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15 August
What is a must-see film ?
Film4.com (@Film4) has recently compiled a list of what it calls 100 Must-See Movies of the 21st Century*
As we assemble our fall schedule, get your cinema fix by debating this @Film4 list of the century's best films. http://t.co/Zj7aD4t2Eo
— Gregory Film Culture (@GregoryFilm) August 6, 2014However, can it really be right that fourteen of them (which, after all, is around 1 in 7) were released in 2011 alone ? And, when some critics have hailed 2014 as an exceptionally strong year for cinema, is it justified that only Boyhood (2014) qualifies for inclusion ?
A survey last year, by Time Out Film (@TimeOutFilm), of The 100 best romantic movies was much more candid about how the selection had been carried out, which allowed your correspondent to analyse just how many (sc. how few) votes were needed for a film to appear in the top 10, let alone in the top 100 at all.
Analysis showed that, out of 101 respondents (from six categories), only 19 voted for Annie Hall (1977), but that voting still sufficed to secure it 4th place (not that it is not one of Woody Allen’s best films, of course). Much of the list’s pretence to authority (e.g. in the title of the list) then seemed to fall away ?
So how does this top 100 fare…
In decreasing order, starting with the highest-ranking year, one can see below, in every year since the turn of the century*, how many ‘top films’ – according to this list – were released (figures in bold face), with a cumulative percentage
Where the total number of films that has been selected in each year is equal, the number of films that featured in the top 50 (which is in parenthesis) has been used to determine the order of priority (otherwise they are left in date-order)
2011 – 14 (7) 14%
2013 – 12 (5) 26%
2001 – 9 (5) 35%
2000 – 8 (5) 43%
2004 – 7 (5) 50%
2002 – 7 (4) 57%
2009 – 7 (4) 64%
2003 – 7 (2) 71%
2008 – 7 (2) 78%
2005 – 5 (3) 83%
2006 – 5 (1) 88%
2007 – 4 (4) 92%
2010 – 4 (2) 96%
2012 – 3 (0) 99%
2014 – 1 (1) 100%
One can see quite clearly that 26% of films (slightly more than 1 in 4) were chosen from just two years (i.e. 2011 and 2013), and 50% from just five years (adding in 2000, 2001 and 2004). Is this why people have said that 2014 is a significant year for film, although there is only one film from this year – that they meant the year when films were in cinemas ?
Only 2010 significantly moves position, from 12th to equal 6th, on the basis of using the score for the top 50 instead (otherwise 2012 and 2014 swap places).
Top 20 by country (accounting for 12 countries), with a cumulative percentage
USA, as the country with the most films produced, is listed first, and, as it was the country of production of the top-listed film, 1 is given as the highest position scored (in parenthesis)
Where, for example, a film was a UK / US production (as with Gravity (2013), each country has been awarded one-half
Where the number of films is equal (1 or ½), the ordering is by the position in the list of the highest-ranked film (given by a figure in parenthesis)
Directors are noted who have two films in the top 100 (with the name, date and position of the films) : only Richard Linklater and Michael Haneke have two in the top 20
Joel and Ethan Coen are the only directors with two films in the list not to have one place in the top 20 (No Country For Old Men (2007) (at 25) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) (at 69))
If the 300-film list had not been curtailed, how many more pairs (or trios) of directors might there have been... ?
United States - 8½ (1) 42.5%
3 : Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood (2007)
[also 45 : Punch-Drunk Love (2002)]
5 : Richard Linklater, Boyhood (2014)
[also 17 : Before Sunset (2004)]
10 : David Fincher, Zodiac (2007)
[also 30 : The Social Network (2010)]
United Kingdom - 1½ (4) 50%
4 : Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin (2013)
[also 41 : Sexy Beast (2000)]
France - 1½ (8) 57.5%
14 : Michael Haneke, Hidden (Caché) (2005)
Taiwan - 1 (2) 62.5%
China - 1 (6) 67.5%
Hungary - 1 (7) 72.5%
Japan - 1 (11) 77.5%
Spain - 1 (15) 82.5%
Germany - 1 (16) 87.5%
16 : Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon (2009)
Greece - 1 (18) 92.5%
Iran - 1 (19) 97.5%
Belgium - ½ (8) 100%
It has become clear that, when the introduction to the list says that it is ‘Drawn from 29 countries around the world’, although Mexico and Spain, which were co-producing countries of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), could have added two to the total of 29 countries (but only one film), this has not been done in the list (as one establishes by having added all of the totals (below))
The rest of the top 50 (21 to 50) by country (which adds 10 countries, to make 22)
United States - 8½ (23)
France - 5 (28)
United Kingdom - 4½ (39)
Sweden - 2 (26)
Romania - 1 (22)
South Korea - 1 (24)
Thailand - 1 (27)
Russia - 1 (29)
Turkey - 1 (33)
Senegal - 1 (37)
Germany - 1 (47)
Australia - 1 (48)
Japan - 1 (49)
Mexico - ½ (21)
Spain - ½ (21)
Adding these totals gives the Top 50, together with a cumulative total
As above, where the number of films is equal (1 or ½), the ordering is by the position in the list of the highest-ranked film (given by a figure in parenthesis)
United States - 17 (1) 34%
France - 6½ (8) 47%
United Kingdom - 6 (4) 59%
Germany - 2 (16) 63%
Japan - 2 (11) 67%
Sweden - 2 (26) 71%
Spain - 1½ (15) 74%
Taiwan - 1 (2) 76%
China - 1 (6) 78%
Hungary - 1 (7) 80%
Greece - 1 (18) 82%
Iran - 1 (19) 84%
Romania - 1 (22) 86%
South Korea - 1 (24) 88%
Thailand - 1 (27) 90%
Russia - 1 (29) 92%
Turkey - 1 (33) 94%
Senegal - 1 (37) 96%
Australia - 1 (48) 98%
Belgium - ½ (8) 99%
Mexico - ½ (21) 100%
The cumulative total shows that the United States, the United Kingdom and France alone account for 59% of the top 50, with 41% (as calculated) spread between, and adding four further countries accounts for nearly 75% of the listing for 1–50
NB As co-producing countries, Belgium and Mexico would not have been counted by Film4 on this part of the list, nor, in the second part, would Ireland, South Africa or New Zealand (even though that entry is for three films)
The remainder of the top 100 (51 to 100) by country, with cumulative percentage
As before, where the number of films is equal (1 or ½), the ordering is by the position in the list of the highest-ranked film (given by a figure in parenthesis)
United States - 23 (53) 46%
United Kingdom - 16½ (54) 79%
Canada - 2 (56) 83%
Brazil - 1 (51) 85%
Italy - 1 (52) 87%
Argentina - 1 (61) 89%
Japan - 1 (71) 91%
South Korea - 1 (76) 93%
Denmark - 1 (94) 95%
France - 1 (98) 97%
New Zealand - ½ (53) 98%
South Africa - ½ (90) 99%
Ireland - ½ (95) 100%
The top three countries (USA, UK and Canada) account for 83% of the films in positions 51 to 100, and only ten other countries are accounted for in this part of the list
Nearly last, the full list (by adding the last two lists), with cumulative percentage
United States - 40 (1) 40%
United Kingdom - 22½ (4) 62.5%
France - 7½ (8) 70%
Japan - 3 (11) 73%
Germany - 2 (16) 75%
South Korea - 2 (24) 77%
Sweden - 2 (26) 79%
Canada - 2 (56) 81%
Spain - 1½ (15) 82.5%
Taiwan - 1 (2) 83.5%
China - 1 (6) 84.5%
Hungary - 1 (7) 85.5%
Greece - 1 (18) 86.5%
Iran - 1 (19) 87.5%
Romania - 1 (22) 88.5%
Thailand - 1 (27) 89.5%
Russia - 1 (29) 90.5%
Turkey - 1 (33) 91.5%
Senegal - 1 (37) 92.5%
Australia - 1 (48) 93.5%
Brazil - 1 (51) 94.5%
Italy - 1 (52) 95.5%
Argentina - 1 (61) 96.5%
Denmark - 1 (94) 97.5%
Belgium - ½ (8) 98%
Mexico - ½ (21) 98.5%
New Zealand - ½ (53) 99%
South Africa - ½ (90) 99.5%
Ireland - ½ (95) 100%
Where the single-country entries appear
The final study explores where the 30% (or fewer) of films that are not from the main countries represented come from : the listing above shows that there are sudden little runs, such as 48 / 51 / 52, 18 / 19 / 22 and 6 / 7 / 8 (that one includes where France’s top-rating film appears), where a country’s single film appears – other decades are dominated by the States and the United Kingdom’s productions, as listed below (with the number, in bold, of such films, and the films from other countries given, in italic and within square brackets, by placing)
0 – 10 6 : [2 / 6 / 7 / 8]
11 – 20 4 : [11 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 18 / 19]
21 – 30 3 : [21 / 22 / 24 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29]
31 – 40 4 : [31 / 33 / 34 / 35 / 36 / 37]
41 – 50 6 : [44 / 47 / 48 / 49]
51 – 60 6½ : [51 / 52 / 53 (with United States) / 56]
61 – 70 9 : [61]
71 – 80 8 : [71 / 76]
81 – 90 9½ : [90 (with United States)]
91 – 100 7½ : [95 (with United Kingdom) / 97 / 98]
Looked at quickly, there appear to be runs of films not from the United States or the United Kingdom within the Top 10, and the fifth decade (from 41 to 50), and those decades have more films that are not from those countries
After the sixth decade (which is similar), a pattern sets in of almost all films being from the United Kingdom or the States. e.g. an almost uninterrupted run from 57 (in the sixth decade) through the next two decades, 71 to 80 and 81 to 90, to 94 : seemingly, only 4 non-US, non-UK ‘must-see’ films in a run of 39 films
We must pass it over to others to calculate what that might signify by way of selectivity…
End-notes
* Even it was actually on 1 January 2001, because 2000 was the last year of the twentieth century...
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Unless stated otherwise, all films reviewed were screened at Festival Central (Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge)
