BBC Critics Poll: Jane Campion's ‘The Piano' Named Greatest Film Ever Directed By a Woman

The BBC has decided to publish another Critics Poll, this time tackling the 100 Greatest Films Directed by Women. 761 different films were voted on by 368 film experts – critics, journalists, festival programmers, and academics – who came from 84 countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. The same number of women as men contributed, in order to create a gender-balanced poll, with 185 female voters, 181 male voters, one non-binary person, and “one who preferred not to say”. Each voter listed their 10 favorite films directed by women. The results are, actually, quite agreeable. The oldest film on the list would be Lois Weber’s silent film, “Shoes” (1916), right up to 2019 releases, “The Souvenir” (Joanna Hogg) and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Céline Sciamma). Of note, the majority of films on the list were made since the 1990s. The late, great Agnès Varda was the most popular director overall, with six films in the top 100, followed by Kathryn Bigelow, Claire Denis, Lynne Ramsay and Sofia Coppola.

Also, it seems as though “The Matrix” now counts as a film directed by a female director since its filmmakers, Lily and Lana Wachowski, both transitioned a couple of years ago.

Jane Campion’s masterpiece “The Piano” topped the list, and you won’t hear any complaints about that choice on my part. Campion’s “The Piano” is the most personal movie of her astonishing filmography. This almost plotless story about a group of people who aren’t, on the whole, particularly easy to sympathize with, is a stunning mood piece and a haunting adult fairy tale about a woman’s quest to control her identity and destiny. A practically silent Holly Hunter gave an Oscar-Winning performance that was both mesmerizing and haunting. Anna Paquin, then 11 years old, won an Oscar playing Hunter’s smart and witty young daughter. Campion, never one to shy away from Gender politics, gave us a portrait of love, fear and passion amidst a world where a woman is not supposed to have the necessary freedom to fulfill her every desires. Rarely do we witness beauty as real as what is captured in this film. Campion’s cinematic landmark is such a visually stunning film, it’s almost intoxicating how its atmosphere sweeps across the screen and ravishes the eyes.

BBC’s Top 20:

1. The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
2. Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
3. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
4. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
5. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
6. Daisies (Věra Chytilová, 1966)
7. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
8. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
9. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
10. Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991)
11. The Ascent (Larisa Shepitko, 1977)
12. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
13. Vagabond (Agnès Varda, 1985)
14. Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)
15. The Swamp (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
16. Wanda (Barbara Loden, 1970)
17. Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, 1975)
18. American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000)
19. Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992)
20. Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)

This aligns quite well with my own list, which was printed on Awards Daily in 2015 and for which I have just adjusted, more than four years later, for this article:

1. Seven Beauties
2. The Piano
3. Lost in Translation
4. The Hurt Locker
6. Cléo de 5 à 7
7. Triumph of the Will
8. Jeanne Dielman
9. Fish Tank
10. Big