"Citizen Kane" no longer "Greatest Film Ever Made"

[GotengoXGodzilla]

According to "Sight & Sound Magazine", who has been publishing lists of the greatest films ever made for well over 50 years, Citizen Kane no longer holds the title of the "Greatest Film Ever Made". That honor now goes to Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo. This was determined by a combined vote of 846 film critics, programmers, academics and distributors from all over the world. For "Sight & Sound Magazine", Citizen Kane had held that number one spot for 50 years.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time

I'm not sure how to feel about this change. I've always felt that Citizen Kane is a more well-made movie than Vertigo. In fact, I personally believe that Vertigo is the most overrated movie of all time. It's certainly not a bad movie, but I do think people make it out be better than it actually is. I can think of at least five better films that Alfred Hitchcock made, including Rear Window, North By Northwest and Psycho.

My main problem with the film (outside of the massive amounts of praise the film gets) is the story and the character of Scottie. I find the story to be convoluted, far too long, kinda confusing, very convenient, and silly. I just find it very funny that Kim Novak's character just so happens to meet up TWICE with Scottie. Boy, it's almost like this was planned out from the beginning! And the ending! Oh my god, I laugh up so hard at the ending! All that build up, and that was the pay off? Talk about coming out of no where and just pulling the tragedy card!

As for Scottie's character, I find him to be one of the most unlikable characters I've ever met. He treats just about everyone around him like dirt, and we're suppose to sympathize with him. This guy is a douchebag! And to make it even worse for me, is that he's played by Jimmy Stewart. I find Jimmy to be the most likable and kind-hearted man I've seen in movies, and it comes through in most of his characters. Then Vertigo comes in, and stomps all over that image I have of Jimmy. What I'm saying is that this isn't the Jimmy Stewart that I know and love, and that makes his performance very off-putting to me.

Finally, if I didn't make this clear, I don't think this is Alfred Hitchcock's best work. Just about every Greatest Films List has this one as the highest Hitchcock film, and is usually considered one of the ten best films ever made. I respectfully disagree. I think there are plenty of Hitchcock films that are better than Vertigo, such as Rear Window, Strangers On A Train, North By Northwest, Shadow Of A Doubt and Psycho. I would say that all of these are better films than Vertigo and really are great examples of the variety that Hitchcock had during his career.

Overall, Vertigo is not a bad film, in fact at times it can be really good. But the messy story, unappealing main character and the over-hyped praise that the film gets ruins it for me.

[MaxRebo320]

For a moment, I worried ''Avatar'' was going to be it.

[wataru]

For a moment, I worried ''Avatar'' was going to be it.

Pfft Blade Runner beats both Vertigo and Citizen Kane.

[SpanishBulldog63]

^Don Corleone would like a word with you.

[Gawdziller]

Uh oh. There's a list on the internet I don't agree with. This is BULLSHIT!

[Sydney Aradi]

Citizen Kane isn't that great of a film IMO at least to be called "Great Film EVERRRRRR!" but as for Vertigo (keep thinking of that U2 song by the same name) I haven't seen it to give an opinion on it

[JVM]

This topic should really be called "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'" since the emphasis is more so on the usurper to the throne, than the fallen leader.

I haven't seen either yet.

[Proofpoochie]

For a moment, I worried ''Avatar'' was going to be it.

Pfft Blade Runner beats both Vertigo and Citizen Kane.

I agree. But, I may be biased because Blade Runner is my favorite film.

[ghidorasauras]

No the best film is Gojira. Or is this not a forum for Godzilla fans? Jokes aside, I've never seen Citizen Kane or Vertigo.

[Living Corpse]

Terminator 2.

/thread

[GotengoXGodzilla]

This topic should really be called "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'" since the emphasis is more so on the usurper to the throne, than the fallen leader.

The bigger news here is that Citizen Kane has been de-throned. Everybody knows that Citizen Kane is referred to more as the "Greatest Film Ever Made" than any other film, but that's not true anymore. If the title were "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'", most people would just titled their heads and have no idea what that means. With the title being "'Citizen Kane' no longer 'Greatest Film Ever Made'", everybody knows what I'm talking about.

[JVM]

This topic should really be called "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'" since the emphasis is more so on the usurper to the throne, than the fallen leader.

The bigger news here is that Citizen Kane has been de-throned. Everybody knows that Citizen Kane is referred to more as the "Greatest Film Ever Made" than any other film, but that's not true anymore. If the title were "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'", most people would just titled their heads and have no idea what that means. With the title being "'Citizen Kane' no longer 'Greatest Film Ever Made'", everybody knows what I'm talking about.

4 of the 6 paragraphs in your original post are only criticizing Vertigo. Probably in a completely valid way.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

This topic should really be called "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'" since the emphasis is more so on the usurper to the throne, than the fallen leader.

The bigger news here is that Citizen Kane has been de-throned. Everybody knows that Citizen Kane is referred to more as the "Greatest Film Ever Made" than any other film, but that's not true anymore. If the title were "'Vertigo' named 'Greatest Film Ever Made'", most people would just titled their heads and have no idea what that means. With the title being "'Citizen Kane' no longer 'Greatest Film Ever Made'", everybody knows what I'm talking about.

4 of the 6 paragraphs in your original post are only criticizing Vertigo. Probably in a completely valid way.

That's not what I wanted to talk about though. I'm more interested in Citizen Kane being de-throned. I'm indifferent towards Vertigo being the film that de-throned Citizen Kane, because of my feelings towards Vertigo, which I outlined for others to see. Just being thorough as possible with my feelings on Vertigo to explain why I'm indifferent.

[JVM]

That's not what I wanted to talk about though. I'm more interested in Citizen Kane being de-throned. I'm indifferent towards Vertigo being the film that de-throned Citizen Kane, because of my feelings towards Vertigo, which I outlined for others to see. Just being thorough as possible with my feelings on Vertigo to explain why I'm indifferent.

Okay, that makes sense then

I'm just honestly surprised how... retroactive this is. Don't get me wrong, I'd be annoyed with some new movie replacing any old classic... but it also seems odd Vertigo is suddenly overtaking Citizen Kane despite both co-existing for decades.

[Bentley]

Art criticism is entirely retroactive, Shakespeare wasn't even the best english playwriter for decades until the romantics came up and bump him up.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

That's not what I wanted to talk about though. I'm more interested in Citizen Kane being de-throned. I'm indifferent towards Vertigo being the film that de-throned Citizen Kane, because of my feelings towards Vertigo, which I outlined for others to see. Just being thorough as possible with my feelings on Vertigo to explain why I'm indifferent.

Okay, that makes sense then

I'm just honestly surprised how... retroactive this is. Don't get me wrong, I'd be annoyed with some new movie replacing any old classic... but it also seems odd Vertigo is suddenly overtaking Citizen Kane despite both co-existing for decades.

Actually, Vertigo has been slowly creeking up on Citizen Kane for decades. Since roughly 1972, Vertigo has been climbing the "Greatest Films Ever Made" list from Sight & Sound. Every 10 years, Sight & Sound releases a new "Greatest Films Ever Made" list, and ever since 1972, Vertigo has been getting closer and closer to number one. Anyone who pays attention to how critics have been viewing Vertigo probably could have actually seen this coming.

Hell, it wasn't until the 1962 release of Sight & Sound's list that Citizen Kane got the number one spot. Before that, it was held by a few different movies, such as Battleship Potemkin and City Lights. So both Citizen Kane and Vertigo have something in common: Upon their initial releases, they were both universally hated. In fact, when Citizen Kane won the Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1942, instead of a round of applause, the theater was met with boos and hatred (it was also the only Oscar Citizen Kane won). After the release of Vertigo, Jimmy Stewart promised to never make another film with Alfred Hitchcock again, because he was so displeased with the negative outcome of the film. It wasn't until many years after the films release that both Citizen Kane and Vertigo started to receive praise.

[Manda2012]

I've SEEN "Vertigo" - not even my favorite Hitchcock movie. I prefer "Rope" & "Rear Window". "Strangers on a Train" is a masterpiece - way better than "Vertigo".

[Jomei]

Taxi Driver is my favorite from that list. And then of course the Godfather films.

[Hellspawn28]

Vertigo is a great film but I will say that Rear Window will always be my favorite Hitchcock film. Just a perfect movie on every level in my opinion.

[Mincecraft]

I've always kinda looked at King Kong being a possible contender. The spectacle is just so grand with the effects and all the different camera tricks. To think that all the creatures and scenery were crafted by hand. And the fact that it was made nearly a decade before. It always amazes me that Kong was made in the 30's, whereas with Kane, I wouldn't be surprised.