Alexander Payne names the 11 greatest movies of all time
Many filmmakers have changed the landscape of independent American cinema since the turn of the new millennium, with the likes of Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig each altering the landscape with their own unique approach to the art form. Even though he doesn’t get commercial attention, the same can be said for Alexander Payne, the director behind such critical hits as 1999’s Election, 2002’s About Schmidt and 2004’s Sideways.
The recipient of two Academy Awards in the 21st century, Payne is a bastion of independent filmmaking and a sharp screenwriter, having won his duo of Oscars for dazzling scripts for Sideways and 2011’s The Descendants. Working with some of the greatest actors of all time, including Jack Nicholson, George Clooney, Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz and Bruce Dern.
As a result of his contemporary contributions to cinema, Payne was invited to cast his opinion on the greatest movies ever made for Sight & Sound’s decennial poll, conducted through the BFI.
Commenting on the decision at hand, Payne admitted that picking the best of the best was an “extraordinarily difficult task” before jumping into his list headfirst. With a varied selection of films from across world cinema, Payne’s list includes such seminal filmmaking names as Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Vittorio De Sica, Orson Welles, Sergio Leone and many more.
No director appears more than once on the list, aside from Charlie Chaplin, that is, whose films feature additional footnotes. Clearly forgetting to add Chaplin to his list, Payne tags City Lights and Modern Times, two iconic movies from the British comedian’s iconic filmography. The latter, 1936’s Modern Times, featured at joint 78th place on the full list of Sight & Sound’s poll, which took into account the votes of thousands of filmmakers and critics.
Elsewhere, Payne opts for the Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, directed by Vittorio De Sica, a film that has gone on to inspire a great number of independent American filmmakers. Telling the story of a working-class man whose bike is stolen in post-war Italy, De Sica’s drama is a brutal tale of capitalism that stars the likes of Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola and Gino Saltamerenda.
The Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai also appears on the list, a seminal 1954 drama that would inspire a catalogue of other Hollywood favourites. Inspiring such filmmakers as George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Peter Jackson and George Miller, Seven Samurai is a moody action flick that tells the story of a village of farmers who hire a veteran samurai to protect their land.
Take a look at the full list of Alexander Payne’s picks for the greatest movies of all time below.
Alexander Payne names the 11 greatest movies:
- 8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
- Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
- Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
- Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
- City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
- L’avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
- Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
- Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
- Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
- Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
