Picking A Top Ten Film List

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I am often asked what gets a film onto my top ten film list? So I'll try to answer that question.  Obviously it has to be a great film, but what does that mean? Well firstly all the aspects that make up a film must be good; script, story, acting, direction, cinematography, music, editing. If a film has all these things and you enjoyed the film, then it’s a good film, right? Yes. . .  But is it a great film?
Any list is of course very personal and highly subjective, To quote from ‘When Harry met Sally’ “Everybody thinks they have good taste and a sense of humour, but they couldn’t possibly all have good taste”. ‘When Harry Met Sally’ is a great film deserving of a spot in anyone’s top ten list and maybe if it was Tuesday and the wind was blowing in the right direction and I was in the right mood I would put it there.

 To be 'great' a film must have staying power. It may be of its time but must prove itself to be timeless. Because of this I would say a film can't honestly go into a top ten list before it has proved its staying power. Consider Withnail and I a film that has over the past thirty years revealed itself to be a masterpiece but had a decidedly lukewarm reception on its release. A great film must show us something that we can go back to over and over again, such as a universal truth. A great film is a work of art, which brings me neatly round to Peter Greenaway. 
Peter Greenaway films are not for people who want to go to the cinema and leave their brain in neutral. He invites us to consider timeless themes; word and image, art and money, expression and power. To consider the nature of film itself in a unique way that is not dictated by the narrative but by the visual. He uses film to pose some very interesting questions frame by beautiful frame.  It is not his job or the job of any director to also answer those questions, which is why whenever I watch a Greenaway film I immediately want to watch it again . . . and again . . . and again.

 Now that’s a great film.

© Theresa Collins


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