After due consideration by critics, a list of 12 movies has been formed in order to designate the number one movie of the century. The compiling of the data has been a very difficult task for those involved since the number of movies is unfathomable. Furthermore, critics were adamant on taking into consideration the date of production, its type and the surrounding elements that contributed to the movie.
The final result was a list, which included only six countries, four films are from Italy and two films are from France, Sweden and Japan and others.
The most significant directors who made the list are Japanese Akira Korosau, Swedish Ingmar Bergman and Italian Federico Fellini.
Following are the 12 movies chosen by the critics as cited by the Al Bayan Emirate newspaper:
1-Putemkeen/Russian/1925: Latest movie by director Serge Eizrenstein. This silent movie was a revolutionary cinema production which became one of the pillars of directing and set examples in all great universities. The film revolves around five different connected sketches on the mutiny of Russian fishermen onboard the Putemkeen military ship in 1905. The movie depicts the harsh treatment that the fishermen are subjected to by the Tszar’s soldires. Putemkeen’s fourth sketch is considered one of the most famous scenes of all time. The sketch, Khatawat Al Oudya (Steps of Oudya), shows the transformation of the scene from a party to a massacre.
2-Metropolis/German/1926: This movie marks a great big step in cinematic technology, especially in the fields of science fiction and fiction. Director Fritz Lang shot this silent movie, which depicts a future city and its mechanical inhabitants. The story progresses when a very wealthy boy leaves the mechanical world in order to join the underground miners, who rebel against the oppression of the mechanical people. The movie, which took two years to complete, shows a genius way of utilizing the camera and the greatness of set décor efficiency. Fritz’s set was not a hard task for the director, who originally graduated with a Civil Engineering degree, a Fine Arts degree and a Caricature degree!
3-Al Wahm Al Kabeer/France/1937: Director John Renoir, the son of famous painter August Renoir, directed this masterpiece in a step against war. The movie takes place in a family camp in World War 1. The movie is distinguished by strength of scenes and drama derived from personal humanitarian relations, national unity and cultural links between different European nationalities. Renoir used a group of German jail guards and a French, English and Russian family, from different backgrounds in order to portray his message. The director verifies the end of the European aristocratic era and the rise of the Middle and working class rule.
4-The Bicycle Thief/Italian/1948: Director Vitorio Desika presents this chaotic film on life in Rome after the Second World War, in a realistic manner, unique in its honesty and simplicity. The director sheds light on social and economic issues in the city, with the aid of a thief who steals a bike in order to work to feed his family.
The thief soon finds out that the Bike’s previous owner also stole it and was in a worse situation than himself and in more need of the bicycle.
This movie was called the best in realistic cinema’s history by various critics around the world, before the title was transferred to Citizen Kane.
The Bicycle Thief won an honorary Oscar prior to the establishment of the Best Foreign Film category.
5-Rashumon/Japanese/1950: Director Akira Korosau’s Rashumon was the force behind opening the world up to the beauty of Japanese cinema. Through this film, Korosau portrays the relative nature of truth for people through a story, which depicts a woman’s rape and her husband’s murder. Four different people tell the tale in four different ways of what they witnessed. The film is distinguished by its psychological depth and its symbolic essence. The movie is also an example of simple cinema. Rashumon has been the pillar behind many European and American movies. The film won an award at the Venice Film Festival and an honorary award for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.
6-The Seven Samurai/Japanese/1954: Another masterpiece directed by Akira Korosau. The movie is set in 16th century Japan. The residents of a small poor village ask for the help of seven armed men for protection from a gang of thieves in return for a bucket of rice. The movie is distinguished with the depth of its humanitarian message. The genius of Korosau is revealed through the impeccable shots of battles and historical accuracy. The movie, which won the Oscar’s Best Foreign Film Award, has been used as a basis for American, Italian and Arabic films.
7-Wild Strawberries/Swedish/1957: Famous director Ingmar Bergman shot the movie with a great emphasis on a deep study of the loneliness of man and the stages of maturity from childhood to old age. Bergman presents his movies in a unique manner, using the supernatural elements as well as dreams, nightmares and flashbacks to get his point across. In this movie, Bergman also takes the audience on a trip to old and new Sweden. This film is mostly distinguished by the excellence of its script, direction and acting. Wild Strawberries has won the Golden Ball Award, which is presented by the Foreign Journalists in Hollywood, to the Best Foreign Film. This movie is also part of the curriculum of various film schools around the world.
8-400 Hits/French/1959: This film was the first ever for director Françoise Trufo, the moving force in the new era of film. The director utilizes and portrays his lost childhood’s adventures and the hardships he faced due to two ignorant parents. Trufo depicts how he ran away from school and ended up in a reform school. This film is considered one of the only movies that has depicted childhood without fail. 400 Hits has won the New York Journalist Association Award for Best Film as well as the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director.
9-La Dolce Vita/Italian/1960: One of the best movies ever directed by Frederico Fellini. The film depicts a realistic look at the fakeness of refined society in Rome from the perspective of a journalist. The journalist reports every corrupt detail he witnesses. However, after his work is done, the journalist finds that he is unable to break free from the glitter and glamour of the elite. It is known that in this movie, Fellini is portraying a time in his personal life. This movie presented the pillar to various principles of filmmaking. It won the Cannes Film Festival Best Film Award.
10-8.5/Italian/1963: Another hit for director Frederico Fellini, where the actor depicts yet another stage in his personal life. This time the main star is a director who is attempting to make a movie, when he suddenly finds himself suffering from an artistic block. Ironically, in this movie, Fellini gives the perfect example of how the director can portray a piece of his life that is interpreted as the best cinema work of the century. The movie presents itself with a life force, which attaches itself to art. Reality and illusion are also recurring themes within the film. This movie has won the Oscar’s Best Foreign Film Award for its year.
11-The Early Picture/Italian/1966: Director Michelangelo Antonini takes an intricate look at the fine line between reality and illusion in a story of a photographer who believes he saw a murder take place. This film is filled with psychological twists and turns, intertwined themes and symbolic shots. Antonini used very lively shots to portray the romantic scenes of the film in a style that is clear, convincing and sensitive. He used such shots as elements that delete the necessity for words. The Early Picture has won the American National Critics Association Best Film and Best Director awards. The movie was also nominated for two Oscars, one for director and another for scriptwriter, who also happened to be Antonini.
12-Screams and Whispers/Swedish/1972: According to many critics, this movie symbolizes the epitome of perfection of director Ingmar Bergman’s work. In this movie, Bergman goes back to the main theme of Wild Strawberries, that a person’s realization of impeding death is what sets his values. Along with Sven Nikfest, Bergman presents a symphony of shots depicting the story of a woman who suffers from cancer and her relationship with her sister. This movie has been defined by many as the most honest movie on the human’s feelings about death and the need for love. Furthermore, in the eyes of various American critics, this movie is the best foreign movie ever made. It has won the New York Critics Association Award for Best Film and the Oscar for best director-Albawaba.com.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
