Every 10 years, British film magazine Sight and Sound has a Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, which it began doing back in 1952. There’s a great deal of attention cast on this poll every time it’s held, andCitizen Kanewinning five times in a row (between 1962 and 2002, only being dethroned byVertigoin 2012) is likely a contributing reason to why it has such a lofty reputation, for an example of the poll’s possible influence. As for who votes? Professionals associated with the film industry, namely highly-respected critics and filmmakers, all of whom are asked for a top 10.
When polled by Sight and Sound for the 2022 poll,Wes Anderson, in his typically quirky style, did something a little different from simply picking a personal top 10, stating:“I don’t actually have ten favorite movies. I thought I would pick ten favorite French ones (because I am listing this list in France).“This was also one year afterThe French Dispatch… maybe France was just on his mind? He also frustratingly said: “I will start with number zero in fact: ‘David Golder,'” but that’s too much quirk to handle, so the following is just going to look at his picks #1 through #10 and rank them below, starting with the good and ending with the great.
10’Olivier, Olivier’ (1992)
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Not to be mixed up withany adaptation ofCharles Dickens’sOliver, 1992’sOlivier, Olivierdoes admittedly also tell a surprising story about a young boy, but beyond that and the similar names, things are pretty different. The plot ofOlivier, Oliviercenters on a nine-year-old boy’s disappearance, and how that affects his family members left behind to search for him.
Things get complicated when he re-emerges six years later, but might not be who he seems to be,whichcreates more tension and understated drama. It’s a quiet and fairly obscure film (probably the least well-known out of the 10 that Wes Anderson selected for the Sight and Sound poll in 2022), but ifa filmmaker as distinct and bold as Andersonfinds value in it, it’s likely a worthwhile watch.
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9’It All Starts Today' (1999)
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
It All Starts Todayisanother character-driven French dramafavored by Wes Anderson, and features a fairly simple narrative that aims to convey true-to-life characters dealing with issues of an ordinary and even everyday nature. It takes place in a small town that’s struggling financially, with the protagonist being a school headmaster who goes to great lengths to get his students much-needed social services.
That might not makeIt All Starts Todaysound exciting, andindeed, it’s a film that’s arguably got a limited audience in mind. But low-key movies made on a small scale don’t need to be box office hits to find success, and outside Anderson’s praise, this film is also noteworthy for being asuccess at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival.
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8’Kings and Queen' (2004)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
A film that’s both slightly more well-known and perhaps ever-so-slightly cheerier than the aforementionedOlivier, OlivierandIt All Starts Today,Kings and Queenis a drama thatadds a little by way of romancefor good measure. Its narrativecenters on a woman and the various challenging relationships she has with people in her life, including a preteen son, a father with a terminal illness, and a troubled ex-partner.
Okay, soKings and Queenis still a bit heavy-going, based on some of the thematic content it chooses to handle, but that’s also something that can be said about Wes Anderson’s comedies, with films likeThe Royal TenenbaumsandThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissoubeing tremendously sad in parts. It then doesn’t seem too surprising that self-professed lover of French cinema, Anderson, likedKings and Queen, which is the most recent film of the 10 he selected for 2022’s Sight and Sound poll.
7’Loulou' (1980)
Director: Maurice Pialat
Containing a surprisingly subdued performance fromthe often terrifyingIsabelle Huppert,Loulouis a slice-of-life romance/drama film that also stars another particularly well-known French actor,Gérard Depardieu. Huppert plays the younger wife of a fairly ordinary middle-aged man, and the plot doesn’t go much further than exploring what happens when she begins to have an affair with a younger, more spontaneous, and less wealthy man (Depardieu).
Anyone looking for an intricate narrative or even much by way of likable characters could come away fromLouloufeeling underwhelmedor let down, but it’s not really trying to be the sort of movie that provides those things. It’s 106 minutes of rather bitter and dejected people trying to get through the tedium of their lives through things like sex, drinking, and small acts of rebellion, and in capturing such a downbeat mood for the length of an entire movie, it is undeniably effective.
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6’The Man Who Loved Women' (1977)
Director: François Truffaut
François Truffautexplodedinto the world of film back in 1959, with the release of what many would consider his best film, the coming-of-age dramaThe 400 Blows(his feature film debut). Still, the rest of his filmography shouldn’t be overlooked, containing a fair share of well-known French classics, likeJules and JimandDay for Night, and some more underrated works likeThe Man Who Loved Women.
The latter made Wes Anderson’s top 10 for Sight and Sound, and has an intriguing premise/structure where things start with the main character’s funeral, which is attended solely by women. Then, through a variety of flashbacks, the viewer witnesses his womanizing ways and the manner in which true love always seemed to elude him, with the filmbalancing humor, pathos, and themes surrounding love/loneliness in a thoughtful and compelling fashion.
5’Vivre Sa Vie' (1962)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
The filmography ofJean-Luc Godardwas longer and oftentimes more abstract than that of his contemporary François Truffaut, but few would deny that both were key figures within the French New Wave movement and two of France’s most iconic filmmakers ever, too. Godard first got significant recognition around the same time as Truffaut, withhis seminal 1960 arthouse filmBreathless, butVivre Sa Vie, made just a couple of years later, was an arguably stronger movie.
Vivre Sa Vieis a grounded drama that plays out over 84 minutes and is split into a dozen chapters, each one showing a woman’s life slowly take turn after turn for the worse, pushing her into desperation just so she can stay afloat. It’s a downbeat film that has some of Godard’s style, butpurposefully lacks the fun found in some of his lighter and more comedic efforts. Nevertheless, the dedication to a more serious and slice-of-life kind of story pays off, becauseVivre Sa Viedoes leave an impact.
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4’Jenny Lamour' (1947)
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Most of Wes Anderson’s aforementioned nominations have stuck pretty close to the drama genre, with a couple being a little comedic in parts, but this ultimately helpsJenny Lamourstand out. It was a film directed byHenri-Georges Clouzot, who specialized in thrillers, mysteries, and crime movies enough to have just as good a shot at the title ofMaster of Suspense as someone likeAlfred Hitchcock, which is particularly well-demonstrated by classics likeDiaboliqueand (especially)The Wages of Fear.
Anderson’s too cool, apparently, to pick those, and instead opted for the slightly lesser-knownJenny Lamour. Still, this is another compelling film from Clouzot, telling the story of two musicians who get wrapped up in a complex murder scheme and then find themselves targeted by a dedicated police detective. It moves steadily and builds tension throughout, andis definitely worth checking out for fans of cinematic suspense.
3’Vagabond' (1985)
Director: Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda’sfilmmaking career spanned almost six-and-a-half decades, and in that time, she made numerous compelling feature films and some unique, insightful, and oftentimes very personal documentaries. With her debut feature being released in the 1950s, and her final film coming out in 2019,Vagabondsits fairly neatly in the center of her filmography, and, to some, could well also be a less literal centerpiece of said filmography, due to its quality.
LikeThe Man Who Loved Women,Vagabondbegins with the death of the central character, and after that, there are numerous flashbacks to show how she ended up in a position where she died alone and young.Unsurprisingly, it’s a grim story and one where an unhappy ending is expected right from the start, but it’s also an empathetic and beautifully shot film, and one everyone should seek out and watch at least once.
2’The Earrings of Madame de…' (1953)
Director: Max Ophüls
Don’t let the ellipsis fool you:The Earrings of Madame de…is the complete title, because the titular character – a countess – is one viewers never learn the surname of. The film always obscures it and finds ways to cut people off before they can say it completely… why this story about a pair of earrings and a series of tragic lies does such a thing is ultimately up to the audience’s interpretation.
It takes a simple premise and makes it engrossing and continually complex, though never overwhelmingly so.The Earrings of Madame de…isa skillfully made drama about seemingly small actions having large consequences, and is perhaps the greatest film famed directorMax Ophülsever made (his son,Marcel Ophüls, is also responsible for making some great films, particularly ahandful of exhaustive and hard-hitting war documentaries).
1’Grand Illusion' (1937)
Director: Jean Renoir
A defining prisoner-of-war moviethat can also count itselfamong the very best releases of the 1930s,Grand Illusiondoes fascinating things with a premise that might sound familiar, and still feels unique close to 90 years on from its release. It takes place during World War I and follows a group of French soldiers from different social backgrounds trying to survive and then escape from a heavily fortified German prison camp.
Grand Illusionworks well asa slow-burn thriller, a compelling character-driven drama, and an exploration of how class and wealth divide people, even during times of war when you’d expect everyone to have other things on their mind. Additionally, perhaps it was a film that was on Wes Anderson’s mind when he madeThe Grand Budapest Hotel, given both have “Grand” in the title and deal, in some way, withthe idea of escaping a prison.
