Forgotten: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Topped the S&S Director’s Poll

With all the drama surrounding Sight and Sound’s critics poll, the Directors’ Poll has now emerged as the go-to for comprehensive film history. A total of 458 filmmakers were polled this decade and the results from this one seem to have a more positive reaction.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Get Out” and “Parasite,” but I guess I’m one of those “purists” that believes a film needs to linger in the zeitgeist a bit longer before it is inserted alongside the greats. Having films, released a mere three years ago, pushing out Altman, Coppola, Lubitsch etc. is a tad too sacrilege for me.

It took more than 20 years before “Beau Travail,” “Mulhollland Drive” and “In the Mood For Love” finally cracked the top 20.

All of that aside, it took 54 years for Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” to finally make it to #1. Prior to that, it was all about “Citizen Kane” and “Tokyo Story.” Also, look at Coppola’s “The Godfather,” now sitting firmly at #3, that’s another big change to the list not many seem to be talking about. Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” has also gained esteem over the last decade. It topped our ‘80s poll and has benefited from a fervent socio-political climate making it even more relevant.

SIGHT AND SOUND DIRECTORS’ POLL RESULTS

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Citizen Kane
3. The Godfather
4. Tokyo Story
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
6. Vertigo
6. 8½
8. Mirror
9. Persona
9. In The Mood For Love
9. Close-Up

12. Taxi Driver
12. Barry Lyndon
14. Beau Travail
14. Seven Samurai
14. Breathless
14. Stalker
18. Apocalypse Now
19. A Woman Under the Influence
20. Rashomon
20. Bicycle Thieves

22. The Battle of Algiers
22. Mulholland Dr
22. Pather Panchali
22. Raging Bull
26. Andrei Rublev
26. The Godfather, Part II
28. GoodFellas
29. Do The Right Thing
30. Ordet
30. The Passion of Joan of Arc
30. Man With A Movie Camera

33. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
34. The 400 Blows
34. La Jetée
34. La Dolce Vita
37. Au Hasard Balthazar
38. La Strada
38. The Rules of the Game
38. L'Avventura
41. PlayTime
41. The Night of the Hunter
41. A Man Escaped
41. Vagabond
41. Come and See

46. Contempt
46. Once Upon a Time in the West
46. City Lights
46. L'Atalante
46. Psycho
46. Dr. Strangelove
46. Don't Look Now
53. The Mother and the Whore
53. SIngin' in the Rain
53. La Notte
53. The Piano
53. Ali: Fear Eats The SouL
53. Viridiana
53. Clèo From 5 to 7
53. Fanny and Alexander
53. Eraserhead

62. Late Spring
62. Meshes of the Afternoon
62. Sunset Blvd
62. La Ciénega
62. Sátántangó
62. Tropical Malady
62. Blade Runner
62. Lawrence of Arabia
62. Some Like It Hot
62. Jaws

72. Chinatown
72. The Seventh Seal
72. Ikiru
72. L'Argent
72. The Conversation
72. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
72. A Separation
72. Kes
72. Where is the Friend's House?
72. The Searchers
72. Touki Bouki
72. A Brighter Summer Day
72. Sans Soleil
72. Modern Times
72. News From Home
72. Blue Velvet
72. The Spirit of the Beehive
72. Shoah
72. Wild Strawberries
72. The Red Shoes
72. The Ascent

93. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
93. Moonlight
93. The Colour of Pomegranates
93. The Conformist
93. Caché
93. Parasite
93. Taste of Cherry
93. Wanda
93. Battleship Potemkin
93. Pickpocket
93. Yi Yi
93. Throne of Blood

Three Scorseses. Three Coppolas. Three Tarkovskys. Two Kubricks. Two Kurosawas. That’s almost half the top 30 composed solely of these five directors.

The biggest surprise was, again, Chantal Akerman’s “Jeanne Dielman” which didn’t even place in the top 100 just ten years ago, now it’s at #4. Although released in France back in 1985, Akerman’s film would not be seen in the United States until 8 years later in 1983.

Despite being championed by the European women's movement of the time, Akerman was reluctant to be seen as a feminist filmmaker, stating that "I don't think woman's cinema exists". One wonders what the late filmmaker would have thought of the honor her film has just received.

Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” has taken a dip from #5 to #12. Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” from #6 to #18. Bicycle Thieves from #10 to #21. “Raging Bull” from #11 to #25. Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander” goes from #16 to #53. Chaplin’s “Modern Times” slid from #22 to #72.

Meanwhile, “Beau Travail” was #91 in 2012, now it’s #14. “In the Mood For Love” was 67th and is now in the top ten. “Mulholland Drive” was 75th and now sits comfortably at 23.