A00120 - The Greatest Movie of All Time: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Qual du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

 

There is a magazine named Sight and Sound which publishes a list of the Greatest Films of All Time every ten years.  You can read about it at


Sight and Sound (also spelled Sight & Sound) is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade Sight and Sound Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing since 1952.

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The results of the poll for 2012 produced the following list:

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A new rule was imposed for this ballot: related films that are considered part of a larger whole (e.g. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors trilogy and Dekalog, or Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy) were to be treated as separate films for voting purposes.[12]
  1. Vertigo (191 mentions)
  2. Citizen Kane (157 mentions)
  3. Tokyo Story (107 mentions)
  4. The Rules of the Game (100 mentions)
  5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (93 mentions)
  6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (90 mentions)
  7. The Searchers (78 mentions)
  8. Man with a Movie Camera (68 mentions)
  9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (65 mentions)
  10. 8½ (64 mentions)
Closest runner-up: Battleship Potemkin. (63 mentions)
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And the results which were released in 2022 produced the following:

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2022[edit]

Main article: The Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2022
The number of participants in this poll nearly doubled to 1,639. Chantal Akerman became the first woman director to win the poll with her 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. The poll reflected greater diversity than previous years, with the number of films made by Black filmmakers increasing from one in 2012 to seven in 2022 and the number made by female filmmakers increasing from two in 2012 to eleven in 2022.[13]
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey topped the directors' poll, in which 480 directors took part.[13]
  1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
  2. Vertigo
  3. Citizen Kane
  4. Tokyo Story
  5. In the Mood for Love
  6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  7. Beau Travail
  8. Mulholland Drive
  9. Man with a Movie Camera
  10. Singin' in the Rain
Closest runners-up: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
 
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The complete lists can be found at




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I am familiar with Vertigo and Citizen Kane and understand why they have been placed at the top of the list in previous editions of the poll.  However, Jeanne Dielman was a total mystery to me.  I watched the 3 hour and 21 minute film last night and, for the life of me, I could not see why it was voted No. 1.  And that bothered me.  I thought maybe I missed something so I am watching it again (on HBO Max) tonight.  I shall let you know if I discover anything more. 


Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Fairfield, California
February 8, 2023

P.S. You can read about the film at 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Dielman,_23_quai_du_Commerce,_1080_Bruxelles

but, in my opinion, the description does not adequately explain why so many critics think that it is so great.  If you know, please enlighten us all. 

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