BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films

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BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films is a list compiled in 2018 by BBC Culture, as part of their annual critics' poll. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Selection criteria

BBC Culture polled 209 film critics from 43 countries, asking them to submit their list of the 10 greatest foreign-language movies (i.e. not in English). As with other BBC Culture 100 Greatest polls, the ranking was established by a point system: ten points awarded to the film ranked first, nine to the film ranked second and so forth. [1]

Criticism

Writing for Vanity Fair , K. Austin Collins lamented the predictability of the list - "heavy on works from Europe and East Asia; low on women; low on avant garde and documentary filmmaking" - and the absence of popular genres such as Nollywood, Bollywood or Giallo, arguing that "a truly worthy list of this nature wouldn’t be so snobby about high and low culture. It’d be a glorious, messy mix of arthouse and pop, as any list about the greatest art—rather than the greatest textbook art—should be." [4]

Partial list

No.TitleDirectorCountryOriginal LanguageYear
1 Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa Flag of Japan.svg Japan Japanese1954
2 Bicycle Thieves Vittorio De Sica Flag of Italy.svg Italy Italian1948
3 Tokyo Story Yasujirō Ozu Flag of Japan.svg JapanJapanese1953
4 Rashomon Akira Kurosawa Flag of Japan.svg JapanJapanese1950
5 The Rules of the Game Jean Renoir Flag of France.svg France French1939
6 Persona Ingmar Bergman Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Swedish1966
7 Federico Fellini Flag of Italy.svg Italy, Flag of France.svg FranceItalian1963
8 The 400 Blows François Truffaut Flag of France.svg FranceFrench1959
9 In the Mood for Love Wong Kar-wai Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong, Flag of France.svg FranceCantonese2000
10 La Dolce Vita Federico Fellini Flag of Italy.svg Italy, Flag of France.svg FranceItalian, English, French, German1960

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sharf, Zack (30 October 2018). "BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films Ever: 209 Film Critics Crown 'Seven Samurai,' 'In the Mood for Love,' and More". IndieWire. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  2. Clarke, Donald. "The 100 greatest foreign-language films revealed". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  3. "BBC reveals list of 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films". New Age. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. "Trying to Name the 100 Best "Foreign-Language" Films Is a Fool's Errand". Vanity Fair. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2023.