[Christy E]

We are proud to announce the 2010 Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List!

This list, created from YOUR votes, contains 38 films new to the Arts and Faith Top 100 List, showcases top films and directors from around the world, and spans cinematic history from silent films circa 1927 (F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise) to films currently in theaters (the Coens brothers’ Oscar-nominated Serious Man).

Our great new website (including film facts, clips, trailers, and more) is currently in the works. We'll let you know as soon as it is ready to go…

Without further ado – the list itself:

1. Word, The ("Ordet"), 1955, Carl Theodor Dreyer
2. Decalogue, The ("Dekalog"), 1987, Krzysztof Kieslowski
3. Babette’s Feast (“Babettes Gaestebud”), 1987, Gabriel Axel
4. Passion of Joan of Arc, The ("La Passion de Jeanne D'arc"), 1928 Carl Theodor Dreyer
5. Son, The ("Le Fils"), 2002, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
6. Au Hasard Balthazar, 1966, Robert Bresson
7. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans,1927, F.W. Murnau
8. Andrei Rublev (“Andrey Rublyov"), 1969, Andrei Tarkovsky
9. Early Summer ("Bakushû"), 1951, Yasujiro Ozu
10. Gospel According to Matthew, The ("Il vangelo second Matteo, 1964, Pier Paolo Pasolini
11. Diary of a Country Priest, The("Le Journal D'un Cure De Campagne"), 1951, Robert Bresson
12. Wings of Desire ("Der Himmel über Berlin”), 1987, Wim Wenders
13. Seventh Seal, The ("Det Sjunde Inseglet"), 1957, Ingmar Bergman
14. To Live ("Ikiru"), 1952, Akira Kurosawa
15. Three Colors Trilogy ("Trois couleurs"), 1993, 1994, 1994, Kryzysztof Kieslowski
16. Mirror, The ("Zerkalo"), 1975, Andrei Tarkovsky
17. Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apu Sansar), 1955/56/59, Satyajit Ray
18. Floating Weeds ("Ukigusa"), 1959, Yasujiro Ozu
19. Munyurangabo, 2007, Lee Isaac Chung
20. Burmese Harp, The, 1956, Kon Ichikawa
21. Tokyo Story ("Tokyo monogatari"), 1953, Yasujiro Ozu
22. Serious Man, A, 2009, Ethan and Joel Coen
23. My Night at Maud's ("Ma nuit chez Maud"), 1969, Eric Rohmer
24. Into Great Silence ("Le grand silence"), 2005, Philip Gröning
25. Nostalghia, 1983, Andrei Tarkovsky
26. Still Life ("Sanxia haoren"), 2006, Zhang Ke Jia
27. Child, The ("L'Enfant"), 2005, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
28. Bicycle Thief, The (“Ladri di biciclette”), 1948, Vittorio De Sica
29. Man Escaped, A ("Un condamne a mort s'est eschappe ou Le vent soufflé ou il veut"), 1956, Robert Bresson
30. Stalker, 1979, Andrei Tarkovsky
31. Man for All Seasons, A, 1966, Fred Zinnemann
32. Apostle, The, 1997, Robert Duvall
33. Island, The ("Ostrov"), 2006, Pavel Lungin
34. Close-Up ("Nema-ye Nazdik"), 1990, Abbas Kiarostami
35. Wild Strawberries ("Smultronstallet"), 1957, Ingmar Bergman
36. Days of Heaven, 1978, Terrence Malick
37. Playtime, 1967, Jacques Tati
38. Winter Light, 1963, Ingmar Bergman
39. Through a Glass Darkly ("Såsom i en spegel"), 1961, Ingmar Bergman
40. House is Black,The (Khaneh siah ast), 1964, Forugh Farrokhzad
41. Summer / The Green Ray ("Le Rayon vert"), 1986, Eric Rohmer
42. Day of Wrath (“Vredens dag”), 1943, Carl Theodor Dreyer
43. Silent Light ("Stella Licht"), 2007, Carlos Reygadas
44. Promesse, La, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
45. It's a Wonderful Life, 1946, Frank Capra
46. M, 1931, Fritz Lang
47. Late Spring ("Banshun"), 1972, Yasujiro Osu
48. Killer of Sheep, 1977, Charles Burnett
49. Solaris ("Solyaris"), 1972, Andrei Tarkovsky
50. Cyclist, The ("Bicycleran"), 1987, Mohsen Makhmalbaf
51. Spirit of the Beehive, The ("El espíritu de la colmena"), 1973, Víctor Erice
52. Cries and Whispers, 1973, Ingmar Bergman
53. My Life to Live ("Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux"), 1962, Jean-Luc Godard
54. Straight Story, The, 1999, David Lynch
55. Flowers of St. Francis ("Francesco, Guillare de Dio"), 1950, Roberto Rossellini
56. Ponette, 1996, Jacques Doillon
57. Wind Will Carry Us, The ("Bad ma ra khaha bord"), 1999, Abbas Kiarostami
58. Magnolia, 1999, Paul Thomas Anderson
59. Faust, 1926, F.W. Murnau
60. Fanny and Alexander ("Fanny och Alexander"), 1982, Ingmar Bergman
61. Paris, Texas, 1984, Wim Wenders
62. Moment of Innocence, A ("Nun va Goldoon"), 1997, Mohsen Makhmalbaf
63. Trial of Joan of Arc, The ("Proces de Jeanne d'Arc"), 1962, Robert Bresson
64. Beau travail, 1999, Claire Denis
65. After Life (“Wandafuru raifu”), 1999, Hirokazu Koreeda
66. By Brakhage: An Anthology, 2003, Stan Brakhage
67. Lorna's Silence ("Le silence de Lorna"), 2008, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
68. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days ("4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile"), 2007, Cristian Mungiu
69. Chariots of Fire, 1982, Hugh Hudson
70. Derzu Uzala, 1975, Akira Kurosawa
71. Autumn Afternoon, An (“Sanma no aji”), 1962, Yasujiro Ozu
72. Heartbeat Detector ("La question humaine"), 2007, Nicolas Klotz
73. Tender Mercies, 1983, Bruce Beresford
74. Summer Hours ("L'heure d'été"), 2008, Olivier Assayas
75. Rashômon, 1950, Akira Kurosawa
76. Becket, 1964, Peter Glenville
77. Black Narcissus, 1947, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
78. Eureka, 2000, Shinji Aoyama
79. Meshes in the Afternoon, 1943, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid
80. Open City ("Roma, citta apera"), 1945, Roberto Rossellini
81. Syndromes and a Century ("Sang sattawat"), 2006, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
82. Rosetta, 1999, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
83. Yi Yi: A One and a Two ("Yi Yi"), 2000, Edward Yang
84. Pickpocket, 1959, Robert Bresson
85. Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, Paul Thomas Anderson
86. Sacrifice, The ("Offret-Sacrificatio"), 1986, Andrei Tarkovsky
87. Stroszek, 1977, Werner Herzog
88. Jesus of Montreal ("Jesus De Montreal"), 1989, Denys Arcand
89. Ushpizin ("The Guests"), 2004, Giddi Dar
90. Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher, 2005, David Di Sabatino
91. Goodbye to the Children ("Au Revoir, Les Enfants"), 1987, Louis Malle
92. Son of Man, 2006, Mark Dornford-May
93. Virgin Spring, The ("Jungfrukallan"), 1960, Ingmar Bergman
94. In Praise of Love ("Éloge de l'amour"), 2001, Jean-Luc Godard
95. Crimes and Misdemeanors, 1989, Woody Allen
96. New World, The, 2005, Terrence Malick
97. M. Hulot's Holiday("Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot"), 1953, Jacques Tati
98. Return, The (Vozvrashchenie), 2003, Andrei Zvyagintsev
99. Breaking the Waves, 1996, Lars von Trier
100. Song of Bernadette, 1943, Henry King


Thanks to all who participated! With this sterling collection of films, we have much to be proud of.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Woo-hoo!

Any word on how many people actually voted? (Not looking for any names -- just a number!)

[M. Dale Prins]

Christy E, on 23 February 2010 - 04:05 PM, said:

62. Moment of Innocence, A ("Nun va Goldoon"), 1997, Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Very, very good job, one or two other voters.

Dale

[Greg Wolfe]

44 people voted.

Peter T Chattaway, on 23 February 2010 - 01:07 PM, said:

Woo-hoo!

Any word on how many people actually voted? (Not looking for any names -- just a number!)

[SDG]

19. Munyurangabo, 2007, Lee Isaac Chung

MLeary (among others) will be happy about this.

22. Serious Man, A, 2009, Ethan and Joel Coen

Very interesting.

24. Into Great Silence ("Le grand silence"), 2005, Philip Gröning
33. Island, The ("Ostrov"), 2006, Pavel Lungin

Woo hoo! Monk movies make the list!

Some other new additions:

43. Silent Light ("Stella Licht"), 2007, Carlos Reygadas
67. Lorna's Silence ("Le silence de Lorna"), 2008, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
68. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days ("4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile"), 2007, Cristian Mungiu
72. Heartbeat Detector ("La question humaine"), 2007, Nicolas Klotz
74. Summer Hours ("L'heure d'été"), 2008, Olivier Assayas
81. Syndromes and a Century ("Sang sattawat"), 2006, Apichatpong Weerasethakul

So those are some of the (newer) additions. What are some of the older ones? Which films dropped off the list?

BTW, Le grand silence may be the French name for Into Great Silence, but its "native," onscreen name is German, like the director: Die grosse Stille -- but the director's preferred title, so he told me, is the English, with its sense of movement.

This post has been edited by SDG: 23 February 2010 - 04:25 PM

[Greg Wolfe]

I'd like to stress that before we promote this outside of A&F I'd prefer you-all to wait until the Top 100 website is live.

We'll probably release the URL for the website when we have the top 100 list itself up and perhaps completed pages for the top ten films.

The staff and interns will be working feverishly over the coming days to get all this up and running.

Then we'll go live and enlist your support in getting the word out.

Thanks!

[Anna J]

SDG, on 23 February 2010 - 01:23 PM, said:

So those are some of the (newer) additions. What are some of the older ones? Which films dropped off the list?

BTW, Le grand silence may be the French name for Into Great Silence, but its "native," onscreen name is German, like the director: Die grosse Stille -- but the director's preferred title, so he told me, is the English, with its sense of movement.

Thanks for the tip! Your (everyone's) eagle eyes are indispensable as we move into the publication phase.

We're compiling lists for our own purposes, like how many countries are represented, how many directors, who has more than one film, which films are new, etc. Look for those here in the coming days.

[SDG]

I see Dogville, a 2006 list honoree, is missing here. Can't say I'm busted up about that.

Lilies of the Field also gone. Oh well, a fine movie but not a great one. The Song of Bernadette held on, dropping from 99 to 100. That's the Golden Age religious film the list needs.

Hey! The Last Temptation of Christ has dropped of the list. That and Dogville are good things in my book.

Also missing: Hotel Rwanda. Again, not a film that the list needed, and a welcome trade for Munyurangabo.

[Darren H]

I love that Maya Deren made the list. That's so rad. Also, I guess one of these days I should get around to watching Babette's Feast.

[SDG]

Oh, yikes. We lost The Miracle Maker. Dear oh dear.

And The Passion of the Christ. That one I understand, though I disagree.

And The Gospel of John. That one I can go either way on.

Luther. Good call (says the Catholic).

Dead Man Walking gone.

Secrets and Lies.

Shadowlands. Millions. Romero.

[Buckeye Jones]

And the Coen bros have the very first American film on the list. Interesting. Unless Murnau's Sunrise was American?

No Passion of the Christ? That will prompt some interesting feedback once the list is published, I'd hazard a guess.

And I've only seen 14% of this list.

[Darren H]

Murnau made Sunrise at Fox with an American cast and crew.

[SDG]

Fiddler on the Roof gone. Really? Peter Chattaway am sad. (Me too.)

Some older films added to the list:

The Burmese Harp. Very, very good.

Three more by Ozu (the previous list had only Tokyo Story.)

Two by Tati (the previous list had none, I think).

Black Narcissus. Hum.

Killer of Sheep. Punch Drunk Love. Rashomon.

[Overstreet]

I think many of the surprises and changes on this last have everything to do with the shift of emphasis from "the most spiritually significant films according to A&F" to "the Top 100 films according to A&F."

In view of that, I'm anticipating that it will be a matter of moments, once we "go public", before somebody goes "Where is Citizen Kane?"

Still, I am overjoyed with the results. The Top 10 all by itself is a thing of great beauty.

I guess I have to see Early Summer. I'm stunned to see that Tokyo Story isn't the top-rated Ozu film.

Munyurangabo in the top 20. Wow. That's... um... bold.

And all of the Dardenne films are here. Nice.

This post has been edited by Overstreet: 23 February 2010 - 04:55 PM

[Peter T Chattaway]

There was some discussion at one point about the lack of comedies on the predecessors to this list. So... how is this list doing? I see one film by Woody Allen that is half-comedy, half-deadly-serious. Beyond that...?

Oh yes, and I'm glad that my two favorite films of the year -- which I plugged at last night's Kindlings Muse event here in Vancouver -- are both on this list.

[Overstreet]

By the way...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Greg, Anna, Christy, and the rest, for all of the work you've put into this already.

[Persona]

I am pleasantly surprised. The Top 20 looks awesome. Brakhage squeaks in (we'll promote him upward for next year). On first look, I think I like this list even better than before. But I think there's six films in the Top 20 I now haven't seen.

Let's get to work.

Overstreet, on 23 February 2010 - 03:58 PM, said:

By the way...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Greg, Anna, Christy, and the rest, for all of the work you've put into this already.

Yes. You really are appreciated.

This post has been edited by Persona: 23 February 2010 - 05:00 PM

[M. Leary]

Oh man. I don't even know where to start. We lost a few things, but this is an amazing list of films. I am intensely proud that 44 people collaborated to create this, and look forward to seeing all these films written up.

Brakhage? Deren? Beau travail? Playtime? In Praise of Love? Heartbeat Detector? Stroszek? I can't find one film on this list that seems like a weak spot, which could not be said for any other previous generation of this list. What a significant achievement for this board. Seeing this is a great reward for all the years of discussion here.

Can't wait to get cracking on publicizing this.

Thank you, Image staff. As Darren said, this is rad.

This post has been edited by MLeary: 23 February 2010 - 05:10 PM

[Tyler]

Tarkovsky is my favorite director, so it's nice to see 6 of his films on here (Ivan's Childhood and The Steamroller and the Violin were his two that didn't make it, which is fine with me). The order in which they appear surprises me, though; do that many people really like Nostalghia more than Solaris, Stalker, or The Sacrifice?

[Persona]

Overstreet, on 23 February 2010 - 03:48 PM, said:

In view of that, I'm anticipating that it will be a matter of moments, once we "go public", before somebody goes "Where is Citizen Kane?"

It is a legitimate question.