herzog: Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes

Fellini: Roma

Fassbinder: Faustrecht Der Freiheit

Friedkin: The Exorcicst

Coppola, Francis Ford: The Godfather: Part Ii

Bava: Cani Arrabbiati

Tarkovskij: Zerkalo

Weir: Picnic at Hanging Rock

Altman: Nashville

Pasolini: Salò O Le 120 Giornate Di Sodoma

Widerberg: Mannen På Taket

De Palma: Carrie

Pakula: All the President's Men

Cassavetes: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Truffaut: L'argent De Poche

Romero: Dawn of the Dead

Shepitko: Voskhozhdenie

Bunuel: Cet Obscur Objet Du Désir

Akerman: News From Home

Cimino: The Deer Hunter

Allen: Manhattan

Jarl: Ett Anständigt Liv

Carpenter: The Fog

Fosse: All That Jazz

Kubrick: The Shining

Hopper: Out of the Blue

Schrader: American Gigolo

Bresson: L'argent

Von Trotta: Die Bleierne Zeit

Lumet: Prince of the City

Malmros: Kundskabens Træ

Scott, Ridley: Blade Runner

Gavras: Missing

Pollack: Tootsie

Bergman: Fanny Och Alexander

Argento: Tenebre

Spielberg: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Marker: Sans Soleil

Cronenberg: Videodrome

Pialat: À Nos Amours

Imamura: Narayama Bushikô

Oshima: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Leone: Once Upon a Time in America

Teshigahara: Antonio Gaudí

Hughes: Sixteen Candles

Forman: Amadeus

Craven: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Wenders: Paris, Texas

Lanzmann: Shoah

Bogdanovich: Mask

Sômai: Taifû Kurabu

Rohmer: Le Rayon Vert

Reiner: Stand by Me

Carax: Mauvais Sang

Scott, Tony: Top Gun

Greenaway: The Belly of an Architect

Waters: Hairspray

Åberg: S.O.S. – en Segelsällskapsresa

Svankmajer: Neko Z Alenky

Im: Sibaji

Lee, Spike: Do the Right Thing

Riggs: Tongues Untied

Jodorowsky: Santa Sangre

Hou: Bei Qing Cheng Shi

Bigelow: Blue Steel

Scorsese: Goodfellas

Columbus: Home Alone

Kieslowski: La Double Vie De Véronique

Demme: The Silence of the Lambs

Takahata: Omohide Poro Poro

Cameron: Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Polanski: Bitter Moon

Burton: Batman Returns

Woo: Lat Sau San Taam

Lynch: Twin Peaks/Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Leigh: Naked

Campion: The Piano

Ferrara: Dangerous Game

Wong: Chung Hing Sam Lam

Mann: Heat

Haynes: Safe

Fincher: Se7en

Verhoeven: Showgirls

Jeunet/Caro: La Cité Des Enfants Perdus

Kaurismäki: Kauas Pilvet Karkaavat

Makhmalbaf: Gabbeh

Bay: The Rock

Coen: Fargo

Kiarostami: Ta´m E Guilass

Lyne: Lolita

Lee, Ang: The Ice Storm

Kon: Pâfekuto Burû

Angelopoulos: Mia Aioniotita Kai Mia Mera

Grandrieux: Sombre

Stillman: The Last Days of Disco

Anderson, Wes: Rushmore

Yang: Yi Yi

Inárritu: Amores Perros

Breillat: Fat Girl

Kelly: Donnie Darko

Jackson: The Lord of the Rings

Miyazaki: Sen to Chihiro No Kamikakuchi

Almodòvar: Hable Con Ella

Moodysson: Lilja 4-Ever

Coppola, Sofia: Lost in Translation

Tarantino: Kill Bill

Park: Oldeuboi

Van Sant: Elephant

Stone: Alexander

Cuarón: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Hadzihalilovich: Innocence

Haneke: Caché

Malick: The New World

Apichatpong: Sang Sattawat

Trier: Reprise

Gibson: Apocalypto

Brisseau: Les Anges Exterminateurs

Anderson, P.T.: There Will Be Blood

Seidl: Import/Export

Andersson: Du Levande

Östlund: De Ofrivilliga

Eastwood: Gran Torino

Noé: Enter the Void

Jarmusch: The Limits of Control

Von Trier: Antichrist

Denis: 35 Rhums

Nolan: Inception

Boyle: 127 Hours

Aronofsky: Black Swan

Hansen-Løve: Un Amour De Jeunesse

Snyder: Sucker Punch

Ramsay: We Need to Talk About Kevin

Bonello: L'apollonide (Souvenirs De La Maison Close)

Dolan: Laurence Anyways

Korine: Spring Breakers

Baumbach/Gerwig: Frances Ha

Soderbergh: Side Effects

Kechiche: La Vie D'adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2

Dardenne: Deux Jours, Une Nuit

Linklater: Boyhood

Ceylan: Kis Uykusu

Docter: Inside Out

Koreeda: Umimachi Diary

Assayas: Personal Shopper

Ade: Toni Erdmann

Arnold: American Honey

Wiseman: Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

Guadagnino: Suspiria

Corbet: Vox Lux

Bong: Gisaengchung

Reichardt: First Cow

Sciamma: Petite Maman

Hamaguchi: Doraibu Mai Kâ

Levinson: Euphoria