New Delhi: 'Pather Panchali', directed by Satyajit Ray, is the only Indian movie to be included in the top 100 films of all time. Sight and Sound just released their list of the greatest movies ever made, and Belgian director Chantal Akerman's 1975 drama 'Jeanne Dielman', '23 quai du Commerce', '1080 Bruxelles' was kept as the top pick.
The British magazine Sight and Sound first published the poll in 1952, and it is now published once every ten years. A total of 1,639 reviewers, programmers, curators, archivists, and academics participated in this year's poll by submitting their top 10 lists.
The top film at the time the poll was originally announced in 1952 was Vittorio de Sica's 'Bicycle Thieves'. The ranking was then topped by Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane' for five consecutive years: 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2002. 'Vertigo' by Alfred Hitchcock came in first place in the most recent survey, which was announced in 2012.
Pather Panchali (1955), the first instalment of Satyajit Ray's renowned Apu Trilogy, came in at number 35. On the list of greatest films of all time, it is the sole film from India.
"Pather Panchali announced the arrival of a humanistic, Calcutta-centred Indian art cinema, distinct from the commercial product of Bollywood. Among the film’s intensely memorable moments is a scene in which Apu (Subir Banerjee) and his sister run through a paddy field to catch a glimpse of a passing train," the publication claims.
On the other hand, a few of the most recent additions to the list are Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Barry Jenkins' 'Moonlight' (2016), Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' (2019), and Jordan Peele's 'Get Out' (2017).
Meanwhile, with Akerman's entry at the top, the prestigious Sight & Sound poll has now been topped by a film directed by a woman for the first time in its 70-year existence.