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BBC Culture polled 209 critics in 43 countries to find the best in world cinema – here’s the top 100.
30 October 2018
Three years ago, BBC Culture ran its first major critics’ poll, to find the 100 greatest American films.
Two further polls looked for the best films of the 21st Century and the greatest comedies ever made – and
those also ended up with films from the US in the top spot.
This year, we felt it was time to direct the spotlight away from Hollywood and celebrate the best cinema
from around the world. We asked critics to vote for their favourite movies made primarily in a language
other than English. The result is BBC Culture’s 100 greatest foreign-language films.
From the perspective of an English-language website, that’s an accurate description – but equally, as an
internationally-focused one, we’re happy to acknowledge that, depending on who you are, many of these
films won’t be in a language that’s foreign to you.
And as the poll exists to salute the extraordinary diversity and richness of films from all around the world,
we wanted to ensure that its voters were from all around the world, too. The 209 critics who took part are
from 43 different countries and speak a total of 41 languages – a range that sets our poll apart from any
other.
The result: 100 films from 67 different directors, from 24 countries, and in 19 languages. French can
claim to be the international language of acclaimed cinema: 27 of the highest-rated films were in French,
followed by 12 in Mandarin, and 11 each in Italian and Japanese. At the other end of the scale, several
languages were represented by just one film, such as Belarusian (Come and See), Romanian (4 Months, 3
Weeks and 2 Days), and Wolof (Touki Bouki).
If there’s anything disappointing about the final list, it’s the paucity of films directed or co-directed by
women. There are just four out of 100. But we made sure to contact as many female critics as male ones;
of those who responded, 94 (45 per cent) were women.
One statistic we noted was that a quarter of the films on our list were East Asian: that is, 25 of them were
made in Japan (11), China (6), Taiwan (4), Hong Kong (3) or South Korea (1). And the winning film,
Seven Samurai, by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, was loved by critics everywhere – everywhere,
that is, except for Japan. The six Japanese critics who voted didn’t go for a single Kurosawa film between
them.
But it’s clear that culture isn’t bound by borders, and language needn’t be a barrier to enjoying great film-
making. While the cinema of an individual nation is inevitably tied to its unique identity and history, the
language of film is universal.
One more thing: the purpose of every BBC Culture film poll has always been to generate debate as well
as encourage discovery. And we are aware that no list can be either definitive or please everyone – so get
in touch using the hashtag #WorldFilm100 and let us know what’s missing. And look out for more BBC
Culture features on the greatest in world cinema in the weeks to come.
66. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973)
14. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
How many of the films have you seen? Let us know using the hashtag #WorldFilm100 on our Facebook
page or message us on Twitter.
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to
our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read
6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital and Travel,
delivered to your inbox every Friday.
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