BBC's list of the top 100 foreign language films has just been announced. The so-called "foreign language films", like the Oscars, are from the perspective of English-speaking countries, and it is more accurate to replace them with "non-English films".
The selection of BBC has two major differences from the Cannes and Oscars we are familiar with:
First, compared with the annual selection, it can have historical depth, and those award pearls can be collected, while the winning films that cannot stand the test of time will be ignored collectively;
BBC is not an official or professional body, but a media outlet whose credibility is based solely on its reputation. In other words, any media can make such a list, but whether people take it seriously depends on the level and power of your media platform. In English-speaking countries, only Sight & Hearing magazine and the American Film Institute's (AFI) Top 100 list have achieved similar status; in addition, IMDB's elected list (not limited to one hundred) has become increasingly influential.
We have mistakenly believed that when a film wins an authoritative award, such as the Palme d'Or or the Oscars, its place in film history remains untouched. In fact, the annual awards are only the first step into the history of film, and a selection like BBC can be said to be another step. I have carefully compared the AFI Top 100 list, the judges are highly similar to the Oscars, and found that about one-third of the films on the AFI Top 100 (which can be roughly understood as a classic in film history) have won the Oscar for Best Picture, and about one-third have been nominated for Best Picture. But about a third have never even been nominated, such as "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Mulholland Drive." This is my motivation to actively participate in this selection, because I know that there are several Chinese films that we think are very classic, perhaps they have been famous in the world, but outsiders do not know their status in China, so that these films have the opportunity to enter the BBC Top 100 list, which is the responsibility of Chinese judges. It's not about nationalism, it's about cultural sharing.
The most obvious example is "Farewell to the Overlord". This masterpiece won the Palme d'Or in Cannes that year, and today, it is the highest-rated domestic film on Douban and the best Chinese film in the minds of many Chinese film fans and film experts. However, it rarely appears on various western lists, far less than the global fame of "Fancy Time" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Without the support of our 23 Chinese judges, let alone climb to the 12th place, even enter the top 100 with a question mark. In addition to the Chinese judges, only one Indian judge gave it a seventh place, and a Colombian judge gave it eighth place.
Another film, "Spring in a Small Town", which is regarded by some film experts as the greatest Chinese film, also made the list by Chinese judges, accounting for 63rd place. Outside of the Chinese judges, only one Japanese judge chose it and ranked first in his place.
BBC's selection mechanism is like this: each judge selects ten films and arranges them according to their preferences. The ranking determines the weight, with the first-place film receiving 10 points, the second-placed film scoring 9 points, and so on. If "Farewell to the King" does not have our batch of Chinese judges, who account for about one-tenth of the total, it can only get a total score of 7 points.
Admittedly, Chinese judges may not only choose Chinese films. The selection requirement is to choose your favorite film, the problem is that for a person who works with movies every day, one hundred films that can be included in the "favorite" list are not enough, so I can choose ten French films or ten Japanese films, all of which meet the criteria of "favorite". Therefore, I set a ratio myself and gave half of the quota to Chinese films. Other Chinese judges used different proportions, but they also used this kind of thinking. This should be the intention of the organizers, it can not force or imply what you choose, but the composition of the Chinese jury has been increased by nearly ten times, obviously hoping that the Chinese film can get the place it deserves. This is the same logic as the Oscars' significant increase in the number of women and minority judges. The Oscars can't force a certain percentage of non-white males to be selected, but by adjusting the composition of the jury, it can prevent the result of "all white". Some people say that judges from other countries do not have such a high density of domestic works. Yes, when a country's film reaches a certain level of international exposure, the country's judges can indeed let go of the burden of recommending the best films in their own country. Even without Japanese judges, "Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon" will definitely enter the list with high scores, and look at how many Chinese judges voted for them, you will understand.
I had the honor of participating with 22 other Chinese judges, including Jiao Xiongping in Taiwan, He Jiping and Wen Jun in Hong Kong. I have participated in the BBC Top 100 three times, one is the Top 100 21st Century Films (including English films), once is the Top 100 Comedies, and once is called the Top 100 Stories, as if the results have not yet been announced. When I invited the judges, I made some balances, trying to take into account the academic school, mainstream media, professional media, new media, independent film critics, film festival curation, etc., and a unit generally only invites one, which is really unfair to the unit where film experts gather. In addition, I invited two or three senior screenwriters who were also very prestigious cultural figures, but did not invite directors, because when the BBC first approached me, it was clear that he wanted film critics. Of course, there are a lot of critics worth inviting, mainly depending on the number of the entire jury team.
The judging rules do not prohibit discussions between the judges, and I have shared some of my own experiences, such as too personal choice is more of a gesture, and that vote is actually wasted. In addition, I would like to suggest that you concentrate your votes on certain filmmakers in one film, such as the votes for Jia Zhangke, if not scattered in "Xiao Wu", "Platform" and "Destiny", maybe one of them can be on the list. But I still didn't say it. After all, this is everyone's own choice, and how to understand the selection rules is also everyone's own business. But the more people who participate in the selection, the more they represent consensus.
Attached: BBC Culture's 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films 100. Theo Angelopoulos, Landscapes in the Mist (1988) 99. Andjay Vajda Andjay Vajda Ashes and Diamonds (1958) 98. Jiang Wen, "Sunny Days" (1994) 97."The Taste of Cherries" Abbas Chiarostami (1997) 96. Claude Lantzmann, The Havoc (1985) 95. Naruse Mikio, Floating Clouds (1955) 94. Abbas Chiarostami, Where Is My Friend's Home (1987) 93. Zhang Yimou, "The Big Red Lantern Hangs High" (1991) 92. Ingmar Bergman, Married Life (1973) 91. Jules Dashing, The Man's Fight (1955)
The Battle of men 90. Alan Renai, Love in Hiroshima (1959) 89. Ingmar Bergman, Wild Strawberries (1957) 88. Kenji Mizoguchi, The Tale of the Remnants (1939) 87. Federico Fellini, The Night of Kabylia (1957) 86. Chris Mark, The (1962) 85. Vittorio de Sica, Tears of the Wind, 1952) 84. Luis Buñuel, The Prudent Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) 83. Federico Fellini, The Great Road (1954)
"The Great Road"
82. Jean-Pierre Genet, "Amelie the Angel" (2001) 81. Jacques Levitte Sails celine and Julie (1950) 80 Louis Buñuel The Forgotten People (1950) 79. Akira Kurosawa, Chaos (1985) 78. Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 77. Bernaldo Bertolucci, The Co-Streamer (1970) 76. Alfonso Caron, "Your Mother Too" (2001) 75. Luis Buñuel, "Day beauty" (1967) 74. Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot the Mad (1965) 73. Giga Vertov, The Man with the Camera (1929) 72. Akira Kurosawa, The Desire to Be Born (1952) 71. Wong Kar-wai, "Spring Breaks" (1997)
"Spring Breaks" 70. Michelangelo Antonioni Eclipse (1962) 69. Michael Haneke, "Love" (2012) 68. Kenji Mizoguchi, The Tale of the Rainy Moon (1953) 67. Luis Buñuel, The Angels Destroyed (1962) 66. Reiner Werner Fassbinder, Fear Eats The Soul (1973) 65. Carl Theodore Dreyer, Words (1955) 64. Krzyshtov Kieslowski, The Blue of the Blue,Bleu Trilogy (1993)
Blue
63. Fermow's Spring in a Small Town (1948) 62. Digibrill Diop Manberti, Journey of the Coyote (1973) 61. Kenji Mizoguchi, Doctor Pepper (1954) 60.Jean-Luc Godard, Contempt (1963) 59. Elem Klimov, See for Yourself (1985) 58. Max Ofels, Earrings of the Countess (1953) 57. Andrey Tarkovsky, Flying into Space (1972)
Flying into Space
56. Wong Kar-wai, Chongqing Forest (1994) 55. François Truffaut, Zu and Cham (1962) 54. Ang Lee, "Eating Men and Women" (1994) 53. Yasujiro Ozu, Late Spring (1949) 52. Robert Bresson, Batsa the Donkey (1966) 51. Jacques Demi, "The Umbrella of Cherbourg" (1964) 50.Jean Vigo, "Atlanta" (1934) 49. Andrey Tarkovsky, Stalker (1979) 48. Luis Buñuel, "Veritina" (1961) 47.Christian Monge, "Three Weeks and Two Days in April" (2007)
"Three Weeks and Two Days in April"
46. Marcel Carne, Children of Heaven (1945) 45. Michelangelo Antonioni, The Adventure (1960) 44. Agnès Varda, Cleo at Five to Seven (1962) 43. Claire Denis, Forbidden Love in the Army (1999) 42. Cadia Rand / Fernando Merrills City of God (2002) 41. Zhang Yimou "Alive" (1994) 40. Andrey Tarkovsky, Andrey Rublev (1966) 39. Abbas Kiarostami Close-up (1990) 38. Yang Dechang, "Juvenile Murder On Muling Street" (1991) 37. Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away (2001)
Spirited Away
36. Jean Renoir, The Great Mirage (1937) 35. Lukino Visconti, The Leopard (1963) 34. Wim Wenders, Under the Berlin Sky (1987) 33. Jacques Tati, Playtime (1967) 32. Pedro Almodóvar, All About My Mother (1999) 31. Florian Heinkel von Donas Marc, The Eavesdropping Storm (2006) 30. Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal (1957) 29. Park Chan-wook, "Old Boys" (2003) 28. Ingmar Bergman, Fanny and Alexander (1982) 27. Victor Iris, The Ghost of the Hive (1973) 26. Giuseppe Tornatore, Cinema Paradiso (1988) 25. Yang Dechang, "One One" (2000)
《One By One》
24. Sergei Eisenstein, Battleship Potemkin (1925) 23. Carl Theodore Dreier, The Apocrypha of Joan of Arc (1928) 22. Gilmour del Toro, Labyrinth of the Pan God (2006) 21. Asha Farhati, A Parting (2011) 20. Andrey Tarkovsky, The Mirror (1974) 19. Giro Pentakovo, The Battle of Algiers (1966) 18. Hou Xiaoxian, "City of Sorrows" (1989) 17. Werner Herzog, Akil, The Wrath of God (1972) 16. Fritz Lang, Metropolis (1927) 15. Satyajit Rey, Song of the Earth (1955) 14. Chantel Ackermann, Jeanne Dillmann (1975) 13. Fritz Lang, M is the Murderer (1931) 12. Chen Kaige, "Farewell to the Overlord" (1993)
Stills from "Farewell to the Overlord"
11. Jean-Luc Godard, Exhausted (1960) 10. Federico Fellini, La Dolce Vita (1960) 9. Wong Kar-wai," The Wonder Years (2000) 8. François Truffaut, Four Hundred Strikes (1959) 7. Federico Fellini, Eight and a Half 81/2 (1963) 6. Ingmar Bergman, The Mask (1966) 5. Jean Renoir, The Rules of the Game (1939) 4. Akira Kurosawa, Rashomon (1950) 3. Yasujiro Ozu, The Tale of Tokyo (1953) 2. Vittorio de Sica, The Bicycle Thief (1948) 1. Akira Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai (1954)
The Seven Samurai
Wen | Zhou Liming