Cineastes List "Most Important" Films of the Decade

We broke down the Paste list of the best films of the decade. It's tough business, but I thought that list was consistent, had enough mass appeal and artsy oomph, and was worthy of future discussion. What Paste did that I'm not sure I agree with was extend the list past the usual ten to encompass 50 movies. Even because you're looking at ten years instead of one, I think 20 or 25 is about the limit. Fifty or 100 just seems like overkill. To me, anyway. Here's a list you'll probably have to check with the ol' IMDB or something, because chances are you won't have seen them all. The Auteurs has the details of "a curated series based on a poll conducted by [Toronto International Film Festival] Cinematheque's Senior Programmer James Quandt," which includes input from film historians, curators, film festival programmers, and other like-minded individuals. The list isn't really "the best," but rather "the most important." There are at least two ways to interpret importance. You and I might consider something like The Lord of the Rings important or Brokeback Mountain important for one reason or another, but nothing in those universes even came close to this list. I suppose, therefore, that film curators and historians have a different view of importance. I thought it might have something to do with influencing the way films are made or grabbing a social issue by the throat and, despite courting controversy, earning its way as a critical and commercial success. But I'm clearly wrong. 1 - Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director)
2 - Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, director)
3 - Still Life (Jia Zhang-ke, director)
4 - Beau travail (Claire Denis, director)
5 - In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, director)
6 - Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director)
7 - The Death of Mister Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, director)
8 - Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director)
9 - In Praise of Love (Jean-Luc Godard, director)
10- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, director) A pretty avant garde list, but I'm sure most of these probably deserve to be seen by wider audiences to see where they might fit in with the other films of the decade. I bear no grudge against the polled film professionals for including movies like 4 Months, 3 Weeks, but isn't it a little shortsighted to ignore the overwhelming majority of films to the degree that they have? I'm not asking for leniency for the sake of Crash or anything, but this collection almost seems to exclude all films that had marketing campaigns simply because people had seen them. And that's where I have a problem with this list representing a collection of importance. How is Werckmeister Harmonies a more important piece of cinema than Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which will undoubtedly instruct more viewers and inspire more filmmakers. To each their own, I guess.

Comments

[Emo]

Hehe...I haven't even heard of any of these films.

[Orinn]

I expected to not know any, but that is what netflix is for.

[knives]

How is Harmonies less important than Enternal Sunshine Colin. While I personally prefer Sunshine on a world scale the degree of influence Harmonies has had with the film community is much larger, even though Santantango stomps Harmonies in that regard. I do have to raise an eyebrow to Syndromes getting number one though. The fact there is no Kore-eda (Still Walking) burns more though. Glad to see these underappreciated films get notice though.

[SEAN]

Wow that one director is #2 and #3 that's pretty remarkable...

I've never before heard of these films and kinda expected to be familiar with just a few at the least...

Well good call Orinn, netflix is a dear friend!

I have heard of #10 but havent seen it...no American film directors films am I right? Thats kinda a surprise..

[knives]

The Royal Tennebaums seems to be the only American film on the list.

[Get The Big Picture]

Knives - I'm not necessarily saying Harmonies isn't a better movie than Eternal Sunshine but rather that here's an entire list comprised of movies you're likely not to see presented the same way; those two movies I just plucked out thin air. But my point is I can't see how all of these might be "more important" than some incredibly significant films that have more public awareness.

[Anybody]

Harmonies is maybe one of the most beautiful and well shot films I have seen but also rather tedious at times where eternal sunshine is spectacular in every respect all the way through. Once again though, glad to see RT got some notice because its one of my favs. A weird list though... can't say I agree with too much (Dogville for one makes me want to barf and blow my brains out).