Sight & Sound, the esteemed film magazine that polls critics and other professionals every ten years about the greatest films of all time, has released the results of their 2012 survey. For the first time in 60 years, Citizen Kane is no longer the number one film on the list! Vertigo now takes the top honor, while The Godfather got a surprise snub after Sight & Sound rewrote the ballot rules.
This isn’t just some random Internet poll: Sight & Sound‘s poll is the most significant and respected film survey. It’s the reason why Citizen Kane is often considered the de facto greatest film of all time — a mantle that Vertigo will now have to take up!
According to Sight & Sound‘s poll, ten greatest films of all time are now…
1. Vertigo (DVD 14)
2. Citizen Kane (HU DVD 434)
3. Tokyo Story (HU DVD 696)
4. The Rules of the Game (DVD 963)
5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (HU DVD 3084 and HU DVD 5321)
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (HU DVD 1817)
7. The Searchers (HU DVD 1808)
8. Man with a Movie Camera (HU DVD 32)
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (HU DVD 23)
10. 8½ (HU DVD 369)
Additionally, a version of the poll limited to directors yielded a different list of ten…
1. Tokyo Story (HU DVD 696)
2 (tie). 2001: A Space Odyssey (HU DVD 1817)
2 (tie). Citizen Kane (HU DVD 434)
4. 8½ (HU DVD 369)
5. Taxi Driver (HU DVD 904)
6. Apocalypse Now (HU DVD 27)
7. The Godfather (HU DVD 2544)
8. Vertigo (DVD 14)
9. Mirror (HU DVD 137)
10. Bicycle Thieves (HU DVD 2469)