Best Movie Ever?

[itsnotmymind]

I am a fan of Citizen Kane. I like it - I may even love it. But it always bothered me that the American Film Institute named it as the best movie of all time, in 1998 and again in 2007. Because at the end of the day, Citizen Kane is a study of the psychology of a rich, troubled white man. And I mean, I am all in favor of psychological studies of rich, troubled white men, and Citizen Kane is an extremely well done example. But I don't like the message it sends to say that a movie like that is the best film of all time.

In a related note, I have seen 37/100 films on the top 100 list from 1998, and 37/100 films in the top 100 list from 2007.

Comments

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I had to watch Citizen Kane for film and media class in college, it was alright but I wasn't exactly a huge fan of it probably because I was kind of required to watch and write a paper about it. I mean, I understand why it got praise for the filming and everything of it, but I also don't like that it is named "the best movie of all time" either. Granted, that's all subjective, but still. To some it probably is, but to others it's not really. Who gets to decide that? What are the criteria of judging a film? idk

[raloria.livejournal.com]

I think the reason Citizen Kane is considered the best movie of all time is that it was so ground-breaking in the art of filmmaking. It's a literal how-to manual for camera angles, movement, special effects (for that time), editing, and more. Before this movie nobody even thought to put the camera below the level of the floor to shoot up at the actors. There's a reason this movie is shown in so many filmmaking classes. But it also has excellent writing, direction, and acting. Are there other films that are just as good as Citizen Kane? Certainly. But this film puts itself above the rest because of the innovative way it was made. It generated techniques that are all commonplace now.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

That is true - and unlike Birth of a Nation, which also revolutionized film making, it has a powerful story that isn't racist propaganda.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I was twelve when I watched Citizen Kane for the first time. I thought I would be bored, but I wasn't. I still don't think I'd name it the best movie of all time, though.

As for who decides - well, according to this link,
"In 1998, AFI invited more than 1,500 leaders from across the American film community – screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, cinematographers, editors, executives, film historians and critics among them – to choose from a list of 400 nominated films compiled by AFI and select the 100 greatest American movies."