The
Online Film Critics Society today returned to compiling their Top 100 lists, their first since 2004. Their first list is their compilation of the top 100 debut films by directors. Needless to say, it's an interesting but arguable list.
The choice for the number 1 spot is rather obvious, since
Citizen Kane is considered by many to be the number one film of all time, regardless of it being a debut film. The fact that it was Orson Welles' first picture makes it all the more impressive an accomplishment. But the rest of the list, however, includes some middling first films by well-known directors. For example, I liked
Clerks as much as the next guy, but it isn't really all that exceptional. The list is also very Hollywood-centric with not enough foreign titles, with most of the foreign films mentioned coming from France. The list is heavily weighted to the last couple of decades. There are few women directors's films, and no Asian titles (e.g. where's
Red Sorghum by Zhang Yimou?). Only two documentaries make the list.
Still, it's worth taking a look at what others consider to be important works. And some of the films mentioned are ones I haven't yet seen, so I'll be adding them to my viewing list. Others I haven't seen for a while, so this has piqued my interest to see them again too.
