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BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films

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BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films is a list compiled in 2018 by BBC Culture, as part of their annual critics' poll.[1][2][3]

Selection criteria

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BBC Culture polled 209 film critics from 43 countries, asking them to submit their list of the 10 greatest foreign-language movies (i.e. not in English). As with other BBC Culture 100 Greatest polls, the ranking was established by a point system: ten points awarded to the film ranked first, nine to the film ranked second and so forth.[1]

Criticism

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Writing for Vanity Fair, K. Austin Collins lamented the predictability of the list - "heavy on works from Europe and East Asia; low on women; low on avant garde and documentary filmmaking" - and the absence of popular genres such as Nollywood, Bollywood or Giallo, arguing that "a truly worthy list of this nature wouldn’t be so snobby about high and low culture. It’d be a glorious, messy mix of arthouse and pop, as any list about the greatest art—rather than the greatest textbook art—should be."[4]

Partial list

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No. Title Director Country Original Language Year
1 Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa Japan Japan Japanese 1954
2 Bicycle Thieves Vittorio De Sica Italy Italy Italian 1948
3 Tokyo Story Yasujirō Ozu Japan Japan Japanese 1953
4 Rashomon Akira Kurosawa Japan Japan Japanese 1950
5 The Rules of the Game Jean Renoir France France French 1939
6 Persona Ingmar Bergman Sweden Sweden Swedish 1966
7 Federico Fellini Italy Italy, France France Italian 1963
8 The 400 Blows François Truffaut France France French 1959
9 In the Mood for Love Wong Kar-wai Hong Kong Hong Kong, France France Cantonese 2000
10 La Dolce Vita Federico Fellini Italy Italy, France France Italian, English, French, German 1960

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Sharf, Zack (30 October 2018). "BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films Ever: 209 Film Critics Crown 'Seven Samurai,' 'In the Mood for Love,' and More". IndieWire. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  2. ^ Clarke, Donald. "The 100 greatest foreign-language films revealed". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  3. ^ "BBC reveals list of 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films". New Age. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Trying to Name the 100 Best "Foreign-Language" Films Is a Fool's Errand". Vanity Fair. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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