Chantel Akerman’s ‘Jeanne Dielman’ voted as best film of all time

Belgian filmmaker Chantel Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles has come on top in Sight & Sound magazine’s ‘Best Films of All Time’ poll. This also marks the first time a film by a female director has topped the poll

Jeanne Dielman told the story of a Belgian widow who is forced to turn to sex work to make ends meet. Things take a turn when she ends up killing one of her clients. The film was critically-acclaimed as a path-breaking feminist cinema.

The British Film Institute’s magazine Sight & Sound’s poll has been active since 1952. The poll has more than 1,600 film critics, academics, writers, distributors, and programmers voting on the best film of all time. Jeanne Dielman, which was earlier in the 36th position, jumped to take the top spot in 2022. Notably, the film will be available to stream on BFI Player from Thursday.

In a statement as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Mike Williams, the editor of Sight and Sound, said, “ Jeanne Dielman challenged the status quo when it was released in 1975 and continues to do so today. It’s a landmark feminist film, and its position at the top of list is emblematic of better representation in the top 100 for women filmmakers.

“While it’s great to see previous winners Vertigo and Citizen Kane complete the top three, Jeanne Dielman’s success reminds us that there is a world of under-seen and under-appreciated gems out there to be discovered, and that the importance of repertory cinemas and home entertainment distributors cannot be overestimated in their continued spotlighting of films that demand to be seen. What currently undervalued masterpieces might emerge in 10 years thanks to this tireless work?” he added.

After Jeanne Dielman comes Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, which got the top spot in 2012. Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story, and Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love take up the subsequent three places respectively.

Here’s the top 20 films on Sight & Sound‘s 2022 poll

1 Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)

2 Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)

3 Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)

4 Tokyo Story (Ozu Yasujiro, 1953)

5 In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2001)

6 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

7 Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1998)

8 Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)

9 Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov,1929)

10 Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1951)

11 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)

12 The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

13 La Règle du jeu (Jean Renoir, 1939)

14 Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)

15 The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)

16 Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid, 1943)

17 Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989)

18 Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)

19 Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

20 Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)