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Source List · FilmMethodology

Sight & Sound Critics' 250

Sight & Sound Critics' 250 is a ranked list published in 2022 — one of the 31 sources behind the film canon, weighted as major international poll. 146 of its 264 entries appear in the aggregated canon.

  1. 1Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)Canon #60
  2. 2Vertigo (1958)Canon #3
  3. 3Citizen Kane (1941)Canon #1
  4. 4Tokyo Story (1953)Canon #10
  5. 5In the Mood for Love (2000)Canon #20
  6. 62001: A Space Odyssey (1968)Canon #4
  7. 7Beau Travail (1999)Canon #86
  8. 8Mulholland Drive (2001)Canon #28
  9. 9Man with a Movie Camera (1929)Canon #67
  10. 10Singin' in the Rain (1952)Canon #8
  11. 11Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)Canon #18
  12. 12The Godfather (1972)Canon #2
  13. 13The Rules of the Game (1939)Canon #15
  14. 14Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)Canon #147
  15. 15The Searchers (1956)Canon #19
  16. 16Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
  17. 17Close-Up (1990)Canon #109
  18. 18Persona (1966)Canon #31
  19. 19Apocalypse Now (1979)Canon #6
  20. 20Seven Samurai (1954)Canon #5
  21. 21The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)Canon #25
  22. 22Late Spring (1949)Canon #196
  23. 23PlayTime (1967)Canon #90
  24. 24Do the Right Thing (1989)Canon #52
  25. 25Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)Canon #111
  26. 26The Night of the Hunter (1955)Canon #34
  27. 27Shoah (1985)Canon #108
  28. 28Daisies (1966)
  29. 29Taxi Driver (1976)Canon #14
  30. 30Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)Canon #143
  31. 31Mirror (1975)Canon #161
  32. 3281⁄2 (1963)Canon #27
  33. 33Psycho (1960)Canon #13
  34. 34L'Atalante (1934)Canon #30
  35. 35Pather Panchali (1955)Canon #43
  36. 36City Lights (1931)Canon #21
  37. 37M (1931)Canon #39
  38. 38Breathless (1960)Canon #42
  39. 39Some Like It Hot (1959)Canon #16
  40. 40Rear Window (1954)Canon #49
  41. 41Bicycle Thieves (1948)Canon #40
  42. 42Rashomon (1950)Canon #29
  43. 43Stalker (1979)Canon #127
  44. 44Killer of Sheep (1978)Canon #193
  45. 45North by Northwest (1959)Canon #26
  46. 46The Battle of Algiers (1966)Canon #61
  47. 47Barry Lyndon (1975)Canon #51
  48. 48Wanda (1970)
  49. 49Ordet (1955)Canon #104
  50. 50The 400 Blows (1959)Canon #24
  51. 51The Piano (1993)Canon #129
  52. 52News from Home (1976)
  53. 53Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)Canon #172
  54. 54The Apartment (1960)Canon #50
  55. 55Battleship Potemkin (1925)Canon #53
  56. 56Sherlock Jr. (1924)Canon #155
  57. 57Contempt (1963)Canon #74
  58. 58Blade Runner (1982)Canon #45
  59. 59Sans Soleil (1983)
  60. 60Daughters of the Dust (1991)
  61. 61La Dolce Vita (1960)Canon #57
  62. 62Moonlight (2016)Canon #89
  63. 63Casablanca (1942)Canon #17
  64. 64GoodFellas (1990)Canon #12
  65. 65The Third Man (1949)Canon #44
  66. 66Touki Bouki (1973)
  67. 67The Gleaners and I (2000)
  68. 68Metropolis (1927)Canon #99
  69. 69Andrei Rublev (1966)Canon #70
  70. 70The Red Shoes (1948)Canon #78
  71. 71La Jetée (1962)Canon #125
  72. 72My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
  73. 73Journey to Italy (1954)
  74. 74L'Avventura (1960)Canon #59
  75. 75Imitation of Life (1959)
  76. 76Sansho the Bailiff (1954)Canon #107
  77. 77Spirited Away (2001)Canon #55
  78. 78A Brighter Summer Day (1991)Canon #231
  79. 79Satantango (1994)Canon #214
  80. 80Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
  81. 81Modern Times (1936)Canon #135
  82. 82Sunset Boulevard (1950)Canon #33
  83. 83A Matter of Life and Death (1946)Canon #136
  84. 84Blue Velvet (1986)Canon #102
  85. 85Pierrot le Fou (1965)
  86. 86Histoire (s) du cinéma (1989)
  87. 87The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)Canon #176
  88. 88The Shining (1980)Canon #71
  89. 89Chungking Express (1994)
  90. 90The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)Canon #112
  91. 91The Leopard (1963)Canon #81
  92. 92Ugetsu (1953)Canon #66
  93. 93Parasite (2019)Canon #80
  94. 94Yi Yi (2000)
  95. 95A Man Escaped (1956)Canon #114
  96. 96The General (1926)Canon #58
  97. 97Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)Canon #65
  98. 98Get Out (2017)Canon #98
  99. 99Black Girl (1966)
  100. 100Tropical Malady (2004)
  101. 101Vagabond (1985)Canon #192
  102. 102The House Is Black (1963)
  103. 103Rio Bravo (1959)Canon #142
  104. 104Come and See (1985)Canon #103
  105. 105The Godfather Part II (1974)Canon #7
  106. 106The Mother and the Whore (1973)Canon #164
  107. 107Jaws (1975)Canon #35
  108. 108Wild Strawberries (1957)Canon #169
  109. 109Bringing Up Baby (1938)Canon #158
  110. 110The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)Canon #181
  111. 111The Wizard of Oz (1939)Canon #23
  112. 112Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
  113. 113Touch of Evil (1958)Canon #48
  114. 114Don't Look Now (1973)Canon #146
  115. 115To Be or Not to Be (1942)Canon #88
  116. 116A Woman Under the Influence (1974)Canon #105
  117. 117Nashville (1975)Canon #94
  118. 118The Thing (1982)
  119. 119Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)Canon #120
  120. 120The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)Canon #222
  121. 121The Conformist (1970)Canon #87
  122. 122Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
  123. 123The Matrix (1999)Canon #200
  124. 124There Will Be Blood (2007)Canon #41
  125. 125Johnny Guitar (1954)Canon #160
  126. 126The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
  127. 127The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
  128. 128The Ascent (1977)
  129. 129His Girl Friday (1940)Canon #76
  130. 130Pulp Fiction (1994)Canon #22
  131. 131Raging Bull (1980)Canon #32
  132. 132Fanny and Alexander (1982)Canon #91
  133. 133Notorious (1946)Canon #75
  134. 134Lawrence of Arabia (1962)Canon #11
  135. 135It's a Wonderful Life (1946)Canon #36
  136. 136A Day in the Country (1946)
  137. 137Children of Paradise (1945)Canon #68
  138. 138Trouble in Paradise (1932)Canon #145
  139. 139The Wild Bunch (1969)Canon #79
  140. 140La Ciénaga (2001)
  141. 141Gertrud (1964)
  142. 142The Seventh Seal (1957)Canon #73
  143. 143Sambizanga (1972)
  144. 144Pickpocket (1959)Canon #152
  145. 145All That Heaven Allows (1955)
  146. 146Alien (1979)Canon #69
  147. 147The Watermelon Woman (1996)
  148. 148Grand Illusion (1937)Canon #77
  149. 149Vampyr (1932)
  150. 150India Song (1975)
  151. 151Chinatown (1974)Canon #9
  152. 152Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
  153. 153The Cloud-Capped Star (1960)
  154. 154Days of Heaven (1978)Canon #197
  155. 155Le Bonheur (1965)
  156. 156West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (1979)
  157. 157A City of Sadness (1989)
  158. 158The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
  159. 159All About My Mother (1999)
  160. 160Ikiru (1952)Canon #139
  161. 161The Young and the Damned (1950)
  162. 162Once Upon a Time in America (1984)Canon #163
  163. 163Out of the Past (1947)
  164. 164Where Is the Friend's House? (1987)
  165. 165Orlando (1992)
  166. 166Vivre Sa Vie (1962)
  167. 167Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2002)
  168. 168Amarcord (1973)Canon #177
  169. 169The Exterminating Angel (1962)Canon #225
  170. 170Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
  171. 171Out 1 (1971)
  172. 172Un Chien Andalou (1929)
  173. 173Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
  174. 174Heat (1995)
  175. 175Under the Skin (2013)Canon #165
  176. 176The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)Canon #130
  177. 177Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)Canon #186
  178. 178The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)Canon #220
  179. 179L'Argent (1983)
  180. 180Black Narcissus (1947)
  181. 181Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
  182. 182Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
  183. 183Red Desert (1964)
  184. 184Charulata (1964)
  185. 185Pyaasa (1957)
  186. 186Magnolia (1999)
  187. 187Greed (1924)Canon #96
  188. 188Wings of Desire (1987)Canon #182
  189. 189Ran (1985)Canon #187
  190. 190The Birds (1963)
  191. 191An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
  192. 192Paris, Texas (1984)
  193. 193The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
  194. 194The River (1951)
  195. 195Love Streams (1984)
  196. 196Paisan (1946)
  197. 197The Headless Woman (2008)
  198. 198Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)Canon #47
  199. 199L'Eclisse (1962)
  200. 200Wavelength (1967)
  201. 201Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
  202. 202Nosferatu (1922)Canon #124
  203. 203I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
  204. 204Double Indemnity (1944)Canon #62
  205. 205The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)Canon #188
  206. 206Paris Is Burning (1990)
  207. 207The Tree of Life (2011)Canon #156
  208. 208Zama (2017)
  209. 209One Way or Another (1975)
  210. 210Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)Canon #117
  211. 211By the Bluest of Seas (1936)
  212. 212Suspiria (1977)
  213. 213Brief Encounter (1945)Canon #219
  214. 214Army of Shadows (1969)
  215. 215All About Eve (1950)Canon #46
  216. 216Limite (1931)
  217. 217In a Lonely Place (1950)
  218. 218Pink Flamingos (1972)
  219. 219The Deer Hunter (1978)Canon #150
  220. 220Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
  221. 221Duck Soup (1933)Canon #106
  222. 222Melancholia (2011)
  223. 223Twenty Years Later (1984)
  224. 224Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)Canon #54
  225. 225Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
  226. 226A Touch of Zen (1970)
  227. 227The Green Ray (1986)
  228. 228Happy Together (1997)
  229. 229Star Wars (1977)
  230. 230Blue (1993)
  231. 231Napoleon (1927)
  232. 232Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)Canon #126
  233. 233Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
  234. 234As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
  235. 235Europa '51 (1952)
  236. 236Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
  237. 237Crash (1996)
  238. 238The Hour of the Furnaces (1968)
  239. 239Cries and Whispers (1972)Canon #238
  240. 240The Crowd (1928)Canon #198
  241. 241Je Tu Il Elle (1974)
  242. 242Petite Maman (2021)
  243. 243In Vanda's Room (2000)
  244. 244My Darling Clementine (1946)
  245. 245Dream of Light (1992)
  246. 246Annie Hall (1977)Canon #38
  247. 247Pandora's Box (1929)
  248. 248Soleil O (1970)
  249. 249Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
  250. 250Morvern Callar (2002)
  251. 251Sullivan's Travels (1941)
  252. 252The Intruder (2004)
  253. 253Born in Flames (1983)
  254. 254Syndromes and a Century (2006)
  255. 255Earth (1930)
  256. 256Mouchette (1967)
  257. 257Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
  258. 258Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
  259. 259A Canterbury Tale (1944)
  260. 260A Clockwork Orange (1971)Canon #119
  261. 261The Last Laugh (1924)
  262. 262Taste of Cherry (1997)
  263. 263Possession (1981)
  264. 264Videodrome (1983)

List compiled and published by its original authors; positions shown as published. View the original at bfi.org.uk. Canon ranks link to each entry's full evidence page.