‘Mulholland Drive’ Leads Intriguing BBC Critics Poll On 21st Century’s Top 100 Films

In response to the outcome of a 2015 poll of the 100 Greatest American Films of All Time, BBC Culture recently threw critics a different question. Finding that last year’s results included only six films made since 2000, editors at the arts pages of the venerable broadcaster commissioned a new poll to determine the 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. The results are expansive — and intriguing. To get to the consensus favorite, critics reached all the way back to 2001 and David Lynch’s sexy/creepy surrealist noir Mulholland Drive. That film was also on Sight & Sound‘s venerable once-a-decade ranking of the Top 100 Films of All Time which last was conducted in 2012. The three other movies on that list to hail from the new millennium also made the cut (see rundown below).

The British media today is roundly praising the choice of Mulholland, and the list itself whose aim, BBC Culture says, was “to prove that this century has given us films that will stand the test of time, that you will continue to think about and argue about if only you give them a chance and watch them.”

Feedback was received from 177 critics, academics and journalists in 36 countries and on every continent except Antarctica. The survey includes some Oscar winners, but also a lot of serious art-house fare — the likes of which we’ve seen in Cannes, Venice or Berlin over the past 16 years. There are a handful of blockbusters (especially from Pixar and Christopher Nolan) and seven directors with three films each, plus a group of doubles. Repping the diversity of the respondents, the list is split about 50-50 across English and foreign language.

The year with the bumper crop is 2012 with nine titles. While there are seven movies from 2015, there’s just one from this year.

Calling the list the “New Classics,” BBC editors swat away at Cassandras and insist “cinema isn’t dying, it’s evolving.” Below is the list, in reverse order. Let us know what you think.

100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
100. Requiem For A Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
99. The Gleaners And I (Agnès Varda, 2000)
98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)
96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)
95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
94. Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)
92. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
91. The Secret In Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009)
90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)
87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)
84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)
81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)
79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
78. The Wolf Of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)
77. The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…And Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)
65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
61. Under The Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
60. Syndromes And A Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
59. A History Of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)
57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000)
55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013)
54. Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
49. Goodbye To Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)
47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
44. 12 Years A Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)
42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015)
40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
38. City Of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)
37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)
35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
34. Son Of Saul (László Nemes, 2015)
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
32. The Lives Of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
28. Talk To Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)
26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
25. ​Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
22. Lost In Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
17. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
14. The Act Of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
13. Children Of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)
10. No Country For Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
8. Yi Yi: A One And A Two (Edward Yang, 2000)
7. The Tree Of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
6. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
2. In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

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